MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with television providers Comcast, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications having minority ownership. The channel's headquarters and studios are located in the Secaucus, New Jersey facility which formerly housed MSNBC's studios. Tony Petitti, former executive producer of CBS Sports, was named the network's first president.

Major League Baseball became the fourth major North American professional sports league to launch its own 24-hour cable network. NBA TV dates back to 1999, the NHL Network to 2001 (though not in the United States until 2007), and the NFL Network to 2003. However, MLB Network is carried in the most households of these four networks, as it is available on all of the top ten video operators in the United States.

MLB Network soft-launched on December 16, 2008 with a rolling automated loop of archival programming and promotions for the network for cable systems that carried the network's transmissions leading up to the January 1 launch. The channel fully launched at 6 PM EST with the premiere of Hot Stove.

Michael Patrick "Mike" Francesa, Jr. (born March 20, 1954) is an American radio talk show host and television commentator. He is primarily known in his former role co-hosting the popular Mike and the Mad Dog show on WFAN in New York City. Francesa now hosts his own show, Mike's On: Francesa on the FAN, during the afternoon drive slot formerly occupied by Mike and the Mad Dog.

Francesa started his career by spending six years at College and Pro Football Newsweekly. He was hired by CBS Sports in 1982 as a researcher, focusing primarily on college sports. In CBS Sports, he was initially a behind-the-scenes, statistic-wielding editorial assistant, but network executives were so impressed by his knowledge that he was made a studio analyst for college basketball and football and acquired such a reputation that The New Yorker termed him "Brent Musburger’s brain."

When he was a studio analyst at CBS Sports, he said the most common complaint he heard was about his New York accent.

ESPN tried to lure Francesa as its studio expert on college football, college basketball and NFL in 1991, but he declined the offer.

Jon Heyman (born in 1961 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) is a sportswriter for CBS Sports . He writes primarily about baseball. Heyman is also a baseball insider for MLB Network.

Heyman was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and grew up in Cedarhurst, New York. He graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 1983.

Heyman spent 16 years at Newsday, where he served as the New York Yankees beat writer, baseball columnist and general sports columnist. In 1999 and 2000 Heyman was a baseball columnist for The Sporting News.

Heyman joined Sports Illustrated in July 2006. Heyman usually reports on baseball news year-round and writes a baseball notes column called The Daily Scoop for SI.com, which appears most weekdays during the baseball season and twice a week during the offseason. Heyman also frequently writes the "Inside Baseball" column in the magazine.

In 2009 Heyman joined the recently launched MLB Network as a baseball insider.

Heyman has also appeared on numerous radio and TV programs including WFAN, Mike'd Up, Mike and the Mad Dog, ESPN Radio 1050, The Michael Kay Show, and Jim Rome is Burning.

Eric James Byrnes (born February 16, 1976 in Redwood City, California), is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He has played for the Oakland Athletics, the Colorado Rockies, the Baltimore Orioles, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Seattle Mariners. He retired after his stint with the Mariners, and he now is an analyst for MLB Network and radio host on KNBR .

Byrnes is considered a player who relies on his speed and hustle. He can hit for power, but tends to be a "free-swinger" and goes through hitting droughts. He was ranked in the top-three for best defensive left fielders in John Dewan's publication, Fielding Bible.

Byrnes' high school career was spent in the Western Catholic Athletic League, where he played for St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California. After graduating in 1994, he was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers but elected to go to college at the University of California at Los Angeles.

At UCLA (1995–98), Byrnes hit second in the batting order and played right field in a lineup that featured future major-league stars Troy Glaus (1995–97) and Garrett Atkins (1998). He was again selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, this time by the Houston Astros after his junior season, but again elected to stay in school. He finished his career at UCLA as one of the most successful hitters in Pac-10 history with a .331 career average and 75 doubles, a conference record.

Harold Craig Reynolds (born November 26, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He played from 1983–1994, primarily for the Seattle Mariners.

Reynolds was born in Eugene, Oregon and attended Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon, starring in football, basketball and baseball. He was a member of the 3A State Championship football team in 1978. He graduated from Corvallis High in 1979, and was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

Although Reynolds was drafted in the 4th round of the amateur draft on June 5, 1979, by the San Diego Padres, he elected not to sign and joined the Long Beach City College baseball team.

The following summer, on June 3, 1980, Reynolds was selected in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the amateur draft (Secondary Phase) by the Seattle Mariners. Reynolds signed with the Mariners after one season with Cal State Long Beach.

Reynolds spent several seasons in the minor leagues, playing in Lynn, Massachusetts for the Lynn Sailors(AA), before being called up by the Mariners and making his major league debut on September 2, 1983. The following season he played AAA ball before being called up again in September 1984. The season of 1985 was his official rookie season in Major League Baseball.