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.

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.

Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. On stage, Wilson provided many of the lead vocals, and often harmonized with the group in falsetto. Early during his on-stage career, Wilson primarily played bass on stage, but gradually transitioned to primarily playing piano/keyboards. Besides being the primary composer in The Beach Boys, he also functioned as the band's main producer and arranger. After signing with Capitol Records in mid-1962, Wilson wrote or co-wrote more than two dozen Top 40 hits including "Surfin' Safari", "Surfin' USA", "Shut Down", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Be True to Your School", "In My Room", "Fun, Fun, Fun", "I Get Around", "Dance Dance Dance", "Help Me Rhonda", "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations". These songs and their accompanying albums were internationally popular, making The Beach Boys one of the biggest acts of their time.

In the mid-60s Wilson used his increasingly creative ambitions to compose and produce Pet Sounds, considered one of the greatest albums of all time. At this point his music was considered to rival that of Lennon–McCartney. The intended follow up to Pet Sounds, Smile, was cancelled for various reasons, including Wilson's deteriorating mental health. Wilson's contributions to The Beach Boys diminished as the years went by, and his erratic behavior led to tensions with the band. After years of treatment and recuperation, he began a solo career in 1988 with Brian Wilson, the same year that he and The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since then he has toured for the first time in decades with a new band and released acclaimed albums such as a reworked version of Smile in 2004, for which Wilson won a Grammy Award for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire)" as Best Rock Instrumental, That Lucky Old Sun, and Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin.

Christopher Michael Russo (born October 18, 1959), known as "Mad Dog," is an American sports radio personality best known as the former co-host of the widely popular Mike and the Mad Dog sports radio show with Mike Francesa, which was broadcast on WFAN in New York City and simulcast on the YES Network. Russo has joined Sirius XM Radio and is in charge of his own channel, Mad Dog Radio. He now hosts an afternoon radio show, Mad Dog Unleashed.

Russo was born in Syosset, New York. He went to Darrow School in New Lebanon, New York, and Rollins College near Orlando, Florida graduating with a degree in history. He also spent one spring at the Cranleigh School south of London, England (Russo's mother is English) and one semester at Sydney University in Australia studying Australian history and literature.

Prior to joining WFAN, Russo worked for WKIS in Orlando, Florida between 1984 and 1987 and WMCA in New York City between 1987 and 1988. During his career at WKIS, when it became clear that the people of Central Florida were having trouble understanding his accent, the station sent him to see a speech therapist twice a week. He got the "Mad Dog" nickname from New York Daily News Sports TV and Radio critic Bob Raissman.