Vince Carter
Brooklyn Nets Game Analyst
Former NBA superstar Vince Carter, a key player for the New Jersey Nets from 2004-09, joined the YES Network as a Brooklyn Nets Game Analyst in advance of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Former NBA superstar Vince Carter, a key player for the New Jersey Nets from 2004-09, joined the YES Network as a Brooklyn Nets Game Analyst in advance of the 2023-24 NBA season.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country for 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
From 2020-23, Carter was an NBA and college basketball studio and game analyst at ESPN, where he also appeared on programs such as NBA Today, Countdown, Get Up and First Take. In addition, he hosted Vince’s Places.
While working for ESPN, Carter was also an analyst for Bally Sports Southeast’s Atlanta Hawks telecasts during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons and for Bally Sports Florida’s Orlando Magic telecasts during the 2022-23 season.
Carter was named a McDonald’s All-American in 1995 while at Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla. He then played three seasons at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, helping lead the Tar Heels to the 1997 and 1998 Final Fours. The Golden State Warriors selected him as the fifth overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft before immediately being traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he played through 2004.
Carter’s NBA career spanned 22 years, the longest playing career in NBA history. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1998-99. Carter, whose nicknames included “Air Canada,” “Hi C” and “Vinsanity,” was named to the NBA All-Star Game eight times and was a member of the United States Men’s National Basketball team that won a Gold Medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
In addition to the Raptors and Nets, Carter played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Magic and Hawks. He scored 25,728 points in his career, good for 20th on the NBA all-time list.
Off the court, he established the Embassy of Hope Foundation, providing vital assistance to children and their families in New Jersey, Florida and Ontario.
David Cone, the strikeout artist who endeared himself to New York Yankees fans for his numerous clutch performances and for hurling a perfect game in 1999, initially joined YES as a Yankees analyst in 2002. After pitching for the Mets in 2003 and then retiring from baseball, he re-joined YES as an analyst for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
After a year away from the mic, he came back again to YES in 2011 and has been with the network ever since. Cone has won four New York Emmy Awards while at YES.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
In January 2022, it was announced that Cone would become a game analyst on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecasts in addition to his YES duties. In 2019, Cone collaborated on a book with YES colleague Jack Curry called “Full Count: The Education Of A Pitcher,” which was a New York Times best-seller.
Cone compiled a 194-126 record, 3.46 ERA and 2,688 strikeouts in his 17-year major league career. He captured the American League Cy Young Award in 1994 and was a five-time All-Star (1988, 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1999). The Kansas City, Mo. native, known for coming up big in critical games, posted an 8-3 post-season record and played on five world championship teams: the 1992 Blue Jays and the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 Yankees.
The flame-throwing right-hander was drafted by the hometown Kansas City Royals in the third round of the 1981 amateur draft and made his major league debut with the Royals in 1986. He played the next 5½ seasons with the Mets; in 1988, he ran up a 20-3 record, 2.22 ERA and 213 strikeouts, and on October 6, 1991, he struck out 19 Phillies in a game.
After short stints with the Blue Jays and the Royals (again), he joined the Yankees in 1995. Arguably his finest season in pinstripes was 1998, when he was 20-7 with a 3.55 ERA and 209 strikeouts. A year later, on July 18, 1999, he hurled a perfect game against the Montreal Expos, only the second inter-league perfect game in major league history. Fellow Yankee Don Larsen’s World Series gem in 1956 was the first.
While with the Yankees from 1995-2000, Cone was 64-40 with a 3.91 ERA and 888 strikeouts. He pitched for Boston in 2001, sat out the 2002 season, and pitched briefly for the Mets in 2003 before retiring.
Jack Curry, who covered the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball at The New York Times for nearly 20 years as its Yankees beat writer and as a national baseball writer, joined the YES Network in February of 2010 as Yankees analyst, reporter and program contributor, and as a columnist on the Emmy-Award winning YESNetwork.com.
He has won eight New York Emmy Awards at YES, including two in 2023: one in the Commentator/Editorialist category, and one for his work as part of YES’ Yankees Pre-Game coverage.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Curry has co-written four New York Times best-selling books: The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Team in Baseball History, published in May 2023; he collaborated in 2022 with YES colleague Paul O’Neill on a book entitled A Swing And A Hit; in 2019, he collaborated on a book with another YES colleague, David Cone, called Full Count: The Education Of A Pitcher; and in 2000 he co-wrote a book with Derek Jeter entitled The *Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams. *
Curry has also hosted YES’ Yankees Access specials, which give viewers exclusive, off-the-field, behind-the-scenes looks at some of the most popular Yankees players. He has traveled to the Dominican Republic and Taiwan to report on Yankee feature stories, international travel atypical of regional sports networks.
