MLB NETWORK’S SPRING TRAINING SERIES 30 CLUBS IN 30 DAYS RETURNS MONDAY, MARCH 5

For the First Time, MLB Network Analysts Will Hit the Road in Arizona and Florida For Spring Training

MLB Tonight, MLB Network’s Signature Studio Show, Returns Monday, March 5

Intentional Talk, with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose, Will Visit Five Camps in Arizona March 12-16

Secaucus, N.J., February 15, 2012 – With pitchers and catchers reporting this weekend, MLB Network today announced that MLB Network analysts will hit the road for the first time for 30 Clubs in 30 Days starting on Monday, March 5 at 5:00 p.m. ET, with hour-long features on each of the 30 Major League clubs previewing the 2012 season. Former MLB players and MLB Network analysts Sean Casey, Al Leiter, Kevin Millar, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, John Smoltz and Mitch Williams will report from all of the 30 Spring Training camps throughout Arizona and Florida conducting interviews with players, managers, coaches and others associated with each club.  MLB Tonight, MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning signature studio show, returns on Monday, March 5 live at 9:00 p.m. ET.

The new season of 30 Clubs in 30 Days, presented by Kingsford Charcoal, will continue to provide fans with the most extensive coverage of each club before Opening Day with field reports, interviews, predictions and inside access to every club’s training camp. The series will include segments breaking down each club’s offseason moves, a look at projected lineups and pitching rotations and previews of top prospects for the 2012 season and beyond.

Fans will have the opportunity to submit questions for MLB Network analysts to ask players and managers during the series via #30Clubs30Days on Twitter and Facebook. One fan-submitted question will be included in each episode. MLB Network has also launched its first-ever page on Tumblr, which will be updated throughout Spring Training with photos, videos, quotes and information from 30 Clubs in 30 Days and Intentional Talk.

Starting next week, MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, Matt Vasgersian and Matt Yallof will travel to 14 camps throughout Arizona and Florida to cover the biggest storylines as clubs report to Spring Training, including Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson reporting to camp with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Yu Darvish joining the Texas Rangers, and Prince Fielder reporting with the Detroit Tigers. Reports will air in “Hot Stove” through the end of February.

MLB Network’s daily talk show Intentional Talk, hosted by Millar and Chris Rose, will also travel to Spring Training, visiting the Colorado Rockies’, Cleveland Indians’, Arizona Diamondbacks’, Texas Rangers’ and Los Angeles Dodgers’ camps in Arizona from March 12-16. Each show will focus on the hot topics and events of the day across MLB and include interviews with players and club personalities, interaction with fans on-site at Spring Training, and an on-screen ticker with the latest headlines and feedback from Twitter and Facebook.

The 2012 series of 30 Clubs in 30 Days begins with the Seattle Mariners, followed by other club episodes every day from March 5 through April 2. The complete on-air schedule of premiere dates for each episode of 30 Clubs in 30 Days is available here.

Secaucus, N.J., February 13, 2012 – MLB Network today announced that Lauren Shehadi, Alanna Rizzo and Scott Braun have joined its roster of on-air talent this month as studio hosts and reporters appearing across MLB Network’s studio programming.

Shehadi most recently served as anchor and reporter for CBSSports.com and CBS Sports Network. She hosted the ALT Games, The SEC Tailgate Show, Fantasy Football Today, and was a contributor to the 2011 College World Series Home Run Derby in Omaha on CBS. Before joining CBS, Shehadi worked as a weekend sports anchor at KXMC-TV in Minot, North Dakota. She also worked as a producer at SNN-Channel 6 in Sarasota, Florida and behind the scenes at Comcast Sportsnet Washington.  A native of McLean, Virginia, Shehadi graduated from the University of Florida where she was a host of Gatorzone, an internet sports web show.

