MLB NETWORK TO BROADCAST TWO ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARIES

FROM MLB PRODUCTIONS

“Josh Hamilton: Resurrecting the Dream” and “We Are Young: A Baseball Family” Chronicle Compelling Comeback Stories Featuring MLB Players Josh Hamilton and Dmitri and

Delmon Young

Secaucus, N.J. – MLB Network today announced it will broadcast two original documentaries created by MLB Productions, both telling compelling comeback stories involving current MLB players.  This Friday, February 27 at 9:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network will air Josh Hamilton: Resurrecting the Dream, a one-hour documentary on Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton – which takes an insider’s look into Hamilton’s journey back into baseball.  On Monday, March 2 at 9:00 p.m. ET, MLB Network will debut the first-ever original film from MLB Productions, We Are Young: A Baseball Family, the story of MLB players and brothers Dmitri and Delmon Young, who overcame personal struggles to persevere in the Major Leagues.

Josh Hamilton: Resurrecting the Dream recounts Hamilton’s journey both in his own words and for the first time, from the perspectives of his family members and close friends.  The program marks the first documentary ever produced on Hamilton, and takes a comprehensive look into Hamilton’s substance-induced breakdown, personal recovery and eventual climb to become one of the top hitters in the American League. Personal passages from his autobiography are read by Hamilton himself to further contextualize his journey.

We Are Young: A Baseball Family, the first-ever original film by MLB Productions, chronicles a seven-year period of MLB players and brothers Dmitri and Delmon Young, and their demanding father, Larry, who helped guide them into the Major Leagues.  The film documents Dmitri, currently on the Washington Nationals, who makes the All-Star team in 2003, watches with joy as his brother is selected as the number one pick in the Draft that same year, but then begins to battle alcoholism and is released by the Detroit Tigers in 2005.  Soon after, Dmitri comes close to death due to an undiagnosed case of diabetes, and then bounces back to make the All-Star team in 2007 and become the National League’s 2007 Comeback Player of the Year. We Are Young: A Baseball Family also chronicles the controversy that has surrounded Delmon—the first overall pick in the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft—ever since his 50-game suspension for flipping a bat in at an umpire during a Minor League game. Delmon would learn a valuable lesson, and eventually is called up to the Major Leagues in the fall of 2005, where he would make an immediate impact with Tampa. After finishing second in the American League Rookie of the Year honors the next season, Delmon was traded to the Twins. Monday will mark the television debut for the 96-minute film, which was selected for inclusion in the first annual U.S. Sports Film Festival, held in Philadelphia last October.

“The documentaries are intimate looks of the roads these players took to make it in the Major Leagues,” said Tony Petitti, President and CEO of MLB Network. “MLB Network continues to be pleased that we can be an outlet for the outstanding work done by MLB Productions.”

“We are extremely grateful to the players involved and their families for giving MLB Productions unprecedented access into their lives,” said David Gavant, Executive in charge of Production and Vice President, MLB Productions.  “These documentaries present a behind-the-scenes look at these players, helping us to understand the challenging journeys they have taken.”

Both programs were created by MLB Productions. For Josh Hamilton: Resurrecting the Dream, Meredith Eckert was the Lead Producer, Jeff Spaulding was the Coordinating Producer, and both David Gavant and David Check were Executive Producers.   For We Are Young: A Baseball Family, David Check was the Director, Robert Haddad was the Co-Director and David Gavant was Executive Producer.

MLB Network launched in approximately 50 million cable and satellite homes on January 1, 2009 as the largest debut in cable television history, exceeding any other cable television launch by approximately 20 million. With live games, original programming, highlights, classic games, and coverage of baseball events, MLB Network is the ultimate television destination for baseball fans. For more information, go to mlbnetwork.com.

About MLB Productions

Major League Baseball Productions is the Emmy^® award-winning television and video production division of Major League Baseball and the official video archivists of the game. With unparalleled access to the Clubs and their players, Major League Baseball Productions produces original programming for growing audiences worldwide through its network specials, exclusive home videos, commercials and other specialty programming. For more information on Major League Baseball Productions, log on to www.MLBProductions.com.

DAVID WRIGHT INTERVIEWED AS PART OF MLB NETWORK’S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ROSTER SPECIAL TONIGHT AT 6:00 P.M. ET

Mets Third Baseman and World Baseball Classic USA team member David Wright was interviewed as part of MLB Network’s World Baseball Classic Roster Special, which will air at 6:00 p.m. ET tonight.  Wright talked with Victor Rojas and Harold Reynolds about gearing up to play in his first World Baseball Classic, which begins March 5.  MLB Network will televise 16 World Baseball Classic games along with a nightly studio show titled World Baseball Classic Tonight, dedicated to the world’s premier international baseball tournament.

