Where the Stars of Tomorrow Shine Tonight!

06/29/2011 8:46 PM -

Summer Classic Dedicated to Girl Killed During Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords

      WEST BARNSTABLE, Mass.  -- The Cape Cod Baseball League has a new television partner.

      Cape League President Judy Walden Scarafile and Comcast SportsNet New England announced today that on Friday evening, July 29, Comcast SportsNet will televise the 2011 Jordan s Furniture Cape League All-Star Game from Fenway Park in Boston.

      The telecast will also be carried on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast SportsNet California, Comcast SportsNet MidAtlantic, The Mtn and CSS, reaching an estimated 34 million homes.

      “We are excited about our new partnership with Comcast SportsNet and know that we will be able to reach millions of people in New England and beyond,”  said Scarafile.  “The All-Star Game is a showcase for many of the country s finest collegiate ballplayers and with Comcast SportsNet on board to televise it, we are delighted that so many viewers will be able to see them perform at one of America s legendary baseball venues.“

     "The Cape Cod League is an institution in New England. They put on a great show at Fenway Park each year and we are thrilled to be partners in producing the event and bringing it to fans across the region and the country," said Len Mead, Comcast SportsNet vice president for production and programming.

      Eric Frede and Lou Merloni will return to handle play-by-play and analyst duties, respectively, for the contest which matches elite squads representing the Cape League’s East and West divisions. Air time will be 7 p.m. with first pitch set for 7:07.

     Frede, a veteran New England sportscaster, worked the 2009 and 2010 CCBL games at Fenway Park as well as the 2008 game in Chatham.

     Merloni, a Cape League Hall of Fame player (Bourne, 1991; Cotuit, 1992) and a major league infielder (Red Sox, Indians, Padres and Angels), teamed with Frede for last year s telecast and has become a popular sports commentator on Comcast SportsNet and Boston radio (WEEI)

     This year’s game took on added significance when the Cape League announced that it will be dedicated to the memory of Christina-Taylor Green, the 9-year-old girl who was killed in a Jan. 8 shooting spree in Tucson, Ariz., in which U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was seriously wounded. The Green family will be at the game and Christina s older brother Dallas is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

     Scarafile also thanked Tom Souza, president of USA World Events, who is coordinating the production with CSNNE and the Cape League.

     “Tom‘s hard work has fashioned this exciting new partnership and we are very grateful to him,”  she said.

     Comcast cable subscribers on Cape Cod may access CSNNE on standard definition (SD) channel 52 and high definition (HD) channel 852.

     Satellite TV subscribers may tune to SD 630/HD 630-I on DirecTV and SD 419/HD 5419 on Dish Network. Those who subscribe to AT&T U-Verse will find CSNNE on SD 714/HD 1714.

     All the networks carrying the game are members of Comcast Sports Group, part of the NBC Sports Group, which consists of 14 local networks that deliver 2,400 sporting events annually and breaking news and analysis to more than 50 million cable and satellite homes.

     Comcast Sports Group s sports networks are: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Comcast SportsNet California, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Comcast SportsNet New England, Comcast SportsNet Northwest, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, SNY, The Mtn, Mountain West Sports Network, CSS and Comcast Sports Southwest.

     Comcast Sports Group also manages NECN (New England Cable News), the nation's largest regional news network, and The Comcast Network, based in Philadelphia and Washington, which delivers community-oriented programming.  For more information, see ComcastSportsNet.com.

      A complete list of all CSNNE providers in New England is available on the company s web site, www.csnne.com. A link to this list also can be found on the Cape League s newly redesigned web site, www.capecodbaseball.org.  

Geoff Converse
Senior Web Editor
(508) 775-4364
[email protected]

John Garner, Jr.
Director of PR/Broadcasting
(508) 790-0394
[email protected]