Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett, who spent his entire 21-year career with the Kansas City Royals, will manage the U.S. Team and five-time American League All-Star outfielder Bernie Williams will lead the World Team in the 2012 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on Sunday, July 8^th at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which is now in its 14^th year, features the top Minor League prospects competing in a nine-inning contest as part of Taco Bell All-Star Sunday.  The game will begin at 5:00 p.m. (ET)/4:00 p.m. (CT) and can be viewed live on ESPN2, ESPN2 HD and MLB.com.  SiriusXM, the Official Satellite Radio Partner of Major League Baseball, will provide play-by-play coverage of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on MLB Network Radio (XM channel 89) in addition to SiriusXM’s other comprehensive live coverage from Kansas City.  The game will also be available to SiriusXM subscribers on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smart phones and mobile devices and online at SiriusXM.com.  Taco Bell All-Star Sunday is the first of three days of All-Star events at Kauffman Stadium, culminating with the 83^rd All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 10^th.

Brett, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, is the only Royal who is enshrined in Cooperstown.  A second round pick in the 1971 First-Year Player Draft, Brett hit .305 with 317 home runs, 1,595 RBI and 665 doubles while leading the Royals’ 1985 World Series Championship squad.  He was the A.L. Most Valuable Player in 1980 after after winning a batting title with a .390 average, which was the highest in Baseball since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.  Brett, who also posted 24 home runs and a career-high 118 RBI in 1980, finished in the top three in MVP voting three additional times.  He was a 13-time A.L. All-Star, representing the Royals in the Midsummer Classic each year from 1976-1988.  Brett was a three-time A.L. batting champion (1976, 1980, 1990), becoming the first player to win the batting title in three different decades.  He is one of 28 members of baseball’s 3,000 hit club, and his 3,154 hits rank 15^th all-time.  Brett hit .340 with nine home runs and 19 RBI in six League Championship Series and hit .373 in his two World Series.  He won the Gold Glove for A.L. third basemen in 1985.  George is now in his 19^th year as Vice President of Baseball Operations with the Royals, and his number 5 was retired by the club in 1994, when he entered the club’s Hall of Fame.

Williams, who spent his entire 16-year career with the Yankees, hit .297 with 287 home runs and 1,257 RBI, and was a member of four World Series Championship teams (1996, 1998-2000).  The San Juan, Puerto Rico native signed with the Yankees in 1985 at age 17, and made his Major League debut in 1991.  Williams, who won the A.L. batting title in 1998 after hitting .339, posted six straight seasons of at least 20 home runs from 1996-2001, including a career-best 30 home runs and 121 RBI in 2000.  The switch-hitter hit .321 during 41 League Championship Series games and he was named the 1996 ALCS MVP after batting .474 with two home runs, three doubles and six RBI in the five-game series.  He is a four-time A.L. Gold Glove winner (1997-2000) and he won a Silver Slugger Award in 2002.  Bernie ranks first all-time in the Postseason with 80 RBI, second with 128 hits, 22 home runs, 29 doubles and 83 runs, and third with 121 games played.  In Yankees history, Williams ranks third in doubles (449), fifth in hits (2,336), sixth in runs (1,366), games played (2,076) and RBI (1,257), and seventh in home runs (287).

Rosters for the 2012 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game will be announced on Thursday afternoon.  Coaches for the U.S. and World Team are as follows:

The Minor League Baseball Umpires who will work the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game are Kolin Kline (home plate) of the Southern League, Tom Woodring (first base) of the Eastern League, Nick Bailey (second base) of the Pacific Coast League and Spencer Flynn (third base) of the Southern League.

Tickets are still available for purchase for the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game by visiting www.allstargame.com, calling 1-888-326-3378 or visiting the Royals box office at Kauffman Stadium.

The 2012 All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The 83^rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. (EDT)/6:30 p.m. (CDT).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.  For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/asg.

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.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., January 30, 2011— The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum debuted a new website ( www.cardinals.com/museum ) today that showcases the team’s extensive collection of baseball memorabilia, while encouraging fans to explore and learn more about the rich 121-year history of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The web site ( www.cardinals.com/museum ) includes hundreds of historical photographs, several fresh virtual exhibits and dozens of informative videos that go inside the collection and highlight the biographies of some of the greatest Cardinals in team history. The new web page (www.cardinals.com/museum) also has interactive elements designed to encourage fan input and engage fans.

