(CHICAGO) – The 2003 National League Central Division champion Chicago Cubs, led by former National League MVP Sammy Sosa (first player in NL history with six straight 40-home run seasons and nine straight 100-RBI seasons) and arguably the best starting rotation in the majors, which includes Kerry Wood (3.20 ERA & NL strikeout leader with 266), Mark Prior (2.43 ERA, second in NL with 245 K's) and the return of four-time Cy Young award winner Greg Maddux (289 career wins with a lifetime 2.89 ERA), are set to begin another thrilling summer of Major League Baseball on Fox Sports Net. This season, fans can look forward to 75 Cubs telecasts (three spring training and 72 regular season), featuring nine battles against the NL Central Division rivals Houston Astros and seven games against their long-time division nemesis, the St. Louis Cardinals.
The first of 72 live, regular season Cubs games gets underway with the season opener on Monday, April 5 at 1:00 PM (replay at 7:00 PM) as the Cubs and manager Dusty Baker visit the Cincinnati Reds. An expanded edition of Mike's Hard Lemonade Chicago Cubs Pregame Show begins at 12 NOON and the game will be immediately followed by a half-hour edition of ATA Chicago Cubs Postgame Show (NOTE: All Cubs games on FSN will be preceded by a pre/post-game show). FSN will carry its first Cubs home game live from Wrigley Field on Wednesday, April 14 at 1:20 PM vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Prior to the start of the regular season, Fox Sports Net will bring Cubs fans three spring training games live from Arizona starting off with a primetime match-up against the San Diego Padres on Saturday, March 27 at 8:00 PM followed by afternoon games against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, March 30 at 2:00 PM and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, April 1 at 2:00 PM. Half-hour editions of Mike's Hard Lemonade Chicago Cubs Pregame Show and ATA Chicago Cubs Postgame Show will precede/ follow all spring training games.
Plus, Cubs fans are in for a treat when Fox Sports Net will look back to the Cubs division-clinching day last September with five-straight hours of replay coverage and new interviews with Cubs Clinch presented by Chevrolet on Sunday, March 28 beginning at 5:00 PM. The five hours of coverage will include interviews with Cubs players and front office personnel. FSN will also give Cubs fans an inside look at this year's team with Chicago Baseball Xtra on Sunday, March 28 at 10:00 PM.
Veteran Cubs game analyst Steve Stone once again joins play-by-play announcer Chip Caray for all Fox Sports Net telecasts this season. For the second-straight season, FSN's pre and post-game shows will be hosted by Gail Fischer and features former MLB pitcher and veteran baseball analyst Dave Otto.
Cubs fans will be treated to the very best match-ups on this year's schedule, including a cross-town, interleague match-up against the Chicago White Sox on Friday, July 2 at 2:20 PM live from Wrigley Field (an expanded edition of Mike's Hard Lemonade Chicago Cubs Pregame Show begins at 1:00 PM). Plus, as part of the White Sox season schedule on FSN, fans will also be able to watch an additional Cubs-White Sox regular season battle on Saturday, June 27 at 3:00 PM live from U.S. Cellular Field.
This summer's Cubs schedule on Fox Sports Net will encompass 33 home games and 39 road contests during the regular season. Highlights include 43 key match-ups against teams in NL Central Division featuring nine critical battles against Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and the Houston Astros (May 26; June 1-2, 14-16, 30; Aug. 20 & 26) and seven big games against Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and the St. Louis Cardinals (May 1 & 3; June 8-9, 22-23; July 19). FSN will also carry games against the National League's very best teams including three games against NL MVP Barry Bonds and the defending NL West champion San Francisco Giants (May 19-20), two games against the NL East champion Atlanta Braves (Apr. 10 & Oct. 2) and a pair of contests against the 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins (Sept. 4 & 10).
The Cubs will appear in 26 day games and 44 night contests this season on Fox Sports Net (Sept. 25 & Oct. 2 game times TBD), plus – FSN will carry two Cubs interleague games against the American League West with match-ups against the Anaheim Angels (June 12) and Oakland Athletics (June 19).
Nine regular season Cubs games are currently scheduled to be telecast on Fox Sports Net Plus (see attached schedule). Fox Sports Net Plus (FSN+) telecasts are provided to Fox Sports Net affiliates and distributed to viewers when two live events are scheduled simultaneously. Through a cooperative agreement with CLTV, inner market cable operators are given the opportunity to place FSN+ games on CLTV. Cable operators who do not carry CLTV will place FSN+ telecasts on a to-be-determined channel.
Fox Sports Net Chicago reaches more than 3.8 million households in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Fox Sports Net Chicago's programming includes Chicago Bulls basketball, Chicago Blackhawks hockey, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs baseball, Chicago Fire soccer, "The Best Damn Sports Show Period," NASCAR and "Beyond the Glory." Fox Sports Net Chicago is managed by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment, as well as Mag Rack, a collection of on-demand video magazines. Rainbow Media's other businesses include its regional programming services – MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow Media is also a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.
