Al Michaels, Bob Costas Calling Giants Game on MLBN

Al Michaels and Bob Costas are two of the most legendary names in sports broadcasting, and on Friday July 8, they'll be teaming up to call a Giants game on the MLB Network.

Michaels, of course, was the Giants play-by-play announcer from 1974-1976 before jumping to ABC's MLB coverage, and in then later called the "earthquake game" at Candlestick in 1989.

Friday's game, which kicks off at 10:00 PM EST, is the first time that Costas and Michaels have teamed up for a baseball game since 1995.

It's obviously a special occasion, and the MLB network along with the other folks broadcasting the game will treat it as such -- by busting out an odd little "pinch-hitter" move.

Or maybe it's Whack-a-Bob: Costas and Michaels will hop onto SNY (the Mets station, natch), while Gary Cohen and Ron Darling will jump onto MLB Network and call the game. (No this is not time travel; the booths are near each other.)

This will go on during the middle innings, as will the hopping of the Costas/Michaels combo onto Comcast Bay Area, while Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow will jump into the MLB Network booth.

The logic behind these moves, of course, is that local Mets and Giants fans normally can't get the MLB Network feed; this will allow them to get a taste of Costas and Michaels calling a game for the first time in more than 15 years.

The biggest benefit of this is, of course, everyone gets to hear Al Michaels call a baseball game. Even if he's not familiar to every single current Giants fan as far as a baseball announcer, he's a legend in the business and has had a moment or two of memorable play-calling.

And that makes next Friday's game must-see TV.

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