Since November 2005, Curry has been a regular contributor to YES’ Yankees Hot Stove show. His television experience actually extends back to 1991, when he began contributing to Madison Square Garden Network’s Yankees pre-game show and weekly baseball magazine show.
While at YES, Curry also hosted JCTV: Jack Curry TV, the innovative YESNetwork.com original series which featured interviews with some of the biggest names in sports, entertainment and the media.
Curry joined The New York Times in 1987 and became the Yankees beat writer in 1991. He was a national baseball writer at the newspaper from 1998 until December of 2009. While at The Times, Curry authored more than 4,500 articles, covering 18 World Series, 11 All-Star Games, 10 MLB Winter Meetings and two World Baseball Classics. The New Jersey native also was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Reporting at The Times in 1999 for co-writing a series on the demise of New York high school sports, and won multiple Publisher Awards at The Times, monthly awards that recognize the best journalism at the paper. Curry has also been the chairman of the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
In January 2013, Curry received the Broadcast Achievement Award from the New Jersey Sports Writers Association. Also that year, he was named “Top Sports Analyst” by the New Jersey-based 201 Magazine.
Curry is a 1986 graduate of Fordham University, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications.
Multiple Emmy Award-winner Ian Eagle is in his 30th year as play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Nets, the last 29 on television and the last 22 on the YES Network, specifically.
One of the most respected and versatile sportscasters in the country, Eagle became the radio voice of the Nets in 1994 at the age of 25 and moved to the television side the following year.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
In 2022, Eagle won his record seventh straight New York Emmy, and eighth in 10 years, for Sports Play-by-Play for his Nets work on YES. His Nets broadcast partner Sarah Kustok won the 2020 and 2021 New York Emmy Awards for Sports Analyst, marking the those two years the only times that a broadcast team has won New York Emmys for Sports Play-by-Play and Sports Analyst in the same year.
Eagle earned National Sports Emmy nominations in 2022, 2021 and 2019 for his NCAA March Madness play-by-play work and in 2015 for his NFL and NCAA March Madness play-by-play work for CBS Sports and Turner Sports. 2024 will mark his first season as the Voice of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.
“Bird” has been named New York State Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association five times: in 2013, 2014 (sharing with WNBC-TV’s Bruce Beck), 2016, 2018 and 2019. He was named National Sportscaster of the Year for 2022 by the same organization. In November 2018, Eagle received the Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, his alma mater.
Eagle has received Emmy nominations for his Nets play-by-play work on YES 12 straight years, from 2012 to 2023. He also was nominated in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Earlier, he won New York Emmys for his work on Madison Square Garden Network’s telecast of the Pacers/Nets Game 5 of the 2002 NBA playoffs. In 2014 Eagle won the CableFax Program Award for the best host of regional television program (sports or otherwise).
A 1990 graduate of Syracuse, Eagle was the play-by-play voice of the Orangemen in football, basketball and lacrosse, and was awarded the Bob Costas Award for Outstanding Sportscasting. In August 2013, he was inducted into the WAER-FM (Syracuse University) Hall of Fame.
Eagle joined WFAN as a producer in 1990 and debuted as host of his own show in 1992. The following year, Eagle began hosting pre-game and post-game shows for Jets football on WFAN and was named the Jets radio play-by-play voice for the 1997 campaign. He has been one of the play-by-play voices for the NFL on CBS since 1998 and handles play-by-play for Westwood One Radio’s Thursday Night NFL coverage and its NCAA Tournament Regional Finals coverage.
Noah Eagle joined the YES Network in September 2023 as a substitute Brooklyn Nets play-by-play man. The son of Ian Eagle, YES’ primary Nets play-by-play caller and one of the most highly regarded announcers in the business, Noah Eagle has been carving out his own niche as one of the most heralded and most versatile young sports voices.
The younger Eagle was the radio play-by-play man for the Los Angeles Clippers for each of the previous four NBA seasons (2019-23). He also handles play-by-play duties for Big Ten Saturday Night primetime college football telecasts on NBC Sports and Peacock.