“We wanted to create a place to showcase our vast museum collection, while giving fans a chance to learn more about the rich history of the Cardinals,” said Bill DeWitt III, President of the Cardinals.

The Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum collection is the largest team-held collection in baseball and is second only to National Baseball Hall of Fame in terms of size with over 15,000 memorabilia items and over 80,000 archival photographs. While the museum has been closed since 2008, artifacts from the Cardinals Hall of Fame museum are currently featured throughout Busch Stadium, including in the team’s front office, Cardinals Team Store and Cardinals Club, as well as part of periodic special exhibits within the community.

“This website is a great way for us to further the educational mission of the museum, while making our collection available to fans all over the world in a free and fun format,” said Vicki Bryant, Vice President of Event Services and Merchandising. “Our museum staff and Major League Baseball did a fantastic job with the designing the web site to bring the rich history of the Cardinals alive.”

The virtual museum (www.cardinals.com/museum) features several unique exhibits such as the story of the Cardinals 11 World Championships, Stan “The Man” Musial and a look at how the Cardinals got their name. The website also includes a “Question from the Fans” section where fans are encouraged to give their personal account of games, eras or players. This interactive ability will allow the team to gather and share individual experiences as they continue to tell the story of the organization.

Other sections of the site (www.cardinals.com/museum) include, “Cardinalographies,” an in-depth look at an era in Cardinals history or biography of a Cardinals great; “Inside the Collection,” a unique look at individual items from a special Cardinals moment; and the Cardinals Museum “Theme of the Week,” where each week the museum will offer a topic that will be discussed at length.  The site is designed to be updated often as new chapters in team history are written each season.

ST. LOUIS (December 19, 2011)– Cardinals Care, the charitable foundation of the reigning World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, today announced the start of the online process for fans to purchase autograph tickets for the 16^th Annual Winter Warm-Up.

Starting at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 21^st, fans can purchase autograph tickets at the team’s website (cardinals.com/winterwarmup). Fans may also purchase admission passes for the three-day Winter Warm-Up at the team’s website, in the official Cardinals Team Store at Busch Stadium, by phone at 314-345-9000 and at Cardinals Clubhouse stores around St. Louis.

Player autograph sessions are one of the most popular attractions of the Warm-Up. While some players’ autographs are free with the admission pass, others require an autograph ticket available through a specific additional donation. Every dollar donated for autograph tickets and all proceeds from the Winter Warm-Up benefit Cardinals Care, the team’s community foundation that cares for kids.

This highly anticipated annual event will take place Saturday, January 14^th through Monday, January 16^th (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day) at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch. The event hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday.

This year fans will get the chance to meet members of the 2011 World Series Championship team, starting with pitcher Chris Carpenter on January 14^th from 9 to 11 a.m., slugger Lance Berkman on January 15^th from 3 to 5 p.m., and World Series MVP David Freese on January 16^th from 12 to 2 p.m.

Fans can also greet the newest addition to the Cardinals coaching staff, manager Mike Matheny, as well as other former Cardinals greats and National Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Brock, Red Schoendienst, and Whitey Herzog.

“The Warm-Up is the perfect opportunity for fans to meet their favorite players and help kids in the St. Louis community,” said Michael Hall, Executive Director of Cardinals Care and Vice President of Community Relations. “We hope fans will join us in welcoming our new manager and celebrating our recent World Championship.” Hall urges fans to check the Cardinals website (cardinals.com/winterwarmup) frequently for details, including player autograph dates, times and, if required, additional donation amounts.

Since its inception in 1997, Cardinals Care has maintained a direct focus on “Caring for Kids” by distributing funds to area non-profit youth organizations and establishing Redbird Rookies, their flagship program that supports youth on and off the baseball field. Most of the organizations who are recipients of Cardinals Care charitable grants are based in Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. Grant funds are intended to support purchases such as school supplies and uniforms, computers, software, instruments, books and games for educational programs, as well as basic needs such as winter clothing for needy children.

The Winter Warm-Up and annual 6K Run are Cardinals Care’s two largest fundraising events each year. In 2011 Cardinals Care raised over $700,000 at the Warm-Up and nearly $160,000 at the second annual 6K Run for Kids. Cardinals Care also raises funds through memorabilia auctions online and throughout Busch Stadium during the season. Cardinals Care has now partnered with Papa John’s Pizza for a special promotion where proceeds of pizza purchases in January will be donated to their cause.

You can read all about the Warm-Up and get the full list of players that will be present by downloading this PDF file.

April 5, 2011
by Mark Healey