SPRINGDALE, AR— The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are teaming up with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for a post game screening and celebration of The 20th Anniversary Sandlot Tour at Arvest Ballpark Park on April 21st. David Mickey Evans, the writer, director, and narrator of the film The Sandlot will be hosting the event immediately following the Naturals game against the Tulsa Drillers.

“We are ecstatic to host the third stop in the 20th Anniversary Sandlot Tour here at Arvest Ballpark,” said General Manager, Eric Edelstein. “It’s a movie that many baseball fans and players grew up watching and to help celebrate the movie’s 20th anniversary will be an honor.”

A film that still captures the hearts of baseball fans young and old, THE SANDLOT debuts on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack March 26 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in celebration of the beloved film’s 20th anniversary.  “A charming and whimsical comedy about boys and baseball and a GREAT BIGDOG” (“Siskel & Ebert”), THE SANDLOT ranked in the Top 40 as one of the best sports movies ever.

Evans will introduce his film, to be shown on the video board in the outfield, recount for the audience where the idea for the story came from, and directly following the screening engage with the audience for signings, photographs and Q&A.

To wrap up the evening, there will be Sandlot merchandise for sale such as the 20th Anniversary Blu-ray+DVD Combo, pictures, scripts, baseballs and more.  A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the “Sandlot Baseball Field Program”, a program which is coordinating baseball field renovations across the United States.

Arvest Ballpark will be the third stop for the year long Sandlot Tour which will be visiting various major and minor league ballparks across the country.

For information on how to attend The 20th Anniversary Sandlot Tour or any other event at Arvest Ballpark, please call the Naturals Front Office at (479) 927-4900 or visit www.nwanaturals.com.

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

Every once in a while we reach a point in our lives when our next action will dramatically affect our lives. The string has been tightened as far as it will go without snapping. There is no in between. We either do or we don’t. It’s time for action, and that action will have long-reaching consequences.

That’s where the St. Louis Cardinals were Friday night in Washington, D.C., down 7-5 in the ninth inning to the Nationals with two strikes on catcher Yadier Molina. The next strike would’ve ended the Cardinals season. Period. But Molina worked a walk and kept the season alive.

Then the Nationals had two strikes on second baseman Daniel Descalso. The next strike would’ve ended the Cardinals season. Period.

But Descalso hit the next pitch up the middle and two runs scored to tie the game, and the Cardinals went on to win 9-7 in one of the greatest postseason comebacks in the history of Major League Baseball.

Wait, didn’t this just happen last year? The Cardinals were down to their last strike twice against the Texas Rangers in Game 6 of the World Series before coming back to win on a walkoff homerun by third baseman David Freese.

Stuff like that isn’t supposed to happen. Even if a team pulled off a miracle in one instance, the chances of that same team recreating that miracle the following season are so incredibly small that people who even think it is possible would be considered crazy.

That’s part of what made Friday’s win so amazing. Winning a close playoff game is always exhilarating, but the Cardinals won these two games under historic circumstances. The string couldn’t be pulled any tighter without breaking. As the Nationals’ fan said during Descalso’s at bat, “Just one more” would’ve completely changed the rest of the playoffs.

It’s also what makes baseball such a great sport. Within the last 12 months, baseball fans have seen the greatest final night to end a season when the Cardinals won, Atlanta Braves lost, Tampa Bay Rays won and Boston Red Sox lost. Every game ended in a walkoff except for the Cardinals, who beat the Houston Astros 10-0.

Then all of the magic rested with the Cardinals.

The Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 in Game 5 to win a series in which they were serious underdogs. And then Game 6 of the World Series turned out to be arguably the greatest World Series game ever played.

To have all of those moments wrapped up in one team within the span of a year is an incredible blessing for that team’s fans. The Cardinals might not have a dynasty the way the Yankees did in the late 1990s, but they now have a dynasty of great moments.

People will surely talk about the last two seasons long into the future. What Cardinals fans are experiencing right now is absolutely as good as it gets. Please remember that, because there will be tough times at some point in the future.