Prior to joining NBC Sports in 2023, Noah called college football on FOX Sports in 2022 and CBS Sports in 2021. He also called Nickelodeon’s alternative NFL game telecasts for three years straight, 2020-22, and called a traditional NFL game on The NFL Network in 2022.
His additional work credits include calling 3-on-3 basketball games during NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, calling college basketball on FS1 and working NBA events for Turner Sports and NBA TV as well as events on the Tennis Channel.
Noah earned a bachelor’s degree in 2019 from Syracuse University where, as an undergraduate, he called football, men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse games on the student-run WAER Radio, where he was also Sports Director.
Former New York Yankees catcher John Flaherty joined the YES team in the spring of 2006 as field reporter, studio analyst and game analyst for YES’ Yankees telecasts. He has won seven New York Emmy Awards while at YES and has earned individual New York Emmy Award nominations in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 for his YES work.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Drafted by Boston in 1988, Flaherty progressed within the Red Sox farm system before joining the parent club in 1992. He played 14 Major League seasons with five teams (Red Sox 1992-93, Detroit Tigers 1994-96, San Diego Padres 1996-97, Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1998-02 and the Yankees 2003-05).
He is perhaps best known to many Yankees fans for his 2004 pinch-hit walk-off single that ended a 13-inning regular season game against the Red Sox. In 2005, he became Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson’s personal catcher, in addition to backing up starting catcher Jorge Posada.
During his MLB career, he had a .252 batting average in 1,047 games and collected 849 hits, including 80 home runs.
Flaherty is a New York City native and a graduate of George Washington University. He serves on the Access Foundation Board for Access: Supports for Living. In 2015, he was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2009, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y.
Former MLB third baseman Todd Frazier joined the YES Network in 2023 as a New York Yankees studio analyst.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
During Frazier’s 11 years in the Majors, he played with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Yankees, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates. With the Reds, Frazier finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2012 and was named an All-Star twice (2014 and 2015). Frazier also won the All-Star Game Home Run Derby in 2015. He made postseason appearances in three seasons, twice with the Reds (2012 and 2013) and during his one year with the Yankees in 2017.
Frazier was also part of the 2020 US Olympic team that won a Silver Medal.
In addition to YES, Frazier co-hosts the daily “Foul Territory” independent MLB digital show alongside A.J. Pierzynski, Erik Kratz and Adam Jones, on which the former players interview current MLB stars. Video versions of the show can be found on YouTube and Twitch, while Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms host an audio-only version of the show.
Frazier is also a game analyst on ESPN’s Little League World Series coverage. In 1998, Frazier led the Toms River East (N.J.) team to the Little League World Series title. He went 4-for-4 including a leadoff home run in the championship game, and was also the winning pitcher. In five Little League World Series games that year, Frazier batted 9-for-15 with four home runs (one of which was a grand slam), drove in 10 runs and scored 11. He was inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence in 2022.
Former New York Yankees catcher Joe Girardi, who helped lead the Yankees to three World Championships in the 1990s as a player and later guided the team to the 2009 World Championship as a manager, has re-joined the YES Network as Yankees analyst in for the 2024 season.
He previously had been a Yankees analyst for YES in 2004 and 2007.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
In addition to managing the Yankees from 2008 to 2017, Girardi managed the Philadelphia Phillies from the 2020 season until June of 2022, and he also held that role with the Florida Marlins in 2006, with whom Girardi earned the National League Manager of the Year Award. Girardi also was the Yankees’ bench coach under manager Joe Torre during the 2005 season.
The 2024 season also marks Girardi’s second as Chicago Cubs analyst on the Marquee Sports Network. Earlier, he was an analyst with the MLB Network in 2018 and 2019. In addition, he was an analyst during the 2003 National League Division Series for ESPN Radio and provided 2006 World Series pre-game analysis for FOX Sports.
In addition to his analyst work during his previous stints at YES, he won a New York Emmy Award for his hosting efforts on the network’s Kids on Deck series and was the star of The Joe Girardi Show.
A Peoria, Ill. native, Girardi graduated from Spalding (Ill.) Institute in 1982 after earning All-State honors in baseball. He then played at Northwestern University, where he was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and three-time Academic All-American. He received his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern in 1986.
