ESPN to feature Doug Glanville, Joe Buck on Jackie Robinson Day broadcast
Los Angeles Dodgers fans never like to lose their “home” broadcasting booth on SportsNet LA, which features play-by-play man Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser as the top analyst. Fans will at least get Hershiser’s perspective when ESPN takes the annual April 15 Jackie Robinson Day game between the Dodgers and New York Mets to kick off the network’s 2026 MLB schedule. MORE: Dodgers manager surprised by son’s first post-retirement job The Big Lead has learned that Joe Buck will provide play-by-play alongside Hershiser and analyst Ron Darling.
Between Hershiser and Darling, a staple of SNY’s New York Mets broadcasts since 2006, both teams will have a local perspective represented in the booth. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic was the first to report Buck, Hershiser and Darling will anchor the broadcast. The Big Lead has learned that longtime ESPN analyst and former MLB outfielder Doug Glanville will be heavily involved in the production.
Glanville, who is Black, will pen an essay about Jackie Robinson that will air as part of the broadcast, as well as ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” studio coverage. Robinson broke baseball’s “color barrier” when he played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers traditionally honor Robinson’s debut with a bevy of pregame ceremonies, which ESPN will televise.
MORE: Giants cut former Dodgers World Series champion two days before 31st birthday The game marks the start of ESPN’s new rights package, which went into effect this season after both the network and MLB opted out of their previous deal . That package included “Sunday Night Baseball,” the Home Run Derby, and Wild Card postseason games. The new deal won’t see ESPN carry another MLB game until May 7, a doubleheader matchup with teams to be determined.
Glanville might be part of that broadcast as well, but will primarily be used as analyst on ESPN Radio this season. The Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson Day game might have been particularly enhanced by having their regional sports network handle the broadcast. Field reporter Kirsten Watson, who is Black, is the great-great granddaughter of Frank Miller, who played for the Cuban Giants , the first professional all-Black baseball team .