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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mike Coolbaugh Diamond Dreams Marks Anniversary With New Safety Program

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS, July 20, 2012—It was five years ago this month that the Coolbaugh family and the community were changed forever when an on-field accident took minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh’s life on July 22, 2007. Mike Coolbaugh Diamond Dreams, an organization started by Scott and Susan Coolbaugh to help preserve Mike’s memory in the baseball world and the community at large, is spending July 2012 remembering Mike and his passion for baseball and asking others to celebrate Mike and help the organization in its mission to ensure that all players make it home safe. In furtherance of that goal, Diamond Dreams is proud to announce its new “Make It Home Safe” program, which aims to assist youth baseball players and organizations in need of new or improved safety equipment or facilities.

In the past five years there has been a concentrated effort to improve safety in organized baseball. Among the most prominent examples of this focus on safety is that base coaches from the college level through the minor leagues and all the way to the majors are required to wear helmets on the field. Additionally, colleges and high schools have implemented new BBCOR bat safety standards to reduce the injury risk related to the high speeds at which travel when with aluminum bats. But there remains room for improvement, and many young players lack proper equipment and field conditions to keep them safe while playing the game they love.

Beginning the weekend of July 20–July 22, 2012, Mike Coolbaugh Diamond Dreams will begin accepting nominations for its first project awards under the new “Make It Home Safe” program at its website, www.diamonddreams.org. Anyone who knows of a Texas baseball team, program, or organization that has a need for improved safety equipment or facilities is encouraged to visit the Diamond Dreams website and submit an online nomination form.

“Ensuring all players make it home safe”

Contact: Mike Coolbaugh Diamond Dreams Susan Coolbaugh P.O. Box 2977 817-521-8604 Grapevine, Texas 76099 [email protected]

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Mike Coolbaugh Diamond Dreams is a non-profit organization that honors the memory of Mike Coolbaugh by promoting safety in the game of baseball and providing support to members of the baseball community in need. On July 22, 2007, while coaching first base for the in the AA , Mike Coolbaugh was struck by a line drive in foul territory and killed instantly. To honor Mike and his contributions to baseball, and to advance Mike’s passion for perpetuating the game and helping others, Scott and Susan Coolbaugh (Mike’s brother and sister-in-law) started Diamond Dreams in 2009. In Mike Coolbaugh’s honor, Diamond Dreams has raised money to build safe, state-of-the-art batting cages and practice facilities, provided financial assistance and baseball equipment to others in the baseball community nationwide who have been affected by tragedy, and awarded college scholarships to student-athletes from Mike’s high school in San Antonio. Since June 2011, has been the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers, and Diamond Dreams has been blessed to have the support of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation and many other members of the Rangers organization.

“Ensuring all players make it home safe”

Contact: Mike Coolbaugh Diamond Dreams Susan Coolbaugh P.O. Box 2977 817-521-8604 Grapevine, Texas 76099 [email protected]

www.diamonddreams.org