Rizzo joins MLB Network from ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain, where she received three Regional Emmy Awards for her work, including co-hosting Rockies All Access, reporting for Colorado Rockies telecasts and serving as a sideline reporter for the University of Colorado basketball, University of Denver basketball and hockey and high school football broadcasts. Rizzo previously worked as the weekend sports anchor and weekday sports reporter for WISC-TV in Madison, Wisconsin, covering the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks and the University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s hockey national championship runs.  Rizzo also worked as a weekend sports anchor and weekday sports reporter at KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas. A Colorado native, Rizzo graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder and received her M.A. from CU in Broadcast Journalism.

Braun most recently worked for ESPN as a college basketball play-by-play announcer for ESPNU and ESPN3, and as the host of ESPN.com’s Heat Index, covering the Miami Heat. In addition to his work for ESPN, Braun reported feature stories around the country and anchored sports updates for CBS Sports Network and was a studio host for CBSSports.com, including Fantasy Football Today. Braun is the talk show host of Sports Blitz Now on Huffington Post Radio. Braun was also the play-by-play voice for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two seasons and served as the Cape League Insider on Sirius XM MLB Network Radio. A native of Warren, NJ, Braun studied broadcast journalism and sport administration at the University of Miami where he appeared on ESPNU as a Campus Connection reporter and hosted multiple shows for University of Miami TV.

BOSTON RED SOX MANAGER BOBBY VALENTINE FEATURED ON STUDIO 42 WITH BOB COSTAS ON FEBRUARY 13

Valentine Addresses the Red Sox 2011 Collapse, His Plans for 2012 and How His Previous Experiences As a Manager Have Changed Him

Secaucus, NJ, February 8, 2012 – Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine will be featured in a new episode of MLB Network’s Studio 42 with Bob Costas on Monday, February 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Taped at Fenway Park last month, Valentine speaks with Costas about the Red Sox failing to make the 2011 Postseason saying, “I wasn’t here. I don’t know what happened, and you know what Bob? I don’t care what happened. The only thing I know is because it happened, I am here.”

Valentine also talks about his conversation with Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett about his pitching rhythm; how managing in the Japanese Pacific League helped him become less stubborn; managing a National League-style of play; and moments during his tenure as New York Mets manager, including losing the 1999 NLCS against the Atlanta Braves and the infamous mustache he wore on June 9, 1999 during a Mets vs. Toronto Blue Jays game.

Valentine began his career as a manager with the Texas Rangers for eight seasons (1985-1992), followed by seven years with the Mets (1996-2002), helping guide New York to two Postseason appearances, including the 2000 World Series against the New York Yankees. Valentine went on to manage the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific League in 2004, leading the Marines to the Japan Series Championship in 2005.

Audio and video footage from the interview are available to media via MLB Network PR. Prior to Studio 42 with Bob Costas, MLB Network’s block of offseason programming will air, including Intentional Talk at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. ET, Clubhouse Confidential at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET, and MLB Network’s offseason show of record Hot Stove at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. ET.

 

Highlights from the conversation with Valentine include:

On whether any of the reported clubhouse behavior by Red Sox pitchers in 2011 would continue:

I certainly hope not. I hope that it’s not because the big, bad policeman is standing on the corner and monitoring everything that is going on. I hope that it’s a conscious effort of players, coaches, clubhouse men, trainers all being on the same page, all understanding the difference between right and wrong. And I think they all know that if in fact that happened, that it was wrong and they’ll try to right it.

 

… I’m sure things will be addressed, but they need to be addressed and they need to get out of the way. We can’t make like it really didn’t happen. I wasn’t here. I don’t know what happened, and you know what Bob? I don’t care what happened. The only thing I know is because it happened, I am here. Let’s face it. So I’m not going to try to figure out the past. I’m going to try to figure out the present and the future.

