Mike Tirico makes Sunday Night Baseball stance clear as NBC figures out announcing plans

Everyone needs some downtime now and again. Even sports broadcasting ironman Mike Tirico. The NBC Sports broadcaster told Variety in a piece published Wednesday that he will not be calling the network’s “Sunday Night Baseball” package when it begins this spring. “I’ve never called a baseball game,” Tirico told the outlet.“At some point, I hope I get the chance to do one, but the plate is way too full right now.”“Sunday Night Baseball” is the latest addition to NBC Sports’ stable, which includes “Sunday Night Football” and “Sunday Night Basketball,” both of which Tirico is a part of. The broadcaster is also part of the network’s coverage of the Olympics and Kentucky Derby, and he’ll call Super Bowl 20206 before he hosts primetime Winter Games coverage for NBC. “Mike is a unicorn,”  executive producer of “Sunday Night Football,” Rob Hyland, told Variety.

“I’ve never met anyone like him, and I don’t know if I’ll ever meet anyone like him again.”Wednesday also brought some news about who will be part of NBC’s MLB coverage this season. Front Office Sports reported the network and former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw are close to a deal to bring him into the fold for MLB studio coverage. NBC is getting back into baseball as it takes over the Sunday night package previously held by ESPN.It will also have MLB Sunday Morning Leadoff games on Peacock. The network will also have coverage of the MLB wild-card round. Jason Benetti has been reported to be NBC’s top choice for lead play-by-play broadcaster for baseball. He currently serves as a play-by-play voice for Fox Sports’ coverage of college football, college basketball and MLB....