ESPN is not bullish on the Angels
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Angels fans who complain that ESPN is biased toward the East Coast, and especially the Northeast, will have even more fuel for their fire after the Bristol, Conn.-based sports network released its schedule for Sunday night telecasts for the first half of the season on Wednesday.
Through July 17, the Angels do not appear once on ESPN on Sunday night. Of course, it’s hard to blame the network for its lack of interest in the Angels, who are coming off an 80-82 season in which they failed to make the playoffs for only the second time in 10 years and a disappointing winter in which they failed to upgrade their offense.
The Boston Red Sox will make four Sunday night appearances on ESPN, and the New York Yankees will make three. The Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and defending World Series-champion San Francisco Giants will make two appearances each. The defending American League-champion Texas Rangers will make only one appearance.
It should be noted that the network has not finalized plans for Sunday night telecasts from June 5 to July 3, and in that stretch, the Angels play the Yankees on June 5, and the Dodgers on June 26 and July 3, all rivalry games that would probably be of interest to ESPN.
The ESPN Sunday night schedule:
April 3: Giants at Dodgers (ESPN2)
April 10: Yankees at Red Sox
April 17: Rangers at Yankees
April 24: Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
May 1: Mets at Phillies
May 8: Atlanta Braves at Phillies
May 15: Red Sox at Yankees
May 22: Chicago Cubs at Red Sox
May 29: Reds at Braves
July 10: Mets at Giants
July 17: Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays
-- Mike DiGiovanna