On talking with Josh Beckett about his pitching rhythm:

It was an amazing conversation that I had [with] him where he educated me about the method to the madness, and it is maddening, I think, for many to watch that. Many of the Yankees did complain. The reason they complained is in this competitive nature that Josh created, if he waited, they lost. They lost their rhythm. They lost their timing and they lost the at-bat. The more victories that he gained by waiting longer, the more he did it. … Josh was very good. He watches video, he saw the cadence of some of these guys and he disrupted it. They say the job of a hitter is to time the pitch and the job of the pitcher is to disrupt the timing of the hitter. Well, that’s what he was doing. Not with his pitches, but his pre-pitch setup. Now, the rule book does say that [with] nobody on base, it is twelve seconds. Now, maybe they’re going adjust that rule or maybe they’re not going to enforce that rule. I’m not sure where we’re going with that.

 

On what he expects in 2012:

I’m expecting a wonderful Spring Training where I can get to know people. I think that this group of guys with the front office structure and the ownership structure and the fandom that’s here, [the] 100-year anniversary of Fenway Park, there is going to be something special going on here this year and I think I’m going to be part of it.

I think [I’ll] put the guys to work and make sure they understand that a foundation is very important and understand that there’s nothing wrong with working hard and having fun as you’re doing it to build this new group. This is not going to be the same team that started last year that everyone said was going to win 120 games and walk away with one of the toughest divisions in baseball.  This is a team that has some question marks that we have to build around. This is a team that has [gotten] a little older over a year and this is a team that is competing against a lot tougher teams in the American League in 2012 than were here in 2011. So it’s time to wake up, smell the roses, drink the coffee and let’s go to work.

 

On taking nine years to become a manager again:

I don’t think I was a fit in places like Seattle where they’re trying to build or Cleveland where they have their own sets of rules in things that they’re doing. That’s where the jobs were open. I think this was a questionable fit here and it became more of a fit the more I think Ben Cherington got to know me.

On accepting lineup suggestions from the front office and ownership:

I don’t think it’s anything new. I think Tom Grieve did that in Texas. I’m sure he did. Steve Phillips did it in New York. Even Fred Wilpon a couple times made suggestions about what should be done and you know what? I did it a couple times because I was probably at that time in search of answers and you never know for sure what’s that right answer. So yeah, let’s try it. We can do that as long as you’re willing to risk a few outs, a few innings and maybe even a game.

On what criticism of him has been fair in the past:

I think early on I thought there was only one way and I got under a lot of people’s skin because of that. I learned that there is more than one way. I continue to try to appreciate and adjust, but there is a line where professionalism needs to exude itself and needs to raise above whatever else is going on, and I like my players to be as professional as they could possibly be.

On how’s he learned to be less stubborn:

I think that Japanese experience of six years of speaking another language in another country, eating another food, becoming a minority, let me understand that I couldn’t just say it louder and I couldn’t just say it with my name attached to it. I had to prove it and I had to also incorporate some of their ideas into what I was doing. Otherwise I couldn’t last there.

On players not running balls out:

It was too much to ask for the greatest player I ever managed. It was Rickey Henderson. The third time he did that in a Mets uniform was the last time he did it in a Mets uniform. He hit the one, he picked [his jersey] and he went [looking] into our dugout and the ball hit the top of the wall. He was at first base and a double play ensued and he was in a new uniform very shortly after.

 

On the infamous mustache he wore on June 9, 1999 during a New York Mets vs. Toronto Blue Jays game:

The mustache and the glasses were basically Robin Ventura’s idea when he said, “You have to go out there. You have to go out there.” … He gave me the glasses, I put them on. He gave me the hat, I put it on. I looked in the mirror and I said, “No, I don’t think this is going to get it,” and I took the eye-black stencil off and put one side on one side of my upper lip and I took the stencil off and put it on the other side and I looked at him and I said, “What do you think?” and he said, “They’ll never know.” Ten thousand dollars later and a couple days’ suspension, they all knew. … No, I didn’t know I was going to get caught. I was just standing there. I was on the bench. I was just standing down the stairs and I was only there for two batters. I wasn’t there for the whole game. I guess I thought I would get noticed. I didn’t know about caught.