Highlights of the interview include:

ON HIS FIRST WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC:

“I can’t wait. I got down here to Spring Training a little bit early to try to get started a little bit earlier and try to face some live pitching to get ready because when you put that USA across your chest, to me, there is really no bigger honor as a baseball player to go represent your country.  Obviously, wearing the uniform is something I am going to be very proud of and looking over to your left seeing Derek Jeter and some of those guys who are teammates just sitting around and talking baseball. I’m going to soak it up, try to learn as much as possible, and hopefully come away with a few wins.”

ON THE WBC INTERFERRING WITH 2009 PRE-SEASON PREPARATIONS:

“I think it will help with the development of getting ready for the regular season because you’re talking about playing in meaningful games, big at bats, trying to get runners over, get runners in. We were talking today with our manager Jerry Manuel and he likes the idea of a lot of us going to play in the classic because it puts us in those real life game situations where every at bat counts, being unselfish, trying to do things for the good of the team, and hopefully that will put us in a position where we are ready come first week of April.”

ON PLAYING WITH RIVAL PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES DURING THE WBC:

“Well hopefully for the few weeks together we’ll have a little truce (smiling). We’ll stop the war of words for at least a couple of weeks and as much as we obviously don’t get along with them all that well we respect them and we congratulate them obviously on their championship and I think we can learn a lot from a team like that.”

ON JOKING WITH FELLOW METS TEAMMATES AND WBC COMPETITION:

“Oh I told Jose [Reyes] ‘I’m coming in hard and you better watch out!’ (laughs and smiles) because if I get a chance to break up a double play I’m coming in hard.”

ON MENTAL PREPARATION FOR THE WBC:

“We’ve got a lot of guys on the team this year that participated in that first World Baseball Classic and obviously they are let down so we’re going to look to those guys to lead the team and prepare us for the expectations going into it because it’s a different kind of format. It’s a different style of play where obviously every game is huge and one game you could be going home so we’re going to look to those guys to kind of lead us and hopefully the young guys can provide some energy.”

ON WANTING SOMETHING MORE THAN A WBC CHAMPIONSHIP:

“Maybe a World Series. How about both of them? I’ll take that one (smiles and laughs). We’ll put both of them up there on kind of the same level.”

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MLB NETWORK TO BROADCAST 61 SPRING TRAINING GAMES

Broadcast Schedule Features 45 Live Games, and Includes All 30 MLB Clubs

Highlights Include First Exhibition Game at New Yankee Stadium and Second at CitiField

Secaucus, N.J. – MLB Network today announced its Spring Training broadcast schedule, which will feature 61 games — 45 of which will be live — featuring all 30 Major League clubs and including three World Baseball Classic exhibition games.  MLB Network’s Spring Training schedule begins on Wednesday, February 25 at 3:00 p.m. ET with San Francisco at Cleveland live from Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Ariz.  All games will be simulcasts of local broadcasts, including local announcers.  MLB Tonight will air for one hour every night, containing news, analysis and highlights.

Highlights of the broadcast schedule include:

· Feb 28, 1:00 p.m. ET: Tampa Bay Rays @ Philadelphia Phillies (2008 World Series rematch)

· March 1, 5:00 p.m. ET: Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers (first game at Camelback Ranch – Glendale, the new Spring Training home for both teams)

· March 3, 1:00 p.m. ET: Team USA @ New York Yankees (World Baseball Classic exhibition game, also Derek Jeter’s first career game played against the Yankees)

· April 3, 7:00 p.m. ET: Chicago Cubs @ New York Yankees (first ever game at new Yankee Stadium)

· April 4, 1:00 p.m. ET: Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets (second game ever at CitiField)

“We’re all excited for the start of baseball season, and we wanted to give fans as many Spring Training games as possible, featuring every single club,” said Tony Petitti, President and Chief Executive Officer of MLB Network.  “We’re also happy to be able to give a national audience its first look at the new Mets and Yankees parks, as well as an early look at some of the World Baseball Classic teams through those exhibition games.”

The full MLB Network Spring Training broadcast schedule appears below.

