Another lineup change for ESPN: Hershiser out on Sunday nights; Schilling in

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ESPN suffered a big loss with Orel Hershiser deciding to leave the network. He will head back to his old team to join the Dodgers new regional TV network.

I thought Hershiser was terrific for ESPN. While it didn’t get as much play as his Sunday night work, he and Dan Shulman really shined on radio during the postseason.

ESPN moved quickly, replacing Hershiser with Curt Schilling on Sunday nights. He will join Shulman and John Kruk.

Sports Media Watch notes making a lineup change on Sunday nights is nothing new for ESPN.

The Shulman-Kruk-Schilling booth will be the sixth different “SNB” broadcast team in as many years.

Since 2008, the last year Jon Miller and Joe Morgan worked together in a two-man booth, Sunday Night Baseball has added and dropped Steve Phillips (2009), added Hershiser to replace Phillips (2010), dumped Miller and Morgan in favor of Shulman and Bobby Valentine (2011), replaced Valentine with Terry Francona (2012), replaced Francona with Kruk (2013), and now replaced Hershiser with Schilling (2014).

Obviously, there were some extenuating circumstances. Phillips had a messy public affair; Valentine and Francona departed to take managing jobs; and ESPN decided to end the Miller-Morgan run.

If they are good, I would expect Shulman-Schilling-Kruk should be in place for a while.

In an Associated Press story, Schilling said he knows the expectation level will be raised in his new assignment.

Curt Schilling knows criticism is coming. He expects it.

The former All-Star pitcher is replacing Orel Hershiser on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast crew next season as part of a multiyear contract extension, giving him a wider audience for his opinions.

“No matter how you phrase it, if you don’t compliment a player, that player’s team, that player’s fans think you hate him,” Schilling said Sunday. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people react with, ‘You hate so-and-so. You hate so-and-so.’ And it’s just amazing how — it’s a good thing. The passion is great. It’s amazing how much people read into the things that we say on a nightly basis.”