But right now soak it all in. These are days we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Fox Sports Kansas City Records All Time High Television Ratings for Royals
Ratings on FOX Sports Kansas City increased 13 percent to 3.8 household rating, the highest season average ever for Royals cable telecasts

Viewership for Kansas City Royals cable telecasts reached an all-time high in 2012. The 140 regular season games televised on FOX Sports Kansas City averaged a 3.8 household rating in the Kansas City DMA, according to The Nielsen Co., up 13 percent from 2011.

Ratings increased over 2011 in every month of the season except August. Viewership in September increased 52 percent over last year, the most of any month.

The 3.8 household rating surpasses the previous season high of 3.4 established in 2003. Available ratings data goes back to 1997.

“This year again showed that Kansas City has great baseball fans,” said FOX Sports Kansas City Senior Vice President and General Manager Jack Donovan. “The city embraced the All-Star Game. Attendance was up. And the TV ratings show that fans are excited about what the Royals are building.”

As the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals fire up their totally contrived interleague rivalry again this weekend, it’s time to reflect on exactly what these series mean to baseball fans and residents of the cross-state metropolitan areas.

A similar diatribe posted to this site last week; the Pulitzer-worthy piece (emphasis mine, and correctly placed) can be read here. But it’s no coincidence the spirit of that column is one of contempt, jealousy, and disdain, even with the irony of such emotions being mentioned in the article. It’s the classic “little man” syndrome that shows up in society from time to time. Sometimes it appears in a sibling rivalry; other times it can be seen in business. Basically, the little less-significant guy can’t stand anything and everything perceived to be bigger and better and more relevant than him, so he has to puff himself up by tearing down the big guy standing right next to him. Napoleon would be proud.

So when looking west, it isn’t hard to see why Kansas City loathes St. Louis so much. We have the Cardinals, they have the Royals. We have the Gateway Arch, they have a couple of fountains—or something. We have the Rams, they have the Chiefs…eh, we’ll call that one a push. We have the Blues, they have…more fountains. You see my point.

But baseball is the real reason for this municipal fight. The Cardinals and Royals have been toiling in this fierce rivalry for decades, right? Actually, no…no they haven’t. Kansas City anticipates these series like the Fall Classic; the sentiment from St. Louis is a collective “Meh.” The Royals need these games way more than the Cardinals do; it’s the only way Kauffman Stadium will ever be filled for an entire weekend. But that’s not the fans’ fault entirely; continue to put a lousy product on the field and people won’t show up to watch, no matter how many waterfalls Royals’ ownership puts in the outfield to distract them. It wasn’t always this way. Back in the mid-70s the Royals made the playoffs regularly. They had George “pine tar” Brett scorching the American League with mostly legitimate, bat tampering-free hits, and they had the great Whitey Herzog as their skipper. But they never could get the job done, running into better teams once they had to play someone outside the AL West in the postseason. So then the glorious 1985 campaign came along, and we all know what happened there. The Cardinals—who actually let Whitey Herzog build a team that could win a championship—fell in seven games to their cross-state rivals. The Don Denkinger call in Game 6 was a crusher to the Cardinals, and while they still certainly had chances to close the game, the psychological damage was too much to overcome. Psychology is a huge part of the game; just ask Hal McRae. The Royals saw the softball in front of them and yanked it out of the park. Ah yes…the glory days, before the Royals became a Quadruple-A affiliate for every other team in the majors except the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Perhaps it is time for Cards fans to let that ’85 Series go anyway. I mean, once you get to double-digit championships, it really is like “11, 12; who’s counting? We actually have a shot to get one next year, and the year after that!” Royals fans remember what that’s like, as long as they’re over 40.