MLB NETWORK SPRING TRAINING BROADCAST SCHEDULE

*Indicates live broadcast

All times ET and subject to change, check mlbnetwork.com for updates

Games will be blacked out in local markets only where necessary

Date                           Time               Game

February 25             3:00 p.m.*     San Francisco Giants @ Cleveland Indians

7:00 p.m.*     Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins

February 26             4:00 p.m.      Arizona Diamondbacks @ Cleveland Indians

February 27             1:00 p.m.*     St. Louis Cardinals @ New York Mets

5:00 p.m.      San Diego Padres @ Cleveland Indians

February 28             1:00 p.m.*     Tampa Bay Rays @ Philadelphia Phillies

5:00 p.m.      Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees

March 1                  1:00 p.m.*     Boston Red Sox @ Minnesota Twins

5:00 p.m.      Chicago White Sox @ Los Angeles Dodgers

9:00 p.m.      Houston Astros @ New York Mets

March 3                  1:00 p.m.*     USA @ New York Yankees (WBC Exhibition)

5:00 p.m.      Canada @ Toronto Blue Jays (WBC Exhibition)

March 4                  9:00 p.m.*     Australia @ Seattle Mariners (WBC Exhibition)

March 5                  4:00 p.m.*     Chicago White Sox @ Chicago Cubs

March 6                  1:00 p.m.*     Washington Nationals @ Baltimore Orioles

March 7                  3:00 p.m.*     Oakland Athletics @ San Diego Padres

March 9                  1:00 p.m.*     Baltimore Orioles @ New York Mets

March 14                 4:00 p.m.*     Texas Rangers @ Chicago White Sox

March 15                 1:00 p.m.*     St. Louis Cardinals @ Philadelphia Phillies

8:30 p.m.      Kansas City Royals @ San Francisco Giants

March 16                 1:00 p.m.*     St. Louis Cardinals @ Detroit Tigers

7:00 p.m.*     Tampa Bay Rays @ Pittsburgh Pirates

March 17                 1:00 p.m.*     Minnesota Twins @ Boston Red Sox

March 18                 1:00 p.m.*     Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets

March 19                 1:00 p.m.*     St. Louis Cardinals @ Tampa Bay Rays

7:00 p.m.*     Boston Red Sox @ Cincinnati Reds

March 20                 1:00 p.m.*     Cincinnati Reds @ Houston Astros

5:00 p.m.      San Diego Padres @ Chicago Cubs

9:00 p.m.*     Los Angeles Dodgers @ Kansas City Royals

March 21                 1:00 p.m.*     Boston Red Sox @ Florida Marlins

5:00 p.m.      Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox

March 22                 1:00 p.m.*     New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays

5:00 p.m.      Cleveland Indians @ Colorado Rockies

March 23                 1:00 p.m.*     Florida Marlins @ Houston Astros

5:00 p.m.      Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies

March 24                 1:00 p.m.*     New York Mets @ Houston Astros

7:00 p.m.*     Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees

March 25                 1:00 p.m.*     Detroit Tigers @ New York Mets

7:00 p.m.*     Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals

March 26                 4:00 p.m.*     Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Cleveland Indians

10:30 p.m.*   Chicago Cubs @ San Francisco Giants
March 27                 1:00 p.m.*     Detroit Tigers @ Atlanta Braves

9:00 p.m.*     Milwaukee Brewers @ Texas Rangers

March 28                 1:00 p.m.*     Philadelphia Phillies @ Pittsburgh Pirates

5:00 p.m.      Chicago Cubs @ Colorado Rockies

9:00 p.m.      New York Yankees @ Atlanta Braves

March 29                 1:00 p.m.*     Atlanta Braves @ Detroit Tigers

5:00 p.m.      Kansas City Royals @ Seattle Mariners

March 30                 1:00 p.m.*     Tampa Bay Rays @ Minnesota Twins

7:00 p.m.*     San Diego Padres @ Cleveland Indians

March 31                 4:00 p.m.*     Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Chicago Cubs

10:00 p.m.*   Milwaukee Brewers @ San Diego Padres

April 1                     1:00 p.m.*     Florida Marlins @ Baltimore Orioles

5:00 p.m.      Texas Rangers @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

9:00 p.m.      Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers

April 2                     3:00 p.m.*     Chicago White Sox @ Milwaukee Brewers

10:00 p.m.*   Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Los Angeles Dodgers

April 3                     7:00 p.m.*     Chicago Cubs @ New York Yankees

April 4                     1:00 p.m.*     Boston Red Sox @ New York Mets

6:00 p.m.*     Baltimore Orioles @ Washington Nationals

10:00 p.m.*   Milwaukee Brewers @ Los Angeles Dodgers