Karl Ravech got a proper goodbye on Sunday as he worked his final broadcast for ESPN, calling a Little League World Series championship game between Nevada and Curacao.
The broadcaster had been laid off as part of a round of layoffs in July across the Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN. Ravech remained on the air for select MLB games and the network’s Little League World Series coverage before finally signing off for good.
Ravech was gifted a framed photograph on air by Eduardo Pérez, who gave him the present.
“You’ve been our quarterback. You’ve been our leader, our mentor, and the best teammate we can all have,” Pérez said during the emotional moment. “On behalf of the entire ESPN Little League family, we want to present you this, because you mean so much to the people in front of the camera and behind the camera as well. And personally, you’ve been my rock, so I appreciate everything you’ve done to make us look damn good on TV. And most importantly, it’s the friendship that matters.”
The broadcaster, who was also honored on the field by Little League, struggled to keep himself together as his fellow broadcast teammates showered him with praise.
“Thank you very much. You’re the best, and you’re all the best,” Ravech said. “I’ve said it to everybody that would listen, this Little League World Series means so much to me, but it’s really always been about the kids and it’s been about the people in that picture. It’s been about my teammates for 33 years and four decades. So that is incredibly sweet, that will be displayed incredibly prominently and proudly in my house. I love what I do and I love the people I do it with, so thank you very much.”
Ravech had been laid off along with a number of ESPN mainstays, which included NFL insider Tom Pelissero, NFL analyst Cam Newton, anchor David Lloyd, NFL analyst Ryan Clark and ex-Jet Bart Scott.
Ravech had spent decades as part of the Worldwide Leader’s baseball coverage team.
Addressing his layoff, Ravech said in mid-August that he has “literally no ill will” toward ESPN for their deecision.
“I haven’t really commented on it much,” Ravech said on “Westwood One Sports Night.” “I think it’s sort of apparent what’s happened there. I certainly have literally no ill will to a company that’s provided me with a life that has exceeded any expectation I had coming out of Needham High School or Ithaca College and the experiences I’ve had.”