St. Louis is not the perfect city; it has its problems like any metropolitan area. Some of those problems—like crime—are pretty significant. But is it a miserable city? Every year, Forbes magazine lists the most miserable cities in America. I checked each of the last two years, and St. Louis didn’t make the list. So things could be a lot worse. But similarly, Forbes has a list of the most miserable sports cities in America. Once again, St. Louis didn’t warrant inclusion on that dubious list for 2011 or 2012. And let’s face it; Cardinal baseball alone would be enough to keep St. Louis safe from that distinction. But hey, looky there: Kansas City did qualify as one of America’s most miserable sports cities…both years. Huh.

But I don’t hate Kansas City, and I don’t hate Royals fans. It’s really a question of relevance. Where is it in Kansas City? They have good barbeque and…well, that’s pretty much it. So they can have that one. Make a motto out of it. “Kansas City: Good Meat.” In terms of baseball, however, it would take decades of a complete 180 degree performance turn by both franchises for the Royals to just match the relevance, history, and success of the Cardinals. That doesn’t warrant hate; it warrants pity…deep pity, like you’d show to a Boulevard drinker.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

Friends, Romans, fellow baseball fans…

It seems like just yesterday that I took a discussion I had with a buddy about Albert Belle and banged out a quick opinion piece on his Hall of Fame credentials. Now, five years and more than 1300 posts later, The Hall of Very Good™ is set to celebrate its birthday in style.

And you’re all invited…free of charge!

Beginning Monday, June 18, we (yes, “we”…more on that later) are kicking off the month long “HOVG Heroes” series. What exactly is “HOVG Heroes”? It’s funny that I suggested you asked…let me lay it out for you.

From the time you hit the site next Monday through the Friday leading up to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony July 22 in Cooperstown , you’ll be greeted, daily, with a new, different, original post hitting The Hall of Very Good™. And the nature of these pieces is simple…to shed light on those players that haven’t been invited to join the immortals in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Sound familiar? It should. The very notion of a “Hall of Very Good” is something I started doing five years ago and now, I’ve got a few dozen of my favorite people contributing original pieces where they share the stories of their favorite players.

And I’ll tell you this…it was easy to get people to take part.

I’ll be releasing some of the names via The Hall of Very Good™ Facebook page and Twitter account throughout the upcoming week and I can assure you this…each contributor has their own unique style. These aren’t people who you haven’t heard of either. In the mix are guys who you’ve seen, heard and read on a national level. And since I was fortunate enough to be the Baseball Bloggers Alliance’s first general baseball blog…you know I had to partner up with some of its most creative writers as well.

But the star studded list of contributors isn’t even the best part about “HOVG Heroes”.

At the conclusion of this series, we’ll actually be inducting someone into The Hall of Very Good™. Yes, five weeks from now, there will be, officially, an inaugural member of The Hall of Very Good™.

Who is it? You’ll know the week of July 16.

“Hall of Fame Chatter, Milestones and Musings”…it’s what The Hall of Very Good™ has been about since day one and with the help of countless individuals, it’s what it will continue to be about.

All the best

Shawn

The Hall of Very Good™
Succumb to the trend…follow The Hall of Very Good™ on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HOVG.

Cardinal fans team up to beat human trafficking
Every time the Cardinals win a game, fans now have a new way to make a difference in the world. A new donation platform called Snoball is uniting baseball fans to fight human trafficking.

The idea is simple. Every time the Cardinals win a game, a fan donates $0.25. The money benefits Not For Sale, an organization that exists to end present day slavery.

There are more victims of human trafficking today than any other point in history–nearly 30 million. These victims are raped, abused, and even murdered by their abductors.  Of the victims, 70 percent are women and 50 percent are children.

It’s easy to give. Just visit http://tinyurl.com/gostlcards, click the donate now button, and sign in with your Facebook account.

After donating, fans are encouraged to share the “Let’s Re-Abolish Slavery” snoball on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #cardsunite.  Cardinals fans can prove, once and for all, they are the greatest baseball fans on the planet.