He was drafted by the Cubs in the fifth round of the 1986 amateur draft. He broke into the Majors in 1989 with the Cubs and later played three seasons for the Colorado Rockies (1993-95). Girardi was acquired by the Yankees prior to the 1996 season and played key roles as New York won the World Series in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
One month after departing the Yankees as a free agent in November 1999, Girardi signed with the Cubs and played three additional seasons for Chicago, making the National League All-Star team in 2000.
He played one season for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003 before signing with the Yankees as a free agent in February of 2004. Girardi retired at the conclusion of Spring Training, at which time he joined YES.
Richard Jefferson, who played a pivotal role in the New Jersey Nets’ back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003, joined the YES Network as Brooklyn Nets analyst in October 2018.
He has earned eight New York Emmy Award nominations for his YES work.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Jefferson is also an analyst for ESPN’s NBA Today.In 2016, he broke ground when he and then-teammate Channing Frye created the first-ever podcast created by an active NBA player during the NBA season, Road Trippin’.*The podcast has amassed a cult following, with more than seven million listens to date. In 2020, Jefferson launched a first-of-its-kind satirical digital sports show, *The Sports Gap.
In addition to reaching the NBA Finals twice with the Nets, Jefferson won an NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, was named to Second-Team All-Rookie in 2002 with the Nets, won a Bronze Medal with the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team at the 2004 Olympics, and scored 14,904 career points in his NBA career.
Raised in Arizona, Jefferson played three seasons at the University of Arizona under Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson. He helped the Wildcats reach the 2001 NCAA National Championship game, and along the way was named to the All-Midwest Regional and All-Final Four teams. In 2012, he was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor.
He played his first seven NBA seasons (2001-02 to 2007-8) with the Nets before being traded to Milwaukee in June 2008. After playing one season with the Bucks, Jefferson subsequently played for the Spurs, Warriors, Jazz, Mavericks, Cavaliers and Nuggets. He ranks fourth in Nets team history in points scored.
The Nets made the NBA Playoffs in Jefferson’s first six seasons with the Nets; he averaged 15.1 points per game during those six post-seasons. Among the Nets career playoff leaders, Jefferson ranks first in Games Played (tied with Jason Kidd), Free Throws Made and Free Throws Attempted, and ranks second to Kidd in Points, Field Goals Made, Field Goals Attempted, Assists, Defensive Rebounds and Minutes Played.
Michael Kay is the Emmy Award-winning Yankees play-by-play announcer for the YES Network who also hosts the network’s CenterStage series and its various programming specials. The 2024 season is his 33rd year broadcasting Yankees baseball: the first 10 years on radio, the latter 23 on YES.
Multiple Emmy Award winner Sarah Kustok, YES’ primary Brooklyn Nets game analyst, joined the network in 2012 after spending three years with NBC Sports Chicago as a reporter and anchor. The 2017-18 NBA season marked Kustok’s first as YES’ primary game analyst after spending the previous five seasons as the network’s Nets courtside reporter.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Kustok had worked one Nets game on YES as an analyst in March 2015 and was an analyst on a number of YES’ Nets games the next two seasons before assuming the primary game analyst role full-time in 2017.
In 2021, Kustok won her second straight New York Emmy Award for Sports Analyst; she is the only woman to ever win that award in New York. Her Nets broadcast partner Ian Eagle also won 2020 and 2021 New York Emmy Awards, for Play-by-Play, making them the only broadcast team to win New York Emmys for Play-by-Play and Analyst in the same year, and they’ve done it two years in a row.
Kustok has earned five New York Emmys for her YES work. In addition, she was nominated for individual Emmy Awards in 2017 and 2018 while she was YES’ Nets courtside reporter, along with her 2022 and 2023 Best Analyst nominations. In 2020, Kustok was named to Cynopsis Media’s “Top Women in Sports” list, which recognizes top women in media. She was named in the “Game Changing On Air Talent” category.
In addition to her YES work, Kustok is a regular contributor to FOX Sports 1’s First Things First morning show as an NBA analyst. She is also an analyst on FS1’s Men’s Big East regular season telecasts. Kustok works as a sideline reporter for the NFL on FOX and has been a game analyst for FOX Sports’ coverage of the Jr. NBA World Championship in its first two years – 2018 and 2019. At the start of 2019, Kustok joined Sirius XM NBA Radio as an analyst. She also is a host of the monthly We Need To Talk show on CBS Sports Network.
Kustok was the analyst on Connecticut Sun WNBA telecasts during the 2017 and 2018 seasons and provided game analysis on NBA G-League Finals telecasts from 2016-18. During the 2018 NBA Playoffs she served as a game analyst for Turner’s Virtual Reality coverage through the Western Conference Finals.