 

On managing a National League-style of play:

With “Moneyball” and with a lot of the new terminologies that are out there, there is this term “small ball,” which is in fact baseball. That’s what baseball is. Home run ball, home run derby is that other thing that was played during the 1990’s and strikeout ball is what you play in the backyard, but small ball is baseball, where you’re actually advancing runners to gain an advantage to score runs to win the game. At times, baseball needs to be applied in all games that are close games. Sometimes, you’re going to score more runs in one inning than the other team scores in the entire game, and those are blowouts and fun and days that I become a spectator a lot more than a director of what might be going on.

MLB NETWORK REVEALS MLB.COM’S TOP 50 PROSPECTS ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 AT 10:00 P.M. ET

For the First Time The Complete Ranking is Expanded to Include the Top 100 Prospects, Available on MLB.com

Secaucus, N.J., January 24, 2012 – MLB.com’s annual ranking of the best young prospects in baseball will be revealed on Top 50 Prospects on MLB Network tomorrow, Wednesday, January 25 at 10:00 p.m. ET. Using information from scouting directors, scouts and industry sources, the complete list, which has been expanded to include the top 100 prospects for the first time ever, is based on each player’s skill set, high upside, closeness to the Major Leagues and potential immediate impact to their team. Players eligible for the ranking must have rookie status for the upcoming 2012 season, including Matt Moore (Tampa Bay Rays), Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals). Previously top-ranked prospects include Trout, Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward and Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price.

Hosted by MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, the ranking will be analyzed by MLB Network insider John Hart, the former general manager of the 1995 and 1997 American League Champion Cleveland Indians, and MLB.com senior writer Jonathan Mayo. The complete rankings, including prospects 51-100, position and team lists, can be found at “Prospect Central” at MLB.com/prospects. Mayo will also discuss the top 100 prospects in an online chat on Friday, January 27^th at 2:00 p.m. ET on MLB.com.

Prior to Top 50 Prospects, MLB Network’s block of offseason programming will air, including Intentional Talk at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. ET, Clubhouse Confidential at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET, Hot Stove  at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. ET, and Baseball IQ, MLB Network’s first-ever game show, at 9:00 p.m. ET.

 

MLB NETWORK LAUNCHES ITS FIRST-EVER GAME SHOW, BASEBALL IQ

Matt Vasgersian Hosts a Bracket-Style Tournament With Participants from All 30 MLB Clubs, MLB.com and the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum

Baseball IQ Premieres Tuesday, January 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET

 

Secaucus, N.J., January 11, 2012 – MLB Network today announced the launch of Baseball IQ, its first-ever game show, premiering Tuesday, January 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Hosted by MLB Network’s Matt Vasgersian, Baseball IQ is a recall-based trivia show featuring two participants, 30 minutes and a chance to win up to $45,000 for charity. Questions will cover all things baseball, from current players and managers to World Series champions, MVPs, Cy Young Award winners, Hall of Famers, milestones and more.

MLB Network surveyed all 30 Clubs, MLB.com and the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum for the best and brightest trivia minds in their organizations to represent them in Baseball IQ, and thirty-two participants will be matched up in a bracket-style tournament across 31 episodes. Two new episodes will air every Tuesday through Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET from January 24 through February 23, leading up to the start of Spring Training.

“Baseball fans are passionate about the sport’s statistics and launching Baseball IQ is a way for us to expand our offseason programming lineup to let viewers test their baseball knowledge,” said MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti. “The premise of Baseball IQ is a natural extension of how fans talk about baseball at home or during a game by putting a current story, player or moment into historical context.”

Baseball IQ features participants from front office personnel, equipment managers, scoreboard operators and museum curators. When possible, Baseball IQ participants will be matched up in a bracket opposite their clubs’ rivals, pitting the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim against the Texas Rangers. The winning player of each episode will win $5,000 for the organization’s charity they represent. The championship episode will award $25,000 for the winner’s charity and $15,000 to the runner-up’s charity.