Imagine the difference we can make just by cheering on our favorite baseball team. Every quarter donated makes a dent in the world’s third largest illegal industry–human trafficking. If 1000 fans donate $0.25, just one Cardinals win would represent enough money raised to free 3 people from slavery.

Baseball fans can also help Not For Sale by joining Matt Holliday and Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals. They are part of a special Facebook application called Free2Play.  It allows users to create donations based on statistics of their favorite players. All money raised helps Not For Sale prevent the human trafficking of children.

For additional questions or comments, contact jason@snoball.com (Twitter: @jasonpoemusic)

About Snoball:
Snoball is a micro-donation platform that makes charitable giving easy, social, and fun.  Users can instantly donate to over 1.7 million nonprofits through customizable “snoballs.” Snoballs are automated donations based on a user’s interests.  An example snoball could be defined as:  “When Matt Holliday hits a home run, I will donate $1 to the American Red Cross.”

For more information about Snoball, visit https://snoball.com

About Not For Sale:
Not for Sale creates tools that engage business, government, and grassroots in order to incubate and grow social enterprises to benefit enslaved and vulnerable communities.

For more information about Not For Sale, visit http://notforsalecampaign.org

HALL OF FAMER AND 13-TIME ALL-STAR GEORGE BRETT TO SERVE AS AMBASSADOR FOR 2012 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ALL-STAR SUMMER
Brett to Participate in All-Star FanFest, Taco Bell All-Star Sunday Events and
MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run Presented by Nike

Hall of Famer and 13-time All-Star George Brett will serve as the Ambassador for MLB All-Star Summer. Brett will participate in All-Star events leading up to and during All-Star Week in Kansas City, including MLB All-Star FanFest (July 6-10). Brett has been selected as the manager for the U.S. Team in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game (July 8), which features some of the game’s best young prospects from the U.S. and around the world. Brett previously served as the manager for the U.S. Team in 2005.  Also on Sunday, July 8, he will play in the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game and will be the Official Race Starter for the MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run presented by Nike.

“I’m excited to share the city and stadium I love with today’s All-Stars and baseball fans around the world,” said Brett. “It’s an honor to once again be a part of the Midsummer Classic and baseball’s special celebration.”

ALL-STAR CAREER WITH THE ROYALS

Brett spent his entire 21-year career with the Royals from 1973 to 1993, throughout which he accumulated 3,154 hits, 665 doubles, 317 home runs and 1,596 RBI. Brett stands alongside baseball legends Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial, as one of the four players in Major League Baseball history to collect at least 3,000 hits, 300 home runs and a .300 batting average over his career. He is the only player in MLB history to win the batting title in three different decades (1976, 1980 and 1990). Brett, who was voted the 1980 American League Most Valuable Player, represented Kansas City in the All-Star Game in consecutive years from 1976 through 1988. He was also awarded the American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award during the Royals World Championship season in 1985.

Even after retirement, Brett has continued his long-time association with the organization and is an active resident of Kansas City. The Royals retired Brett’s No. 5 in 1994 and inducted him into the club’s Hall of Fame. Five years later, he was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame after receiving 98 percent of the votes, the fifth‑highest mark in history. Brett is currently in his 19^th year as the organization’s Vice President of Baseball Operations and serves as a special instructor during Spring Training. He is also an active Minor League instructor helping prospects develop.

MLB ALL-STAR FANFEST

MLB All-Star FanFest will transform the Kansas City Convention Center/Bartle Hall into the largest interactive baseball theme park in the world. MLB All-Star FanFest opens on Friday, July 6, runs through Tuesday, July 10, and provides an unrivaled experience for fans of all ages. Visitors will experience more than 400,000 square feet of baseball fun, with attractions including exhibits from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, batting cages, clinics, free autograph sessions with former Royals, MLB legends and Hall of Famers, memorabilia and much more.

