AUCTION OF RARE BASEBALL EXPERIENCES BENEFITING
STAND UP TO CANCER DEBUTS TODAY ON MLB.comUnique Charity Auction Gives Fans Chance to Bid on Once-in-a-Lifetime Experiences
NASHVILLE, TN – December 3, 2012 – Major League Baseball and its 30 Clubs have organized a charity auction benefiting Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), announced today as a part of the annual Baseball Winter Meetings. The initiative was inspired by the numerous cases of public relations officials in the sport who have been diagnosed with cancer in recent years.
The auction, which begins today and will be live on MLB.com until Thursday, December 6th at 11:59 p.m. (ET), features more than 70 unique experiences and items donated by the 30 MLB Clubs and Major League Baseball. Some of the experiences include:
• Be a Baltimore Orioles player for a day – eat with team, take batting practice and sit in the dugout during a Spring Training game.
• Ride on the Orioles’ team bus to and from a road game in Washington D.C.
• Receive a visit from Washington Nationals pitchers Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard to your child’s school and eat lunch with them in their cafeteria.
• Watch three innings of a Red Sox game behind the fabled Green Monster at Fenway Park.
• Receive a 30-minute guitar lesson from Cincinnati Reds All-Star pitcher Bronson Arroyo.
• Take batting practice at Progressive Field with the Cleveland Indians.
• Tour the Colorado Rockies clubhouse with All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
• Shoot a round of golf with Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy.
• Breakfast with All-Star Hunter Pence of the 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.
• Spend Spring Training Photo Day with the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Eat lunch with Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr., new Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell or Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda of the Dodgers.
• Watch batting practice from the field of one of 14 Clubs, including the D-backs, Braves, White Sox, Cubs, Rockies, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Twins, Mets, Athletics, Mariners, Pirates or Rays.
• Receive pitching lessons from any of five Major League pitching coaches, including Jim Hickey (Rays) Rick Honeycutt (Dodgers), Charles Nagy (D-backs), Bryan Price (Reds), or Carl Willis (Mariners).
• Receive hitting instructions from D-backs hitting coach Don Baylor, Rays hitting coach Derek Shelton or Angels hitting coach Jim Eppard
• Work a one-day internship in the New York Yankees Media Relations Department.
• Receive a 2013 MLB All-Star package including two tickets to All-Star Fan Fest, Taco Bell All-Star Sunday, Home Run Derby and the 84th All-Star Game in New York, plus a meet and greet with Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre
• Host a private party at your home with the Milwaukee Brewers Famous Racing Sausages.
• Attend meet-and-greets with past and present MLB players, managers and broadcasters, including Billy Beane, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, Yoenis Cespedes, Terry Collins, Ron Darling, Terry Francona, Kirk Gibson, Keith Hernandez, Tim Hudson, Craig Kimbrel, Evan Longoria, Joe Maddon, Brian McCann, Bob Melvin, David Price, Josh Reddick, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, Hall of Famer Vin Scully and 2012 American League Rookie of the Year Mike Trout.
• Take a tour of the MLB Network Studio with the hosts and sit behind-the-scenes during a taping of a show of choice.
• Additional experiences offered include autographed memorabilia, private ballpark tours, suite tickets and more.
• A complete listing of the experiences and items in the auction can be found here:
“The PR staffs of the 30 clubs have assembled an unprecedented collection of auction items,” said Jacqueline Parkes, Major League Baseball’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This auction gives fans the chance to have an unforgettable baseball experience while contributing to the critically important work of Stand Up To Cancer.”
“Major League Baseball has consistently engaged fans in joining our movement, having them literally stand up by the tens of thousands in stadiums across the country to show their unity in fighting cancer,” said Kathleen Lobb, Entertainment Industry Foundation Senior Vice President and Stand Up To Cancer co-founder. “Yet again, the 30 clubs have shown their deep commitment to this cause by creating these unbelievable experiences for the auction.”
“With so many of our friends and colleagues recently affected by cancer, we felt it was time for us to stand up and the Winter Meetings present the only opportunity each year when all 30 managers, general managers and all of the media come together,” said Josh Rawitch, Arizona Diamondbacks Senior Vice President of Communications and the Club PR official spearheading the charge. “With the unique access we are all fortunate to have to some of the game’s greatest treasures, it’s really our responsibility to do our part and we hope this is only the beginning.”
# # #Contact: Patrick Courtney or Matt Bourne, Major League Baseball, (212) 931-7878, twitter.com/mlb_pr.