The complete Baseball IQ bracket with participants scheduled to appear is below and more information, including rules, participant and charity information can be found here. Show information and programming updates will be posted to MLB Network’s Facebook page and Twitter feed via #BaseballIQ.

2012 NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME ELECTION RESULTS TO AIR LIVE ON MLB NETWORK & MLB.COM ON MONDAY, JANUARY 9

National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson to Announce 2012 Inductees Live in MLB Network’s Studio 3

Costas, Gammons, Amsinger, Kenny, Heyman, Reynolds, Rosenthal, Vasgersian & Verducci on Hall of Fame Coverage Starting at 2:00 p.m. ET

Secaucus, NJ, January 3, 2012 – The results of the 2012 National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot will be announced on MLB Network and simulcast on MLB.com on Monday, January 9 at 3:00 p.m. ET as part of a two-hour announcement show beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Featuring National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, coverage will include interviews with any electees and be anchored by Matt Vasgersian with MLB Network’s Bob Costas, Greg Amsinger, Brian Kenny and Harold Reynolds, Hall of Fame award-winning baseball writer Peter Gammons, and Hall of Fame voters Jon Heyman, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci. Hall of Fame coverage and reaction will continue on MLB Network’s Intentional Talk and Hot Stove starting at 5:00 p.m. ET.  

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) 2012 Hall of Fame ballot features 27 players with 14 holdovers from previous elections, including Barry Larkin, Jack Morris and Tim Raines, and 13 newcomers, including Tim Salmon, Ruben Sierra and Bernie Williams.

Former Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo was elected to the Hall of Fame in December by the Golden Era Committee. Santo will be inducted along with any candidates who receive votes on at least 75 percent of all ballots cast from Monday’s BBWAA vote.

Former Major League catcher Tim McCarver, who has served as a national television analyst for FOX, NBC, CBS and ABC, has been selected as the 2012 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Toronto Sun journalist Bob Elliott has been named the 2012 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award presented annually to a sportswriter for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”

The 2012 election marks the 69th Hall of Fame election held by the BBWAA. The 2012 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will air exclusively on MLB Network and MLB.com on July 22.

HALL OF FAMERS ANDRE DAWSON, FERGUSON JENKINS AND RYNE SANDBERG FEATURED ON STUDIO 42 WITH BOB COSTAS ON DECEMBER 19

Former Chicago Cubs Discuss Their Careers and the Cubs’ Pursuit of a World Series Title

Secaucus, NJ, December 15, 2011 – Hall of Famers and former Chicago Cubs Andre Dawson, Ferguson Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg are featured in a new episode of MLB Network’s Studio 42 with Bob Costas on Monday, December 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Throughout the hour-long interview filmed in Cooperstown, New York in July 2011, Dawson, Jenkins and Sandberg discuss the Cubs’ pursuit of a World Championship, their memories of the late Hall of Famer and longtime Cubs announcer Harry Caray, and their experiences playing for former managers Dick Williams, Billy Martin and Don Zimmer. During the interview, Sandberg comments on the Cubs losing the 1984 National League Championship Series against the San Diego Padres, Jenkins talks about the curse of the black cat during the Cubs’ 1969 season, and Dawson discusses signing with Chicago following the 1986 season. A preview of the interview can be viewed here.

Dawson, the 1987 N.L. MVP Award winner and eight-time All-Star, played for the Cubs from 1987-1992, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 and currently serves as a special assistant in the Miami Marlins’ front office. Jenkins, the 1971 N.L. Cy Young Award winner and 284-game winner, played for the Cubs for ten seasons (1966-1973 & 1982-1983), and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Sandberg, the 1984 N.L. MVP Award winner and nine-time Gold Glove Award winner, spent 15 of his 16 Major League seasons with Chicago (1982-1994 & 1996-1997). Sandberg was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and currently manages the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Triple-A Philadelphia Phillies).

Prior to Studio 42 with Bob Costas, MLB Network’s block of offseason programming will air, including Intentional Talk at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. ET, Clubhouse Confidential at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET, and MLB Network’s offseason show of record, Hot Stove, at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. ET.

