Round The Bases With Hostess Baseballs This Season
Hostess is celebrating America’s national pastime and inviting consumers to play an instant win game for a chance to score a VIP weekend in the Big Apple.
Hostess is getting into the swing of baseball season with the release of its limited-edition Baseball CupCakes and by offering fans a chance to win a VIP weekend for four in New York City complete with gift cards for tickets to see their favorite team play, airfare, hotel accommodations, limo transportation and $2,000 in spending cash.
Plus, Hostess fans can enter for a chance to win daily prizes – a $50 MLB.com gift card towards the purchase of their favorite team’s gear.
From April 30th through June 2nd specially marked packages of Hostess Baseballs – delicious frosted yellow cake with creamy filling and white icing with red icing “stitching” – as well as multipacks of Hostess Twinkies and Hostess Chocolate CupCakes, will be decked out in baseball packaging. Read more
Chevrolet Kicks Off 2012 ‘Diamonds & Dreams’
Chevrolet kicked off its 2012 “Diamonds & Dreams” program, encouraging participants across the country to visit www.chevybaseball.com and enter to win a refurbished baseball field for their community or one they feel is deserving.
One winner will be chosen each week for up to 12 weeks through July 22 and be eligible to win the Grand Prize: an all-new, 2013 Chevrolet Malibu ECO.
“Every young person wants and deserves a ‘dream’ baseball diamond, and we offer them a chance to get one,” said Phil Caruso, Chevrolet national promotions manager. “From the back yards to the big leagues, Chevrolet is committed to community and youth baseball and giving back to where our customers live, work and play.”
In its third year, “Diamonds & Dreams” has awarded more than 25 youth field makeovers across the country.
Renovations of the 12 field makeovers will be administered through Ripken Design, a division of Ripken Baseball, owned and operated by National Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. and 12-year Major League Baseball veteran Bill Ripken. Read more
Los Angeles Dodgers Expect to Emerge From Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganization on April 30
The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that the Dodgers and its related debtors expect to emerge from their chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization cases on April 30, 2012, following the confirmation hearing with respect to the debtors’ amended Plan of Reorganization, which is scheduled for April 13th in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware.
The Dodgers reported that it and the related debtors are filing today with the court, among other documents, an Amended Plan of Reorganization, a Plan Supplement to the Amended Plan of Reorganization, a Proposed Confirmation Order, and a Memorandum in Support of Confirmation of the Amended Plan.
The Dodgers stated, “The amended Plan of Reorganization, among other things, provides for the payment of all allowed claims of creditors in full, includes a substantial distribution for debtors’ equity interest holder, and provides a solid foundation for the long term success of Los Angeles Dodgers and its affiliates.”
The Dodgers emphasized, “The centerpiece of the Amended Plan is the agreement by Guggenheim Baseball L.P. to pay $2 billion to acquire the equity of the reorganized debtors. This agreement is the culmination of an auction process that was conducted over several months and reflects the highest and best bid generated by that process. The successful auction process attracted numerous prospective purchasers and numerous proposals, all of which confirmed the substantial value of the Dodgers, the media rights associated with the team, and Dodger Stadium.”
Boeing Teams up with Major League Baseball and Seattle Mariners for Season Opener in Japan
Boeing will be a major sponsor of Major League Baseball and the Seattle Mariners for this year’s season opening series in Tokyo, Japan. Gloops Japan Opening Series 2012 features the Mariners and the Oakland Athletics in a two-game series March 28 and 29.
“The opportunity to spotlight our relationship with the Seattle Mariners in Japan, a place where Boeing has had a strong presence for more than five decades, gives us a great deal of pride,” said Mary Foerster, vice president of Communications and Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The Mariners have been valued community partners since the club was founded, and the Japan series expands our shared tradition of investing to make our communities stronger and more vibrant.”
