The love may have faded somewhat, but it turns out ESPN still is very much interested in the Chicago Cubs.
While the Cubs were nowhere to be found among the teams showcased in the network’s slate of first-week 2021 games — when the White Sox are to be featured twice, including the April 4 season debut of “Sunday Night Baseball” — ESPN made clear its affection Friday.
ESPN unveiled its plan for another 11 “Sunday Night Baseball” dates, and managed to slot the Cubs in twice in the first eight weeks: April 18 against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field and May 23 against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
No additional White Sox games were included on the schedule, which extends through the end of May and includes a pair of July “SNB” games and one more in September. Also added was a “second-half opener” on July 15.
ESPN said additional “Sunday Night Baseball” game selections will be made up to two weeks in advance of the game day.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, the four post-May games ESPN grabbed so far involve what always seem to be favorite markets for the network. Two are New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox matchups and two are Yankees-Mets.
Among the dozen games ESPN said Friday it has picked up, the teams with the most scheduled appearances are the Mets and Braves with four, followed by the Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies with three.
In fact, ESPN has the Braves and Phillies each on “Sunday Night Baseball” three times in the season’s first six weekends, including head-to-head games on both April 11 and May 9.
The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, are only down for one “SNB” game so far — April 25 vs. the San Diego Padres, who have two scheduled appearances.
The Tampa Bay Rays, defending American League champs, are nowhere to be found.
Here is ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” schedule, as it now stands:
April 4: Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels
April 11: Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves
April 18: Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs
April 25: San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers
May 2: New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies
May 9: Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves
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May 16: St. Louis Cardinals at San Diego Padres
May 23: Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
May 30: Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
July 4: New York Mets at New York Yankees
July 18: Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
Sept. 12: New York Yankees at New York Mets