TACO BELL ALL-STAR SUNDAY

Taco Bell All-Star Sunday includes the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, 4 p.m. CT, and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, approximately 7:30 p.m. CT, followed by a spectacular fireworks show to cap off the evening. Now in its 14^th year, the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game showcases many of the top Minor League prospects and has featured Kansas City’s Billy Butler (2006), Alex Gordon (2006), Eric Hosmer (2010) and Mike Moustakas (2010). Players who have competed in both the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and the MLB All-Star Game include Prince Fielder, Zack Greinke, Josh Hamilton, Felix Hernandez, Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Verlander.

The Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game will feature stars from film, music, television and entertainment teaming up with Hall of Famers and former Kansas City stars immediately following the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. Past celebrity participants have included Jon Hamm, Jimmy Kimmel, George Lopez, Chris Rock, Jordin Sparks and Kate Upton. The game has also featured a collection of Hall of Famers including Ernie Banks, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Ozzie Smith and Dave Winfield.

MLB ALL-STAR GAME CHARITY 5K & FUN RUN PRESENTED BY NIKE

Hall of Famer George Brett will serve as the Official Race Starter at the 2012 MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run presented by Nike. The charitable event, open to all ages, will take place on Sunday, July 8, on an All-Star-themed course in downtown Kansas City and will feature appearances by MLB Legends, mascots and celebrity guests. Major League Baseball will donate 100% of all net proceeds from the event to three charities supporting cancer research and awareness – Prostate Cancer Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer and the Greater Kansas City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The 5K, an officially timed event, will begin at 7:30 a.m. CT. Immediately following, at 8:00 a.m. CT, the family-friendly 1-mile Fun Run will begin; the wheel chair division will begin 5 minutes prior to each. All registered finishers will receive an official commemorative All-Star medal and t-shirt. All fans who sign up now via AllStarGame.com/5k can take advantage of the special early bird price of $25 (adult) and $20 (children 12 and under) for the 5K and $20 (adult) and $15 (children 12 and under) for the Fun Run. For more information, and to register as an individual or team, please visit AllStarGame.com/5k.

Tickets for MLB All-Star FanFest and to Taco Bell All-Star Sunday are currently on sale. To purchase, visit the official All-Star Game website of Major League Baseball (AllStarGame.com), the Royals official website (royals.com/2012), the Royals Box Office at Kauffman Stadium or call 1-888-FanFest (326-3378).

     For more MLB All-Star Week information, please visit AllStarGame.com and the All-Star Game Twitter account (@AllStarGame).

With the Kansas City Royals officially opening their 2012 season this Friday, the optimism for some fans is now being replaced with nervousness.

For a baseball fan, it is only natural to be optimistic during the off-season. The disaster of the previous year is in the past, free agents have been added, that overpaid free-agent’s contract finally expired, and well…somebody has to win next year, right? And for fans of most teams, eventually the optimism pays off. Your team comes from out of nowhere to qualify for the playoffs, and whether they advance or not, that can be considered a successful season (unless you’re the Yankees or Red Sox). But for longer than any other organization in baseball, Royals fans have had their off-season optimism shoved down their throat in the form of embarrassingly bad baseball. The Royals have the longest playoff drought in all of MLB. So one can understand why a Royals fan might eventually decide not to even bother with the positive thoughts.

Until the 2010 season, it was hard to envision a scenario in which Royals fans would be given any reason to believe they would see a winner in the near future. It was during that season, that things began to come together at the minor league level. Former first-round draft picks Mike Moustakas(3B) and Eric Hosmer(1B) began to emerge as two of the top prospects in baseball. 19-year old 3rd round draft pick Will Myers began to turn heads in A-ball. Other prospects began giving people to take notice as well, and before long, the Royals farm system was the talk of baseball. All of a sudden, that dark tunnel that Royals fans had peered into for so long started to show a faint light at the end. After the 2010 season, all the talk was about the Royals farm system. Not only was it considered the best in all of baseball, but some were calling it the best farm system that they had ever seen. And while the expectations for the 2011 Royals season weren’t great, fans were, for the first time in a very long time, allowed to feel legitimately optimistic for the future. 2011 saw the arrival of Hosmer, Moustakas, Salvador Perez(C), Johnny Giovatella(2B), Danny Duffy(SP), and a whole crop of young bullpen arms.