In the days leading up to the opening series, Boeing will partner with Major League Baseball and the Mariners to host a children’s baseball clinic in Ishinomaki, one of the cities most impacted by last year’s earthquake and tsunami. About 100 children are expected to participate in the event. The players will later share a meal with the community featuring tonjiru, a traditional Japanese stew. Read more
MLB.com Mobile App Offers Fans a Chance to Win $5.6 Million Grand Prize
MLB.com has introduced a Beat the Streak mobile application built exclusively for iPhone, offering fans the chance to win a $5.6 million grand prize in the free fantasy game if they can surpass the legendary consecutive games hitting streak mark of 56 games. In addition to the new iPhone App, accessible in the App Store, the free-to-play game and official rules also are available online at MLB.com/bts.
Fan participation in Beat the Streak fantasy game continues at a record clip in 2011 as more than 2 million streaks have been started since Opening Day, representing a 105% increase over the same period in 2010. Since Beat the Streak’s inaugural season in 2001, more than 30 million streaks have been started by users, including the current all-time record of 49 straight games (2007).
“Beat the Streak always has been a fun and easy way for fans to wade into fantasy baseball and the iPhone App expands fans’ participatory opportunities,” said Gregg Klayman, Vice President, Product Development for MLB.com, and Beat The Streak creator. “The game provides a lively and engaging platform, putting fans into the figurative shoes of players chasing this hallowed baseball record, while also vying against friends, colleagues, and millions of others in pursuit of the $5.6 million grand prize.” Read more
Online Tool Helps Youth Baseball Players Choose League-Approved Bats
Eastbay launches baseball selector and bat guarantee to ensure customers aren’t stuck with the wrong bat
Concerned you just might purchase a youth baseball bat, only to arrive at practice and discover it’s illegal to use that bat in your league? It could happen. Which is why Eastbay has launched an online Bat Selector platform (http://www.eastbay.com/league-approved-bats/).
The Bat Selector is easy to use — it allows users to select their league and age group then provides users with a wide selection of league-approved and age-appropriate bats. The Selector even accounts for California high school regulations that differ from the rest of the country, and provides rulebooks for all youth baseball leagues (excepting the American Legion Baseball league).
The Bat Selector chooses league-approved bats for the following youth baseball leagues: Read more
Live Baseball Returns to MLB.com on Saturday
MLB.TV 2011 live streaming schedule begins with three Spring Training matchups: Phillies-Yankees, Braves-Mets, Rockies-Diamondbacks
MLB.com will present the first of more than 150 live Spring Training games from Florida and Arizona camps beginning tomorrow with a trio of games, the Philadelphia Phillies-New York Yankees (1:05 p.m. EST), Atlanta Braves-New York Mets (1:10 p.m. EST) and Colorado Rockies-Arizona Diamondbacks (3:10 p.m. EST).
The entire allotment of select Spring Training broadcasts, along with every out-of-market game of the 2011 regular season, is available as part of a MLB.TV subscription. As one of the largest subscription video offerings on the Internet, MLB.TV has served one billion live video streams since its inception, 25% of which were delivered in 2010 alone.
Spring Training 2011
Fans again will be able to watch select live games from Spring Training on their Mac/PC and on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices with a free MLB.TV sneak preview included within the top-selling MLB.com At Bat applications for each. It marks the earliest availability ever for live streaming Spring Training games on mobile devices.
Opening Day 2011
In addition to the accessible devices offered for Spring Training, MLB.TV subscribers will be able to watch every regular season game with support across select Android devices through At Bat 11, Sony PS3 and other connected devices. Additional platform offerings for MLB.TV live streaming will be announced as they become available.
Subscribers will get a host of cutting-edge features in the award-winning MLB.TV media player, including HD quality picture, alternate audio options, in progress highlights and fantasy player tracker alerts, clickable linescores, multi-game viewing options (Premium), home and away feeds (Premium) and DVR functionality (Premium).
MLB.TV and MLB.TV Premium with complete portability are available to subscribers for annual fees of $99.99 and $119.99, respectively, for the entire 2011 season.