Kustok joined NBC Sports Chicago in 2009. During her time there, Kustok covered the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Blackhawks as the network’s reporter. She also anchored sportscasts on WMAQ-TV (NBC) in Chicago. Prior to joining NBC Sports Chicago, Kustok worked as an analyst and sideline reporter with ESPN and appeared on Versus (now NBC Sports Network).
A 2004 Communications graduate of DePaul, Kustok was a standout on the Blue Demons women’s basketball team which reached the NCAA tournament in 2003 and 2004. She was captain both of those seasons, and the team was ranked in the Top 25 each season. She currently ranks fourth at the school in career three-point field goal percentage, and during the 2003 season she led the country in three-point field goal percentage and posted the third-highest single-season three-point field goal percentage in program history.
In November 2018, Kustok was inducted into her alma mater Carl Sandburg High School’s (Orland Park, Ill.) Athletic Hall of Fame, and she was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. Kustok was also inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021.
Kustok was an assistant women’s basketball coach at DePaul during the 2005-2006 season, helping the team to advance to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history. She received a Master’s Degree in Corporate & Multicultural Communication from DePaul.
Emmy Award-winning Meredith Marakovits was named the YES Network’s New York Yankees clubhouse reporter in March 2012. She reports on the team within the network’s Yankees game telecasts, pre- and post-game shows, Yankees Batting Practice Today and Yankees Hot Stove.
She also periodically hosts the network’s Brooklyn Nets pre- and post-game shows.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
During the 2023 Yankees season, Marakovits began hosting recurring enhanced Yankees Batting Practice Today shows from the field at Yankee Stadium. These “BP Takeovers” consist of game previews, player interviews, pre-taped features, the answering of fan questions and more.
Marakovits has won eight New York Emmy Awards while covering the Yankees at YES, including two in 2023: one for her Yankees reporting duties and one for being an integral member of YES’ Yankees pre-game coverage. In 2019 she was named to the “Top Women in Sports” list by the trade organization Cynopsis. The Cynopsis list recognizes female trailblazers in the sports industry; Marakovits was named in the On-Air Talent category.
Marakovits also appears on YES’ special Yankees programming and contributes to YESNetwork.com, the network’s Emmy Award-winning Web site, as well as YES’ various social media platforms. In January 2016, she travelled to the Dominican Republic to interview a number of Yankees players for YES’ Yankees Access show. She also hosted the weekly Joe Girardi Show on YES while Girardi managed the Yankees.
Marakovits frequently appears as a guest on MLB Network shows such as The Rundown and MLB Now.
Prior to joining the YES team, Marakovits worked for several Comcast SportsNet regional sports networks including SNY in New York, where she was an anchor and also contributed to SNY programs The Wheelhouse, Daily News Live and GEICO Sportsnite. At Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, Marakovits was a Philadelphia 76ers sideline reporter, as well as a contributor to Toyota Sportsnite. She was also a fill-in anchor at Comcast SportsNet New England.
On the radio side, Marakovits covered the Yankees and Mets for 1050 ESPN, and contributed elsewhere to WFAN radio in New York. Preceding her work in New York, Marakovits served as the Phillies reporter for 950 ESPN Radio/97.5 the Fanatic in Philadelphia. While there she covered back-to-back World Series, contributed to ESPN and ESPNews, and appeared on MLB's first reality series, The Pen.
Earlier in her career, Marakovits served as the pre- and post-game host and field reporter for the Emmy Award-winning Lehigh Valley Ironpigs Television Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the IronPigs are the Phillies' AAA affiliate. She also covered the Reading Phillies (AA affiliate) while there. Marakovits also worked for Service Electric 2’s sports division as a sideline reporter for college football, basketball, and indoor football broadcasts.
In December 2013, Marakovits’ alma mater, Allentown (Pa.) Central Catholic High School, inducted her into its Rockne Wall of Fame, for her athletic exploits. A Northampton, Pa. native, Marakovits is a graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia, where she played volleyball and graduated in 2005 with a degree in Communications.
Former relief pitcher Jeff Nelson, who enjoyed a 15-year MLB career that included two stints with the New York Yankees, joined the YES Network as a Yankees studio and game analyst in 2019.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Nelson played with the Seattle Mariners (thrice), Yankees (twice), Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox. The Yankees made post-season appearances in all six seasons Nelson was with the team, making it to the World Series five of the six years and winning World Championships in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Nelson was named an All-Star in his 2001 season with the Mariners.
