MLB The Show 22 has an all-new commentary team.
Jon “Boog” Sciambi, currently the play-by-play announcer for Chicago Cubs TV broadcasts, and Chris Singleton, the former Major League baseball player and current ESPN radio analyst, are the new duo calling all of MLB The Show’s Franchise, Road to the Show, Diamond Dynasty, and other games.
They’re replacing play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian, who had been with the series since its inception in 2006, and MLB Network analysts Dan Plesac and Mark DeRosa, who had been in the game since 2017 and 2018, respectively. A PlayStation Blog post on Tuesday morning introduced fans to the new commentary duo.
SIE San Diego Studio said Singleton and Sciambi sat for 128 different recording sessions, and in a comment Singleton indicated that the work spanned more than one year. San Diego Studio says that more than 45,000 lines of audio will be delivered with a new conversation system that “allow[s] for more natural banter between commentators that seamlessly integrates into the live action of each game.”
MLB The Show 22’s commentary will also implement “audio stitching enhancements” that both improve the integration of thousands of players’ first and last names, and should increase the variety of play-by-play and color commentary that players hear.
“Working with San Diego Studio over the past few years has truly been one of the most memorable experiences of my career,” Singleton said, in the PlayStation Blog. “This isn’t easy work for any of us, but we all became a family and enjoyed the grind together.”
Singleton, 49, played six seasons in the major leagues from 1999 to 2005, batting .300 with 17 home runs and 74 RBI in his debut season for the Chicago White Sox. He hit for the cycle in the same year. After retiring from baseball, he joined the White Sox radio booth as an analyst for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, then left in 2008 for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight program. Singleton has worked with Sciambi on ESPN Radio broadcasts since 2011, and last year was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers as a part-time analyst for Bally Sports Wisconsin.
Sciambi, 51, was named play-by-play announcer for Cubs broadcasts on Marquee Sports Network in January 2021. Before that, Sciambi held announcing roles with the Florida Marlins’ and Atlanta Braves’ radio and TV broadcasts. He also calls regular and postseason MLB games for ESPN Radio. Sciambi started calling sporting events as a Boston College undergraduate in the early 1990s, where he worked alongside future national broadcast voices Joe Tessitore and Bob Wischusen.
Though Major League Baseball’s lockout has now dragged into its third month, canceling the first series of the regular season, MLB The Show 22 will still launch April 5 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and, for the first time, Nintendo Switch. The game will also launch on Xbox Game Pass the same day.
Source: Polygon