 

Highlights from the conversation with Dawson, Jenkins and Sandberg include:

Sandberg on how a Cubs’ World Series title would matter to him:

I definitely want to be a part of that.  I strived for that for 16 seasons with the Cubs, only went to the playoffs twice [out] of those 16 years, played on some other bad teams. But with the fan base there and the following across the United States, it’d be the greatest thing. With that, I think the pressure and the intensity there at Wrigley Field is something that maybe we didn’t even experience. I think it’s really turned up high there to the point where [there is] almost desperation to get it done.

I think the Cubs fans are wearing thin on the “Lovable Losers” title. … I think it’d be the biggest party ever for a winning team and the party would be all over the world.

Dawson on the Cubs’ pursuit of a World Series title:

I don’t believe in a curse. I think things have a way of manifesting itself and, in all honesty, I think it takes baseball people from top to bottom, key personnel to get where you want to be at the end of the season. I would like to really see that organization in a World Series. … It would change this country for a couple weeks because of how many Cubs fans you have around the country.

 

Jenkins on playing for former manager Billy Martin:

He was tough. He was tougher than a night in jail, and I’ve never been in jail. He just could aggravate people. He could just get on them. … When things weren’t right, he made them right. He was the kind of guy that would just get in your face quick. He hated excuses. … If you got an alibi, he didn’t want to hear it. Own up to it.

 

Jenkins on the infamous black cat game on September 9, 1969 against the New York Mets:

The grounds crew just got threw scraping the field, cleaning it up. Somebody threw a little kitten [on the field]. It wasn’t a cat. It was a kitten. … Why did it walk towards our dugout? I got no idea why and Ronnie [Santo] is on the on-deck circle, he kind of just looked down at it and then it stopped, for what I thought was ten seconds in front of our dugout. It looked in and then ran off. It could have went the other way towards the Mets’ dugout, but it didn’t. I don’t know why, but it didn’t.

 

Sandberg on his memory of the late Hall of Fame Cubs announcer Harry Caray:

He was doing a game and I was up, I took a horrible swing at a pitch. … I hit a weak fly ball to right field and it was in 1984. The outfielder and second baseman got out there, [there was] miscommunication, then the sun got in the way, the ball dropped in, and I’m standing on second base and Harry goes, “Holy cow, Sandberg is such a good player, he even uses the sun to his advantage.”

Dawson on playing in Chicago:

Had I not made the change going to a natural playing surface, playing in a media center, playing with the fans that really supported, represented the ball club, I wouldn’t be sitting here today [at the National Baseball Hall of Fame]. I think Chicago definitely catapulted me to that status.

###

2011 GREATNESS IN BASEBALL YEARLY AWARD WINNERS TO BE UNVEILED ON MLB NETWORK AND MLB.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16

Comprehensive Voting Selects Top Stars & Highlights from the 2011 MLB Season

Awards to Include Starting Pitcher, Breakout Player and Player of the Year Categories

December 14, 2011, New York & Secaucus – The tenth annual Greatness in Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) Awards, honoring the best players and must-see moments from the 2011 Major League Baseball season, will be announced exclusively on MLB Network and MLB.com by MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger and Mitch Williams, and feature interviews with winners on Friday, December 16, at 9:00 p.m. ET.

This year’s winners in the 19 GIBBY Award categories, including best Player, Starting Pitcher, Rookie, Closer, Defensive Player, Manager and Breakout Player – with no division of League affiliation – were determined through a comprehensive six-week (Oct. 29-Dec. 4) voting process that included media, front-office personnel, former MLB players and online fan balloting at MLB.com.

Additional GIBBY Award categories include the year’s top Play, Moment, Performance, Oddity, Walk-Off, Fan Moment and Postseason Moment, each delivered through MLB.com’s “Must C” highlight vault. Videos and a complete list of categories and nominees for these honors can be found at MLB.com/GIBBYs.

