ESPN Deportes to televise Winter League Baseball Games.

As the 2007 Major League Baseball season comes to an end, ESPN Deportes will present the most extensive coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela. ESPN Deportes will televise more than 60 winter league baseball games, including each league’s championship series.

Winter baseball-related content will be featured across various platforms: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN Deportes La Revista. ESPN Deportes will feature more than 200 hours of winter baseball-related programming – the most ever televised by any network in the U.S. – with a group of at least 12 commentators, including hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors.

Live coverage begins Wednesday, Oct. 17, with the Venezuelan League featuring Águilas de Zulia, leaders in the West division, at Tigres de Aragua at 7:30 p.m. ET. Coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic and Mexico begins Sunday, Nov. 4, and Wednesday, Nov. 7, respectively.

VENEZUELAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE
This season, ESPN Deportes will televise one regular-season game per week, mainly on Wednesdays, plus exclusive select playoffs games and the championship series. The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League consists of eight teams in two divisions (East Division: Navegantes del Magallanes, Leones de Caracas, Tiburones de la Guaira, Caribes de Anzoátegui; and West Division: Tigres de Aragua, Águilas de Zulia, Cardenales de Lara, Bravo de Margarita). The league’s elimination (opening) round includes 62 games from October to December. The top two teams from each division, as well as the best third place team, move on to the 16-game round robin semifinals in January. The top two teams from the semifinals advance to a best-of-seven series in a 2-3-2 homefield format at the end of January. The Venezuelan champion moves on to the Caribbean World Series. Venezuela has won the Caribbean World Series six times, most recently in 2006, when the Leones del Caracas took the title.

Commentator Lineup

Luís Alfredo Álvarez, play-by-play
Álvarez joined ESPN in 1995 and continues to handle play-by-play for a variety of sports. His assignments have included baseball, golf and tennis. He also serves as host for Béisbol Esta Noche, the company’s Spanish-language original production of Baseball Tonight, and Cronómetro, modeled after Pardon the Interruption. He has covered high-profile events such as tennis’ Australian Open and French Open, golf’s PGA Tour, Champions Tour and LPGA, and both the Summer and Winter X Games. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Álvarez began his broadcasting career at Omnivision, where he served as a play-by-play commentator for baseball and basketball.

Fernando Álvarez, analyst
A native of Caracas, Álvarez returns for his second consecutive season as play-by-play commentator of winter baseball from Venezuela. Since joining ESPN, Álvarez has become one of the network’s most versatile sportscasters, covering a variety of sports, including Major League Baseball, the NBA and golf.

Guillermo Celis, play-by-play commentator
An experienced baseball commentator for ESPN Deportes, Celis serves as sideline reporter for the company’s Spanish-language telecast of Major League Baseball. In addition to calling more than 700 baseball games, Celis has covered broadcasts of Mexican soccer, NCAA football and basketball.

Carolina Guillén, sideline reporter
Guillén joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN Plus (serving the Southern Cone) in May 2004. Her work outside of SportsCenter has included a variety of assignments. She served as co-host for ESPN’s Spanish-language coverage of the Summer X Games and has served as sideline reporter for the MLB All-Star Games, Little League World Series and Caribbean World Series. Guillén began her career in her native Venezuela with Meridiano Televisión as a reporter for winter baseball.

DOMINICAN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Exclusive coverage begins Sunday, November 4, at 4 p.m. ET a live telecast of archrivals Águilas Cibaeñas, the defending champions, at Tigres del Licey. This season, ESPN Deportes plans to telecast more than 30 Dominican Baseball League games, mainly on Fridays nights and Sunday afternoons. The Dominican Baseball League consists of six teams: Águilas Cibaeñas; Azucareros del Este; Estrellas del Oriente; Gigantes del Cibao; Leones del Escogido; and Tigres del Licey, the oldest active team in Latin America, celebrating its 100th anniversary this season. Each team plays a 50-game schedule, with the top four teams advancing to the playoffs. The titleholder then goes on to represent the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series.

Commentators Lineup
Kevin Cabral, play-by-play commentator
One of the most respected sportscasters in the Dominican Republic, Cabral returns for his third consecutive season of Dominican Baseball League. Cabral started his broadcasting career in 1983 as the host of the radio program Frente al Deporte. In 1986, he began what would become an 18-year stint as a television commentator and announcer for Major League Baseball games on the regional channel Circuito del Cibao.

Ernesto Jerez, play-by-play commentator
A native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, Jerez joined ESPN in 1995 as a baseball announcer and has become the signature voice for the company’s Spanish-language Major League Baseball games. He primarily serves as game announcer during ESPN’s Spanish-language Sunday Night Baseball telecasts. Known to viewers for his famous home run call, he also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, ESPN Deportes Radio and ESPNdeportes.com.

Carlos Jose Lugo, sideline reporter
Lugo brings vast baseball knowledge and more than 17 years of broadcasting experience in radio, television and print media to his role as field reporter for ESPN Deportes’ telecasts of the Dominican Baseball League. Lugo launched his broadcasting career in 1987 as an MLB analyst on Radio Dial in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic. He is a familiar voice on radio, known for his work as a sports commentator and MLB analyst for FM-103, Radio Continental and Radio Clarín, and Rumba FM (98.5).

Juan Marichal, analyst
San Francisco Giants great and Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal returns for his third consecutive season. Marichal, the only Dominican-born player in the Hall of Fame, started his career with Dominican League’s Leones del Escogido. The high-kicking right-hander made his Major League Baseball debut against the Phillies in 1960, finishing his first game with a one-hitter, striking out 12 in a 2-0 victory. Marichal won 243 games, was named to nine All-Star teams and was named the All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player in 1965.

MEXICAN PACIFIC LEAGUE
Extensive coverage of the Mexican Pacific League begins Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 4 a.m. ET. The Mexican Pacific League is Mexico’s most important baseball league, and it consists of eight teams: Tomateros de Culiacán, Algodoneros de Guasave, Naranjeros de Hermosillo, Venados de Mazatlán, Águilas de Mexicali, Cañeros de Los Mochis, Mayos de Navojoa, Yaquis de Obregón. The league’s regular season runs from October to December and is followed by a playoff series in January.

Commentators Lineup
Jorge Eduardo Sanchez
Sanchez currently serves as anchor for ESPN Deportes’ SportsCenter. He first joined ESPN in 2000 as a commentator and play-by-play announcer for ESPN 2 in Mexico, serving as a play-by-play announcer for Mexican Pacific League, the Caribbean World Series, Tennis Masters Series, and NCAA Basketball.

Oscar Soria, analyst
Longtime Spanish-language voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oscar Soria returns for his third consecutive season as Mexican Pacific League analyst on ESPN Deportes. Soria is a veteran of 18 seasons as a broadcaster with Mexican Pacific League’s Hermosillo Naranjeros and also covers the Diamondbacks for Spanish-language paper El Imparcial, writing a daily column. The native of Tijuana, Mexico graduated from Universidad del Noroeste.

Eitan Benezra, sideline reporter
A native of Queretaro, Mexico, Benezra brings vast knowledge in Mexican baseball to ESPN Deportes’ telecasts. Benezra hosts show “3 y 2 Cuenta Maxima” Estadio W in Mexico and serves as baseball commentator for Estadio W 730 AM in Mexico.