For the most part, all signs were positive. Hosmer impressed from day one. Moustakas went through his struggles, but by the end of the year, looked like he was figuring things out. Perez was very impressive, and while Giovatella and Duffy both struggled at times, both showed definite signs of promise. On top of this, Alcides Escobar(SS) emerged as arguably the best defensive SS in all of baseball. Lorenzo Cain came up for an impressive September call-up. Free-Agent Jeff Francoeur(OF) pulled his career out of the toilet with a fantastic year, and former top prospect Alex Gordon(OF) finally showed the promise he was thought to have when he was drafted in 2005. Looking at things from a long-term perspective, it is hard to imagine things going more positively in 2011. Everyone has pointed to 2012 as the year when the Royals will begin to ascend back to relevance for the first time in almost 20 years.

But what if it all goes wrong? This is a question that Royals fans are conditioned to ask. While Hosmer is as close to a sure thing as there is, would it surprise anyone if Moustakas never fully came around? If Duffy can’t keep his pitch count down? If Francoeur returns to being a near useless hitter? What if Gordon also finds himself with an extended stay on the DL? Center-fielder Lorenzo Cain is thought to be ready to break out, but what if that doesn’t happen? Salvador Perez has already been injured and is out until June. Closer Joakim Soria is out for the year with Tommy John surgery.

Each of these things individually is a very realistic possibility. But what makes this year different from past years, is that rather than considering all of the things that would have to go wrong for things to go bad, Royals fans were forced to point out all of the things that COULD go right to help them contend.

This year may not go as Royals fans hope. Every single thing listed above could take place. But it sure beats sitting around hoping Juan Gonzalez regains his MVP form, Mike Sweeney‘s back finally holds up, and Benito Santiago and Reggie Sanders discover the Fountain of Youth.

NEW YORK, MARCH 27, 2012 – MLB Advanced Media, L.P., the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, today announced that MLB.TV is available on Microsoft’s Xbox 360. MLB.TV, the Internet’s most prolific live streaming video subscription offering, is marking its 10^th year of service and in the past two years has delivered over 500 million live video streams.

Beginning today, MLB.TV Premium subscribers will have access to all available Spring Training games and every out-of-market regular season game on Xbox 360* as well as portability support to use their accounts across a variety of mobile and connected platforms. In addition, MLB.TV Premium subscribers get the award-winning MLB.com At Bat 12 mobile application for free on iPhone, iPad and Android.

“The launch of MLB.TV on Xbox 360 is an exciting development for baseball fans and symbolic of our commitment to deliver live games through Internet-connected distribution points,” said Kenny Gersh, Senior Vice President, Business Development, MLBAM. “Combining the technology powers of MLB.TV and Xbox will give fans even more options for watching live baseball games in high definition.”

“The future of sports entertainment will be more personal, interactive, and engaging,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Chief Marketing Officer, Xbox. “With unique features like a split-screen mode that lets you watch two games at once, and voice-control on Xbox 360 that lets you pause, rewind, or fast forward with the sound of your voice, the MLB.TV app for Xbox is a giant leap into the future.”

With MLB.TV on Xbox 360, subscribers will get a dynamic live viewing experience for every out-of-market regular season game. Among the features available at launch include:

• Live Games, Recaps, and Archived Games – Watch every live regular season out-of-market game, or catch it later from the game archives, which will include 2011 games as well as 2012. Short-form game recaps, a complete review of the game in less than 5 minutes, also are available to all Xbox LIVE Gold Members, as well as a free Game of the Day.

• My Teams – Designate favorite teams and put them front and center, making the live games, archives and recaps for selected favorite teams appear front-and-center for immediate access.

• Every game in HD – MLB.TV delivers every game in beautiful streaming HD, and most games give every fan the option of the Home or Away feed.