He had a 3.47 ERA with 334 strikeouts while with the Yankees. Nelson appeared in a total of 798 career games, 391 with the Yankees.
Nelson also serves as an analyst for Bally Sports Florida.
In addition, Newman is the host of the network’s Yankees Magazine program which goes behind the scenes and in the community with the Yankees. During her tenure at YES, she has also served as its Yankees clubhouse reporter, its sideline reporter for Ivy League football and New York Football Sunday and the host for its Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl college football coverage.
Since 2019, Newman has served as emcee of the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Troy, N.Y. Newman has won six New York Emmy Awards while at YES.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Prior to joining the YES Network, Newman held a variety of sports broadcasting positions with the CNN Networks from 1992 to 2002. She hosted CNN Sports Tonight and Latenight as well as CNN Sports Sunday and CNN’s Goodwill Games Preview. Newman also hosted and worked on programs for CNN’s sister networks, including CNN Sports/Illustrated and CNN Headline News for which she anchored sports. She served as occasional reporter for CNN’s weekly MLB and NFL preview programs and appeared as a panelist on CNN’s Burden of Proof discussing the NHL. In 2000, she hosted Turner Sports’ Emmy-Award-winning coverage of the NHL Atlanta Thrashers inaugural season.
Newman also worked for NBC, having served as an events reporter for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Newman came to CNN from The Sports Network (TSN), where she worked from 1990-1992 covering Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL and horse racing. Newman’s reporting there garnered a 1991 Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broadcast.
In 2019, Newman emceed the National Down Syndrome Society’s (NDSS) annual gala as it partnered with the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS) at Gotham Hall in New York City. In 2015 Newman emceed The Green Sports Alliance Awards at Yankee Stadium honoring the New York Yankees for their dedication to environmental leadership.
Newman earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Toronto which, awarded her its Boundless Voice honor in 2011.
New York Yankees Play-by-Play, Studio Host and Reporter, Nets Play-by-Play Announcer
Ryan Ruocco, who joined YES in 2007 as a statistician for the network’s New York Yankees telecasts, currently holds down a variety of roles within the network’s Yankees coverage. He backs up YES’ play-by-play man Michael Kay, fills in hosting YES’ Yankees Pre- and Post-Game Shows and periodically handles clubhouse reporting duties.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Shackil has also worked for the New York Yankees since 2015, hosting the club’s in-stadium pre-game shows and working with its in-house video production team. He has also filled in as the Yankees radio play-by-play announcer on WFAN.
In addition, Shackil co-hosts Jomboy Media’s Toeing the Slab with David Cone podcast alongside David Cone and James Smyth. He also handles boxing blow-by-blow duties for DiBella Entertainment and Matchroom Boxing.
Prior to joining YES, Shackil worked as a broadcaster for NBA Entertainment, Sirius XM Sports and the AA baseball teams Mobile BayBears, Tennessee Smokies and Trenton Thunder.
Shackil graduated from Fordham University in 2009.
Chris Shearn joined the YES Network prior to its 2002 launch. He anchors YES’ Yankees Batting Practice Today show, providing Yankees updates from YES’ studios, interacting with YES’ on-site announcers, and introducing features, interviews and other segments of the program.
Shearn also periodically hosts YES’ Yankees and Nets pre- and post-game shows and works as YES’ Yankees reporter.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
In addition, Shearn co-hosts the New York Post’s Yankees-centric podcast with former Yankees pitcher Jeff Nelson. Earlier during his tenure at YES, he did play-by-play for YES’ Ivy League and Yale football and basketball telecasts. He also has covered Yankees Spring Trainings for YESNetwork.com and won a New York Emmy for his on-air work for the Web site.
Shearn came to the YES Network from MSNBC, where he served as producer, editor and tape producer for programs such as Attack on America and America at War. He was also an editor for The News with Brian Williams and produced coverage of Super Bowl XXXV. He was also a sports anchor and producer for MSNBC. Earlier, he had worked for SNS/Major League Baseball Productions.
Shearn grew up in South River, NJ and graduated from Rowan College of New Jersey in 1995 with a B.A. in Communications. He was inducted into the Rowan College Radio 89.7 WGLS FM Hall of Fame in 2013.
