The following is the national broadcast schedule for the 108th World Series between the American League Champion Detroit Tigers and the National League Champion San Francisco Giants.  FOX Sports will provide national coverage of the Fall Classic.  ESPN Radio will provide complete coverage of all World Series games.  MLB International, MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive World Series coverage.

Italics above indicate if necessary.

* Please note that the schedule above is tentative and subject to change based on postponed and/or suspended games.

Source: Major League Baseball

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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The man the Red Sox had had on their radar is now officially their new manager. Boston has announced that they have acquired Manager John Farrell from the Toronto Blue Jays and agreed to a three-year contract that will run through 2015 (financial terms were not reveals). As compensation to the Blue Jays, to whom Farrell was under contract through 2013, the Red Sox sent shortstop Mike Aviles and received in return right-handed pitcher David Carpenter. The Red Sox sought and received permission from Toronto to talk directly to Farrell and made the agreement late last night.  The transaction was agreed upon by both clubs, and was contingent upon the Red Sox reaching an agreement with Farrell for their managerial position.

Farrell, 50, was the Red Sox’ pitching coach from 2007-10, a period in which the staff held opponents to an American League-low .254 batting average and led the league in strikeouts (4,771).  Farrell is the seventh manager in major league history acquired by one club while under contract to another.

“I’m extremely excited to be returning to the Red Sox and to Boston,” said Farrell.  “I love this organization.  It’s a great franchise in a special city and region, with great fans, and we want nothing more than to reward their faith in us.”

“We are thrilled to name John Farrell as our new manager,” said Executive Vice-President/General Manager Ben Cherington, who made the announcement.  “John has been a major league pitcher, front office executive, coach, and manager.  His broad set of experiences, and exceptional leadership skills, make him the ideal person to lead our team.  I have known him in various capacities throughout my career, and I hold him in the highest regard as a baseball man and as a person.”

Under Farrell, the Blue Jays finished 81-81 (.500) in 2011 and 73-89 (.451) in 2012.  Prior to joining the Red Sox in 2007, Farrell spent five years as Director of Player Development for the Cleveland Indians (November, 2001-November, 2006).  The Indians earned “Organization of the Year” honors in 2003 and 2004 from USA Today’s Sports Weekly and were named by Baseball America as the top farm system in 2003.

“We met some outstanding managerial candidates in this process,” said Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino.  “John Farrell brings a unique blend of managerial experience, leadership and presence, pitching expertise, front office experience, and an established track record with many members of our uniformed staff and members of our front office.  He will hit the ground running.”

When Farrell was Boston’s pitching coach, right-hander Clay Buchholz and southpaw Jon Lester were All-Stars.  In his first year with the Red Sox, the club won the 2007 World Series.  They reached the postseason each of his first three seasons in Boston.

Compensation to acquire a manager from another club has been required four times previously, and 52 years ago, two managers were traded for each other.  In September, 2011, Miami acquired Ozzie Guillen and right-hander Ricardo Andres from the White Sox and sent right-hander Jhan Marinez and infielder Ozzie Martinez.  In October, 2002, Tampa Bay acquired Lou Piniella and infielder Antonio Perez from Seattle and sent outfielder Randy Winn.  In November, 1976, Pittsburgh acquired Chuck Tanner and cash from Oakland and sent catcher Manny Sanguillen.  In November, 1967, the Mets acquired Gil Hodges from Washington and sent right-hander Bill Denehy and cash.  During the 1960 season, managers Joe Gordon and Jimmy Dykes were swapped by Cleveland and Detroit, respectively.

In Farrell’s first year as the Red Sox’ pitching coach, the staff led the American League with a 3.87 ERA (618 ER/1,438.2 IP).  Red Sox pitchers also led the AL in strikeouts with 1,185 in 2008 and 1,207 in 2010.  From 2007-10, hurlers posted the third-best ERA in the league, 4.11 (2,637 ER/5,778.1 IP).

The move by the Red Sox comes after the firing of Bobby Valentine, who lasted just one tulmoltous season in Boston after finishing just 69-93, last in the AL East.

Aviles, 31, played 136 games for the Red Sox in 2012, primarily at shortstop (128 games).  He hit .250 with 13 home runs and 60 RBI.

Carpenter, 27, has struck out 60 in 60 innings over 67 career major league games, all in relief, with the Astros (2011-12) and Blue Jays (2012).  He is 1-5 with one save and a 5.70 ERA (38 ER) in his big league career.

The right-hander appeared in 33 major league games in 2012, including 30 with the Astros prior to being sent to the Blue Jays in a 10-player trade July 20.  In 2012, he also pitched in 23 minor league games for Houston’s Triple-A club in Oklahoma City and Toronto’s Triple-A Las Vegas affiliate, posting a 1-1 record with four saves, a 3.08 ERA (9 ER/26.1 IP), with 25 strikeouts and only seven walks in 26.1 innings.

