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Karl Ravech closed out his final MLB broadcast for ESPN on Sunday, thanking his crew as he signed off from the network’s coverage of the Little League Classic between the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers. Karl Ravech thanks his broadcast crew as he signs off of ESPN’s MLB coverage for the final time. pic.twitter.com/0LVLQyGpwS — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 24, 2026 The game, played at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, marked Ravech’s last assignment for ESPN after the network laid him off in July following 33 years with the company. Ravech called the game alongside analyst Eduardo Pérez and reporter Buster Olney, with ESPN keeping him on for a handful of contracted summer dates after his reported ouster, including the Little League Classic and Little League World Series broadcasts he has anchored for two decades. Ravech had been a fixture at ESPN for over three decades. While he anchored SportsCenter for much of his tenure, he will be mostly remembered for his presence on the network’s baseball coverage. Ravech was the longtime host of Baseball Tonight. Sadly, ESPN’s nightly roundup show across the Major Leagues finally succumbed to the industry’s changing tides. In recent years, he also served as ESPN’s lead MLB play-by-play voice on the Sunday Night Baseball franchise. Two players — Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell and Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale — made a point of using their own ESPN airtime to pay tribute to Ravech ahead of his final broadcast. “Hey Karl, I want to say one thing to you real quick,” Mitchell said as he jogged off the field. “I appreciate all that you’ve done. I know this is your last broadcast. I appreciate everything you’ve done for this game. I’ve been listening to you for a long time, and it’s a pleasure to share this last one with you.” “Gotta say congratulations and thank you,” Sale added. “Congratulations on playing some more golf, and thank you for the 30 years. You were a staple in my living room for 30 years, watching ESPN. You made it fun to watch ESPN. I just wanna say thank you for everything you did, man. It was awesome. You’re one of the good ones.” Garrett Mitchell and Chris Sale both thanked ESPN’s Karl Ravech for his 30+ years covering baseball during Ravech’s final broadcast pic.twitter.com/wCNCBdX6TT — Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 24, 2026 Ravech’s exit from ESPN was far messier than Sunday’s send-off suggested. He learned he’d been laid off when a reporter called him for comment rather than hearing from the network directly, prompting Dan Patrick to publicly call out his former employer for not showing him more dignity. Katie Nolan later accused ESPN of exploiting Ravech’s loyalty by keeping him on air for weeks after cutting him loose. Ravech himself declined to air any grievances, calling the experience “surreal” and saying he held “no ill will” toward the network. He would’ve been justified in acting aggrieved in how his departure from ESPN transpired, both privately and publicly. With both Ravech and Linda Cohn leaving Bristol, it’s fair that sports fans feel like the golden era of ESPN is coming to an end. But even in his final broadcast, he remained one of the best ambassadors the network has ever had and a reminder of what ESPN can be at its finest.