• Mini Guide – The Mini Guide gives you a quick preview of all of today’s games right at the bottom of the screen, and makes it easier than ever to switch between games. 

• Split Screen – Allows fans to watch two games at once. Watch live games on both screens or a live game on one while you catch up with a game recap or archive game on the other. Both screens can be controlled independently, pausing and rewinding each separately.

• Gesture Control and Voice Control with Kinect for Xbox 360 - Focus on the action instead of looking for the remote. Navigate through the Content Guide, skip to the next inning, or play, pause, and rewind that double play…all with the wave of a hand or the sound of a voice with Kinect for Xbox 360.

Spring training is full of proclamations about “renewed focus” and “tweaked mechanics” for pitchers around the country. If you didn’t know any better you might just get the idea that every young pitcher around baseball is ready to make “the leap”. Danny Duffy, the 23 year-old starter for the Kansas City Royals, is no different, at least not in that regard. But Duffy is different in many ways, and that may just turn him into a star if he figures out how keep the ball in the strike zone.

After being drafted by the Royals in the 3^rd round of the 2007 draft, Duffy spent the next two and a half years looking like every bit the star Royals hoped he would become. In rookie ball the 18 year-old struck out 63 in 37 1/3 innings while compiling a 1.45 ERA. In 2008 he moved up to low-A Burlington and after initially struggling, finished the year with a 0.99 ERA over his last 54 innings. 2009 saw a slight uptick in his ERA and a lowering of both his K/BB and K/9 innings ratio, but still he was a 20 year-old in high-A with a sub 3 ERA. At that point in his career you could see so many possibilities, but probably not what came next.

On March 23, 2010 Duffy took a leave from baseball. Fans in Kansas City did not exactly react well. There were questions about his heart and rumors that a girlfriend was responsible. I’m not here to speculate on rumors, but I would like to think the reaction was more evidence of our longing for a winner than a statement on the decency of our fans. Regardless, it seems the Royals handled the situation perfectly and Duffy returned on June 2 to resume his career. For many players, 2010 might have been a lost season after such a rocky start but Duffy finished the year by pitching the AA Naturals to a Texas League Title with a 1.69 ERA in postseason starts. He was back.

We all know what happened last year, when Duffy looked like he may have the best stuff on the this staff at times, and struggled to find the strike zone at others. He was the quintessential nibbler, and he got bit. Still, it would be foolish to think that he has control problems. In 5 minor league season he walked 2.8 batters per 9 innings.  That number shrunk when combining only AA and AAA to just 2.05. Control is one thing Duffy has never struggled with, which should bode well for the idea that he will exhibit more of it in 2012. With an improved defense behind him and the belief that he belongs, it is easy to see why many are predicting a breakout season, but I am not sure many are recognizing just how popular this kid will become if that happens.

Danny Duffy (@dduffkc23) has already become a star on Twitter, and his #BuryMeaRoyal tweet is legendary amongst fans. He says all the right things, and he interacts with fans in a way that few professional athletes do. Duffy’s second most famous hash tag, #Godovereverything may actually contribute more to his local fame, when and if it comes.

We have all seen the enormous popularity of Tim Tebow driven to ridiculous heights by his faith and his refusal to hide it. Duffy does not have the same following or back story, but he seems to be no less committed to using his role as a professional athlete as a platform to share his faith. We saw that with Mike Sweeney, and it is a double edged sword. When you are successful you are a great role model and parents gobble up your jerseys, when you aren’t you are too soft and you get mocked for not drinking tequila.

With all the excitement and projections it is easy to forget that Duffy has not officially made the 2012 Royals yet. He is locked in a 3 man battle with Luis Mendoza and Felipe Paulino for the 4^th and 5^th spots in the rotation. That last sentence should tell you all you need to know about what stage of his development he is at.  Still, he’s the only man in this battle with the opportunity to make the kind of impact on Kansas City that another 23 made not long ago. Only Duffy looks far better equipped to embrace it.