He made his major league debut with the Astros in 2011, and was 1-3 with a 2.93 ERA (9 ER/27.2 IP) while striking out 29 in 27.2 innings in 34 outings.

Originally a catcher, Carpenter converted to pitching mid-way through the 2008 season.  Since that time, he has averaged 9.56 strikeouts per nine innings pitched (215 K/202.1 IP) while compiling a 12-9 record with 53 saves and a 3.02 ERA (68 ER) in 178 career minor league games exclusively in relief.

Source: Boston Red Sox

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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TBS reports today that the American League Championship Series (ALCS), between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees is up considerably over their postseason coverage from last season, but then, that should be expected. This year, TBS saw the Yankees, a ratings powerhouse nationally, along with the Tigers. The ALCS averaged 5,924,000 total viewers, an increase of 28 percent over last year’s average of 4,612,000 total viewers for the network’s coverage of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), but that included the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.  While strong baseball markets, and the Cardinals have exceptionally strong history, there was bound to be a bump in this year’s ALCS coverage. Still, a 28 percent increase is nothing to sneeze at. The network’s ALCS coverage averaged a 3.8 U.S. household rating, up 31 percent over an average 2.9 U.S. household rating for the NLCS last year.  

Additional ALCS highlights provided by TBS add some context in their favor in regards to when the games were played:

• In 2012, TBS aired two ALCS games in primetime (Saturday’s Game 1 and Tuesday’s Game 3) and two afternoon telecasts (Sunday’s Game 2 and Thursday’s Game 4).
• In primetime, the Yankees/Tigers games averaged a 4.1 U.S. household rating and 6.6 million total viewers.
• The two afternoon telecasts averaged a 3.3 U.S. household rating and 5.2 million total viewers.
  In 2011, TBS aired five NLCS games in primetime and one contest during the day.

Yesterday afternoon’s ALCS Game 4 (4-7:48 p.m. ET) averaged a 3.5 U.S. household rating and 5,251,000 total viewers. Locally, the ALCS Game 4 telecast registered a 30.6 metered market rating in Detroit – the highest local rating for any market during the 2012 MLB Postseason on TBS – and an 8.7 metered market rating in New York.

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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The following is the national broadcast schedule for the American League and the National League Championship Series.  TBS will provide national coverage of the American League Championship Series between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees. FOX Sports will provide national coverage of the National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.  ESPN Radio will provide complete coverage of all League Championship Series games, and additional live coverage will be provided by SiriusXM Radio, MLB International and MLB.com.

* indicates if necessary.

^ If ALCS is complete, then NLCS Game 6 will shift to 7:45 p.m. (ET).

Please note that the schedule above is tentative and subject to change based on postponed and/or suspended games.

Source: Major League Baseball

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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It’s just the League Division Series, right? Well, baseball fans, the 2012 postseason has seen some incredible highlights that all boil down to tonight’s two Game Five’s (Orioles at Yankees, 5:07 p.m. ET, followed by Cardinals at Nationals at 8:37 p.m. ET, both on TBS). Here’s some tidbits:

• All four Division Series go the full five games for the first time (previous high was 2011, when 19 of potential 20 games were played).
• The first 16 years of the Wild Card era (1995-2010) saw a total of 14 Division Series Game 5’s. The past two years have treated us to seven.
• There have been eight one-run games in the Division Series, tied with last year for the most ever (the record for an entire Postseason is 13, also set last year).
• Jayson Werth’s walk-off home run Thursday was the third walk-off hit of the Division Series (and third in just 20 hours), tying 1981, 1995, 1997 and 2003 for most in a single year of Division Series.
• The Yankees-Orioles ALDS is only the third Postseason series ever with back-to-back 12+ inning games (2004 ALCS, 1986 NLCS).
• Justin Verlander became the first pitcher ever with multiple 10+ strikeout performances in a single series. Homer Bailey and Adam Wainwright also had 10+ strikeouts in a start, and the four total performances tie this Division Series with 2010 for the most ever.
• The Giants became the first team ever to come back from down 0-2 in a Division Series by winning the final three games on the road. They are just the sixth team overall to come back from down 0-2 in the DS.
• The Yankees & Orioles have played 41 of 43 innings in this ALDS either tied or within one run.

Source: Major League Baseball

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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The following is the confirmed game times for the remaining Division Series games based on this evening’s Game Four win by the Oakland Athletics over the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series, with the series now tied at two games apiece.

Italics above denote If Necessary

%   Shifts to 7:07 p.m. (ET) on TBS if STL-WSH series ends on Thursday, October 11^th.

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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