MLB Network expands coverage of live televised games with Saturday night schedule.

Dan Plesac, a former N.C. State left-hander who had a successful 18-year big-league career, is offering his insight into the game as a commentator on the recently debuted MLB Network.

Seeing as how so little has been done on Josh Hamilton's story, MLB Network is diving into it with "Josh Hamilton: Resurrecting A Dream," a one-hour program about the Raleigh native's comeback from drug abuse, to be aired at 9 p.m. Friday. The piece includes interviews with the Texas Rangers outfielders, family members and friends.

At 9 p.m. Monday, the baseball network will air "We Are Young: A Baseball Family," the story of brothers Dmitri and Delmon Young, who overcame personal struggles to persevere in the major leagues. Delmon Young's checkered past includes a 50-game suspension for tossing a bat at an umpire while he was with the Durham Bulls. Young, the top pick in the 2003 draft, is now with the Twins. Dmitri Young was the National League's Comeback Player of the Year in 2007 after battling an alcohol problem and diabetes. 

The World Baseball Classic, taking place March 5-23, released its broadcast schedule today. ESPN and ESPN2 will televise 23 of the 39 games, including the semifinals and finals on ESPN, and all 39 will be shown on the Spanish-language ESPN Desportes. You can find the full schedule here:

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• If you missed Josh Hamilton's appearance on the debut of "Homecoming," the new ESPN2 series hosted by Rick Reilly, be patient. The show, which featured the Texas Rangers star returning to Apex High School, first aired Friday, but it is not expected to be aired again until April 22, the network says, and no DVDs are available yet.
• Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn, writing in this week's issue about how basketball star James Harden wound up at Arizona State, takes a swipe at N.C. State fans, referring to them as "the ungratefuls." Writing in the present tense, Winn describes the familiar coach's arrival at Arizona State: "Herb Sendek heads west in April 2006, fleeing the ungratefuls as North Carolina State who cared less about his success (five straight NCAA tournament trips) than about his singular failure (not wresting Tobacco Road bragging rights from Duke and North Carolina)."
• ESPN2 will televise the World Cup qualifying soccer match between the U.S. men's team and Mexico live (and in high definition) at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 from Columbus, Ohio.
• MLB Network will televise the Caribbean World Series — 12 games — Feb. 2-6 in Mexicali, Mexico.
• Four of the next six Charlotte Bobcats games on Fox Sports Carolinas and SportSouth will be televised in HD — 2 p.m. Monday vs. San Antonio on FS Carolinas, 7 p.m. Jan. 23 on SportSouth, 10 p.m. Jan. 27 at L.A. Lakers on FS Carolinas and 9 p.m. Jan. 30 at Denver on F.S. Carolinas. Time Warner Cable subscribers can find the HD version of FS Carolinas on channel 272. DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers should check local listings.

Documentary producer Ken Burns is going into extra innings with his "Baseball" series, adding a 10th inning to the nine-part program that aired in the 1990s on public television. PBS says the new film, titled “The Tenth Inning,” will air in spring 2010, along with a rebroadcast of the original documentary series that debuted in 1994. Meanwhile, the series is running Tuesday nights on the new MLB Network.

The new film will track baseball history from 1993 through 2008, beginning where the original series ended.

MLB Network, being launched Thursday, will carry 26 live games on Thursday nights this season, but it is counting more on its “MLB Tonight” studio show, original series and classic games to entice viewers. By giving Time Warner Cable, Comcast, DirecTV and Cox a financial stake, baseball ensured that the network will be launched with a huge advantage — it’s already in about 50 million TV households. Tony Petitti, the former CBS Sports executive who heads MLB Network, spoke with staff writer Roger van der Horst.

Baseball history buffs will be the early winners when MLB Network launches Thursday, given the new network's programming plans, which include Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary series — and an apparent response from ESPN, which will replay classic games on ESPN Classic.

Time Warner Cable says the MLB Network, which is being launched Jan. 1, will be on channel 139 and available to digital customers.

Former N.C. State pitcher and major-league reliever Dan Plesac has been added to the cast of "MLB Tonight," the new MLB Network's nightly studio show. The MLB Network will be launched Jan. 1