###

HALL OF FAMER TOM SEAVER DISCUSSES HIS CAREER ON STUDIO 42 WITH BOB COSTAS ON DECEMBER 12

Seaver Opens Up About Being Traded from the New York Mets to the Cincinnati Reds in 1977, and Pitchers in Today’s Game

Secaucus, NJ, December 8, 2011 – Hall of Famer and three-time Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver discusses his legendary 20-year career in a new episode of MLB Network’s Studio 42 with Bob Costas on Monday, December 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Throughout the hour-long interview filmed in Cooperstown, New York in July 2011, Seaver comments on being part of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets and his contract dispute with former Mets’ owner M. Donald Grant prior to being traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1977. After watching a clip from his goodbye press conference with the Mets, Seaver says, “It was a false love affair. Not with the fans, not with the teammates, not [with] the game. Three out of four is pretty good.”  Seaver also talks about losing his bid for a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs in 1969, facing fellow Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Mickey Mantle, and how today’s Major League pitchers are handled. A preview of the interview can be viewed here.

Seaver, nicknamed “Tom Terrific,” was a 12-time All-Star and 311-game winner, who spent his career with the Mets (1967-1977, 1983), Reds (1977-1982), Chicago White Sox (1984-1986) and Boston Red Sox (1986). Seaver, who holds a 2.86 lifetime ERA with 3,640 career strikeouts, was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 by the highest percentage ever recorded (98.84).

Prior to Studio 42 with Bob Costas, MLB Network’s block of offseason programming will air, including Intentional Talk at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. ET, Clubhouse Confidential at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. ET, and MLB Network’s offseason show of record, Hot Stove at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. ET.

Highlights from the conversation with Seaver include:

On being traded to the Reds after a contract dispute with the Mets in 1977:  

The ownership, M. Donald Grant, after Gil [Hodges] died, it changed tremendously. Gil would not let that stuff happen. I was my player rep. I represented my team in the labor negotiations. M. Donald Grant came to me during this period of time, right before I got traded, and looked at me and said, “What are you, some kind of communist?” So, the love affair was a one-way street. As soon as he said that, and there were things before that, he said, “Who do you think you are joining the Greenwich Country Club?” I said, “Oh, that’s interesting, that’s pretty interesting.” So, it began to die. … It was time for me to go. It was time for me to go. … It was not pretty. When you give your heart to somebody and then they rip it back out of you. … It was a lie, it was false. It was a false love affair. Not with the fans, not with the teammates, not [with] the game. Three out of four is pretty good. It never affected me with my teammates and what I did for a living.

On winning the 1969 World Series:

We were in [the clubhouse] at the celebration. It was one of the best realizations of my life. We were in there [with] the champagne. This has got to be the ultimate and you know what? It wasn’t the ultimate. It’s the field that is the ultimate. We went back on the field. …. It isn’t the celebration. … It’s what’s on the field. That’s where the art form is. That’s where the competition is. That’s where the intellectual input as a team makes this happen: on the field. I went back to the mound. … I just went back and looked. … You want that to be your last image. … There was nobody in the stands and it was disheveled and grass was torn up and taken away. But it’s on the field. … It is the journey, not the destination.

On the Chicago Cubs’ Jim Qualls breaking up his bid for a perfect game in the 9^th inning on July 9, 1969:

Never saw him before. Brand new player. … The whole night with him, I didn’t see any holes at all. I think he hit the ball hard three times. … Certainly, you would say if I had to do it over again … I’d do something else. … The drama of it was fabulous. I actually felt levitation in that game. It was 55,000 people or whatever and I knew exactly what was going on. … I stood there and I actually felt like I was coming off the mound.

On heading into the 1969 World Series against the Baltimore Orioles:

They were really good, but you know what? Our pitching was better. … We really felt like we were going to win.

On his lifetime record of 311-205:

The one thing that makes me proud is that I can go back and pitch for five years right now and be 0-20 each year, I’d still be over .500 as a pitcher.