2004 Chicago Cubs Schedule
| Spring Training: | |||
| Sat, March 27 | @ San Diego | 8:00 pm | |
| Tue, March 30 | vs. Seattle | 2:00 pm | |
| Thu, April 1 | vs. Arizona | 2:00 pm | |
| Regular Season: | |||
| Mon, April 5 | @ Cincinnati (season opener) | 1:00 pm | |
| Wed, April 7 | @ Cincinnati | 6:00 pm | |
| Sat, April 10 | @ Atlanta | 6:00 pm | |
| Wed, April 14 | vs. Pittsburgh | 1:20 pm | |
| Sun, April 18 | vs. Cincinnati | 1:20 pm | |
| Tue, April 20 | @ Pittsburgh | 6:00 pm | |
| Wed, April 21 | @ Pittsburgh | 6:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Thu, April 22 | @ Pittsburgh | 6:00 pm | |
| Sat, April 24 | vs. NY Mets | 1:20 pm | |
| Tue, April 27 | @ Arizona | 8:30 pm | |
| Wed, April 28 | @ Arizona | 8:30 pm | |
| Sat, May 1 | @ St. Louis | 6:00 pm | |
| Mon, May 3 | @ St. Louis | 12:00 pm | |
| Wed, May 5 | vs. Arizona | 7:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Fri, May 7 | vs. Colorado | 2:20 pm | |
| Wed, May 12 | @ Los Angeles | 9:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Fri, May 14 | @ San Diego | 9:00 pm | |
| Sun, May 16 | @ San Diego | 3:00 pm | |
| Wed, May 19 | vs. San Francisco | 6:00 pm | |
| Thu, May 20 | vs. San Francisco | 1:20 pm | |
| Wed, May 26 | @ Houston | 7:00 pm | |
| Fri, May 28 | @ Pittsburgh | 6:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Sun, May 30 | @ Pittsburgh | 12:30 pm | |
| Tue, June 1 | vs. Houston | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, June 2 | vs. Houston | 1:20 pm | |
| Tue, June 8 | vs. St. Louis | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, June 9 | vs. St. Louis | 1:20 pm | |
| Sat, June 12 | @ Anaheim (IL) | 9:00 pm | |
| Mon, June 14 | @ Houston | 7:00 pm | |
| Tue, June 15 | @ Houston | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, June 16 | @ Houston | 7:00 pm | |
| Sat, June 19 | vs. Oakland (IL) | 12:00 pm | |
| Tue, June 22 | @ St. Louis | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, June 23 | @ St. Louis | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, June 30 | vs. Houston | 1:20 pm | |
| Fri, July 2 | vs. White Sox | 2:20 pm | |
| Tue, July 6 | @ Milwaukee | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, July 7 | @ Milwaukee | 7:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Fri, July 16 | vs. Milwaukee | 2:20 pm | |
| Sat, July 17 | vs. Milwaukee | 3:00 pm | |
| Mon, July 19 | vs. St. Louis | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, July 21 | vs. Cincinnati | 1:20 pm | |
| Tue, July 27 | @ Milwaukee | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, July 28 | @ Milwaukee | 7:00 pm | |
| Fri, July 30 | vs. Philadelphia | 2:20 pm | |
| Wed, Aug 4 | @ Colorado | 8:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Tue, Aug 10 | vs. San Diego | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, Aug 11 | vs. San Diego | 7:00 pm | |
| Fri, Aug 13 | vs. Los Angeles | 2:20 pm | |
| Wed, Aug 18 | @ Milwaukee | 7:00 pm | |
| Thu, Aug 19 | @ Milwaukee | 1:00 pm | |
| Fri, Aug 20 | @ Houston | 7:00 pm | |
| Mon, Aug 23 | vs. Milwaukee | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, Aug 25 | vs. Milwaukee | 1:20 pm | |
| Thu, Aug 26 | vs. Houston | 1:20 pm | |
| Tue, Aug 31 | @ Montreal | 6:00 pm | |
| Wed, Sept 1 | @ Montreal | 6:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Sat, Sept 4 | @ Florida | 5:00 pm | |
| Mon, Sept 6 | vs. Montreal | 3:00 pm | |
| Tue, Sept 7 | vs. Montreal | 7:00 pm | |
| Wed, Sept 8 | vs. Montreal | 7:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Fri, Sept. 10 | vs. Florida | 2:20 pm | |
| Mon, Sept 13 | vs. Pittsburgh | 7:00 pm | |
| Thu, Sept 16 | @ Cincinnati | 6:00 pm | |
| Fri, Sept 17 | @ Cincinnati | 6:00 pm | FSN+ |
| Sun, Sept 19 | @ Cincinnati | 12:00 pm | |
| Wed, Sept 22 | @ Pittsburgh | 6:00 pm | |
| Fri, Sept 24 | @ NY Mets | 6:00 pm | |
| Sat, Sept 25 | @ NY Mets | TBD | |
| Tue, Sept 28 | vs. Cincinnati | 7:00 pm | |
| Thu, Sept 30 | vs. Cincinnati | 1:20 pm | |
| Sat, Oct 2 | vs. Atlanta | TBD | |
Regular season games – 33 home, 39 away
Total 75 games
All Times Central Time
Schedule Subject to Change
PLEASE NOTE: FSN+ telecasts may be found on CLTV or call 1-877-655-PLUS for channel number