MLB Network’s Holiday Programming

As MLB Network closes out its first year, it will provide plenty of interesting and historical programming that no other league-owned network can. And it can dust off a lot of archival footage and games. Here’s the release of what you’ll see during the holidays up through New Year’s Day.

1952 WORLD SERIES GAMES 6 & 7 TO PREMIERE IN THEIR ENTIRETY ON MLB NETWORK’S ALL-TIME GAMES ON DECEMBER 26

Games of the Year Countdown, Season in Review & Walk-Off Win Countdown lead up to MLB Network’s first anniversary on January 1, 2010

Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns to air all day on Christmas Day

Secaucus, NJ, December 23, 2009 – Games 6 and 7 of the 1952 World Series, the oldest complete games in Major League Baseball Productions’ film and video archives, will air on MLB Network’s All-Time Games for the first time on Saturday, December 26 beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET as part of the programming leading up to MLB Network’s first anniversary on January 1, 2010. Featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the games were called on television by National Baseball Hall of Fame announcers Mel Allen and Red Barber and included home runs by Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. 

MLB Network will recap the 2009 Major League Baseball season with MLB 2009: Games of the Year Countdown on Thursday, December 24 and MLB 2009: Season in Review and MLB 2009: Walk-Off Win Countdown on Thursday, December 31 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. MLB 2009: Season in Review will recap the AL and NL regular seasons, the Postseason and the World Series as well as the 2009 award winners, stat leaders and breakout players. For a preview of the show, click here. MLB 2009: Walk-Off Win Countdown will rank the top 27 walk-off wins out of the 215 total in the 2009 MLB regular season and postseason. MLB Network will continue its look back at the past year and re-air all three shows as well as By the Numbers and Premier Plays of the Year on its one-year anniversary on January 1, 2010 beginning at 12:00 a.m. ET.

For the Christmas holiday, MLB Network will air the Emmy Award-winning documentary Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns in its entirety on December 25, beginning at 6:00 a.m. ET. The film originally aired on MLB Network in installments accompanied by commentary from Burns throughout January 2009.

For younger baseball fans who are home throughout the holidays, MLB Network will air a marathon of its instructional series Diamond Demos, including Minnesota Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer showing how to defend a ball hit off the outfield wall; Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith on the fundamentals of the game, and MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds and Barry Larkin demonstrating how to turn the perfect double play. Twelve episodes of the series will air from 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, December 30.   

MLB Network’s Year-End programming inc
ludes:

December 24, Prime 9: 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

                   AL Plays of the Year: 8:00 p.m.

                   NL Plays of the Year: 8:30 p.m.

                   MLB 2009: Games of the Year Countdown: 9:00 p.m.

December 25, Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns: 6:00 a.m. – December 26, 5:30 a.m.

December 26, All-Time Games: 9:00 a.m. – December 28, 5:00 p.m.

December 28, Hot Stove: 6:00 p.m.

December 29, Hot Stove: 6:00 p.m.

December 30, Diamond Demos: 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

                   Hot Stove, 6:00 p.m.

December 31, MLB 2009: Season in Review: 8:00 p.m.

                   MLB 2009: Walk-Off Win Countdown: 10:00 p.m.

Jan. 1, 2010, MLB 2009: Season in Review: 4:00 p.m.

                   MLB 2009: Walk-Off Win Countdown: 6:00 p.m.

NOTE: All times Eastern

Pretty interesting stuff. I look forward to seeing the 1952 World Series. I’m very much a baseball buff.