Fan favorite Nick Swisher, whose 12-year Major League Baseball career included a four-year stint with the New York Yankees from 2009-12, joined the YES Network as a Yankees studio analyst in 2024.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Swisher was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in Parkersburg, W. Va. He was the 16th pick in the 2002 MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s. Swisher made his Major League debut on Sept. 3, 2004 with the Oakland A’s. He played with the A’s, Chicago White Sox, Yankees, Cleveland Guardians and Atlanta Braves throughout his career. In 2005, Swisher finished sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting while with the A’s.
The White Sox traded Swisher, an outfielder and first baseman, to the Yankees after the 2008 season. He was a key member of the Yankees’ 2009 World Series Champion team and made postseason appearances in all four seasons he was with them. Swisher was named to the American League All-Star team and participated in the Home Run Derby while with the Yankees in 2010. His last MLB season was in 2015, split between Cleveland and Atlanta.
Swisher played baseball while attending Ohio State. He was named the Big 10 Freshman of the Year in 2000 and earned All-Big Ten honors in 2001 and 2002. His father, the catcher Steve Swisher, enjoyed a nine-year MLB career.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Triplett also hosts the exclusive The Gotham Sports App program Field Tripp with Meghan Triplett, in which she explores her new surroundings in Brooklyn.
While with the Grizzlies and Grind City Media, Triplett created, hosted and reported year-round content, including game-night productions, broadcasts on Bally Sports Southeast and on social media channels. She was co-host of “Rise and Grind,” a live daily digital morning show covering “sports, entertainment, pop culture, and everything Memphis.”
Triplett served as a studio host and anchor for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. She has also filled in as a co-host on NBC Sports’ “Brother From Another” live daily talk show on Peacock.
Before joining the Grizzlies, Triplett served as an anchor and host with Lax Sports Network (LSN), where she covered college and professional lacrosse for live studio shows. She also served as a sideline reporter for lacrosse game broadcasts.
Prior to LSN, Triplett worked at ESPN for more than four years in Bristol, Conn. and Charlotte, N.C. During that time, she provided support with video elements for studio shows and games, and also hosted digital shows for ESPNU. In addition, Triplett served as the social media correspondent for SEC Network’s weekly football show “Thinking Out Loud.”
Triplett graduated from Tennessee State University with a B.S. in Communications.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional media home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
Valle was a catcher with the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers throughout his career. He was selected in the 1978 MLB draft by the Mariners as a 17-year-old out of Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y. and made his Major League Debut in 1984 with the Seattle Mariners. He led the American League in fielding percentage while with the Mariners in 1990. In 1993, Valle caught the second no-hitter in Mariners history; Chris Bisio was the Seattle pitcher who tossed the gem that day. Valle retired as a member of the Rangers in 1996.
Valle was an analyst for the Seattle Mariners television and radio broadcasts from 1997-2008 and 2011-12. He has also been an analyst on MLB Network’s programming. Since 2022, Valle has been a television color analyst on Bally Sports Southwest’s Texas Rangers coverage.
The YES Network, the most-watched regional sports network in the country 18 of the last 21 years, is the exclusive regional television home of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets. The network has won 146 New York Emmy Awards since its 2002 launch.
In addition to YES, Viani-Braen works as a basketball analyst for a variety of networks, covering men’s and women’s college basketball for CBS Sports Network, NBC Network and Westwood One Radio. Previously, she worked for Next VR, the NBA’s first live virtual reality broadcast.
Viani-Braen played college basketball at Marist, where she made the MAAC All-Rookie Team in 2005-06 and started in every game in which she played all four seasons. The Red Foxes won the MAAC Regular Season and Tournament championships and played in the NCAA tournament in all four of Viani-Braen’s years. She was the first player in school history to go to the NCAA tournament all four years. She led the program to their first-ever Sweet 16 in 2006-07, making Marist the Cinderella story of that year’s tournament.
The Poughkeepsie, N.Y. native led the Red Foxes in three-pointers made and assists in 2007-08 and owns Marist’s third-best single season three-point percentage. Viani-Braen played professional basketball for Hatis in Armenia after graduating from Marist.
Viani-Braen made the MAAC All-Academic Team all four seasons as well, and was inducted into the MAAC Hall of Fame in 2014.
Prior to college, Viani-Braen led Poughkeepsie’s Our Lady of Lourdes High School to three New York State championships and was named to the New York All-State Team for three of her four high school seasons.