The journey in the game is why you’re able to win at 38 years old. I had a coach, Dave Duncan, [for] the [Chicago] White Sox, playing for Tony La Russa. …. Here’s my pitching coach and I’m toweling off and he looked at me and said, “Tom, you don’t have squat tonight.” … And I toweled off and I said, “It won’t make any difference. It’s called pitching, not throwing.” That’s where it was so much fun. You don’t have anything. … All of the sudden, you’ve pitched seven and two-thirds innings and you go off the mound and you’re ahead three to two. …. And on the day that Duncan said that to me, I went by and said, “Can you imagine if I would have had good stuff?”

On facing Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle:

You love the moment. You love the one little singular personal piece of history that you faced Mickey Mantle and you know it’s going to be dramatic and you’re going to go, “Let him go,” and he’s going to swing three times and he’s going to let it go.

On today’s pitchers coming out of games early:

It is the economics running the game or somebody’s theory or system that now they look for reasons to take a pitcher out. … What are you doing to this pitcher? Why don’t you go to the mound and say, “You are throwing great. Put this to bed. Put it in the casket.” You’re trying to build these individuals mentally. … Leave them in there. Let them be stud muffins.

###

Entries are Now Being Accepted at MLBFanCave.com

Fans Involved in Selection Process & Elimination of Contestants Throughout Season

Major League Baseball announced today that the MLB Fan Cave in 2012 will start the season with a group of fan contestants, some of whom will be eliminated throughout the season until one winner is crowned before the end of the World Series.  Multiple contestants will begin the season in the MLB Fan Cave and watch every single MLB game each day while chronicling their experiences online through videos, blogs and social media.  Along the way, they will compete against one another over the course of the baseball season in a series of challenges, with fans online helping decide who gets to stay in the Fan Cave and play host to the baseball stars and celebrities who will visit throughout the season.  Entries – which include a series of essay questions and a video submission – are now being accepted at MLBFanCave.com, with a deadline of Friday, January 13.

The MLB Fan Cave will return to the 15,000 square foot location at 4^th Street and Broadway in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village that was formerly the home of Tower Records.  After hosting a number of holiday-themed events this month, the MLB Fan Cave will shut its doors in January to be redesigned to feature new technology and interactive elements.  The MLB Fan Cave is a unique event space and content factory mixing baseball with music, popular culture, media, interactive technology and art.  It also serves as a digital hub for all baseball fans, with a constant flow of online video and conversation via social media.  The MLB Fan Cave has more than a quarter of a million combined followers on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mlbfancave) and Twitter (@MLBFanCave).

To increase fan engagement even further in 2012, fans will be involved in the process of selecting the contestants, as well as voting throughout the season on which of the contestants should remain in the Fan Cave.  Beginning in January, the top fan-submitted audition videos will be posted to MLBFanCave.com, where fans will have the opportunity to vote for those they find most entertaining in order to select the 2012 MLB Fan Cave contestants.  Throughout the 2012 season, fans will be able to vote for their favorite MLB Fan Cave inhabitants based on the content they produce through video, blogs and social media interaction.

The MLB Fan Cave will once again feature visits from current and former MLB stars as well as celebrities, musicians and other entertainers.  In 2011, more than 170 famous guests visited the Fan Cave, including 66 current players, 28 former players and 76 assorted celebrities and musicians.  Their visits resulted in more than 300 videos posted to MLBFanCave.com and distributed through social media and other digital channels.  Highlights from the 2011 season include:

• David Ortiz attempting to hug hundreds of New Yorkers
• Robinson Cano playing stickball in the street with a group of NYC kids
• Jose Bautista’s acting debut opposite Steve Schirripa of The Sopranos
• Mike & Ryan’s music intervention for Orioles pitcher & noted Justin Bieber fan Jeremy Guthrie
• Grammy-nominated LMFAO’s performance at the MLB Fan Cave in August, introduced by actor/comedian Judah Friedlander
• Sammi from Jersey Shore “moves in” to the Fan Cave (part 1 and part 2)

 

# # #