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Karl Ravech lives on ESPN—at least for now.
More than a week after ESPN laid off the longtime baseball broadcaster, Ravech popped up to call the network’s telecast of the Braves-Nationals matchup on Thursday night.
And this won’t be the end of Ravech’s Lazarus-like return to ESPN, say sources. Officially, he’s still laid off. But he’s expected to pinch-hit on a couple of ESPN’s baseball telecasts this summer, including a Yankees-Mariners game on Aug. 12 as well as his traditional coverage of the Little League World Series.
It is unclear whether these assignments are part of his former contract.
Either way, he’s out, say sources—but that didn’t stop Ravech from giving his typically professional performance. During the telecast on Thursday night, he was calm, informed, and professional.
In addition to Ravech, who had been at ESPN for 33 years, the network also laid off NFL analyst Ryan Clark, SportsCenter anchor David Lloyd, contributor Cam Newton, fantasy football/injury analyst Stephania Bell, and NFL insider Tom Pelissero. The cuts, which came amid a larger round of Disney layoffs, were largely tied to the company’s acquisition of NFL Network earlier this year.
