THE OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL # FIRST ISSUE 2005 Major League Baseball Returns to U.S. Capital 29% of MLB – Opening Day Attendance Continues to Rise Players are Foreign-Born ) 4 ( pening Day rosters for the S E G A 30 Major League Baseball M I Y T Clubs, which consist of 25- T O E G man rosters and disabled lists, included 242 players born outside the 50 United States. These players represent 15 foreign countries, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In total, 29.2 percent of the 829 players (750 active and 79 disabled) on rosters as of April 4, 2005 were born outside the 50 United States, compared to 23.6 percent in 2000. The Dominican Republic leads all countries with 91 players, followed by Venezuela (46) and Puerto Rico (34). The Washington Nationals lead all Major League Baseball teams with 16 foreign-born players, hailing from six different countries: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto U.S. President George W. Bush with Washington Nationals Manager Frank Robinson; scenes from Opening Day at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. Rico and Venezuela. The Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets share the second ) 4 ormer New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio once said of The pre-game festivities were highlighted by U.S. President ( S E G Opening Day, "You look forward to it like a birthday party George W. Bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. A M I Y when you're a kid...something wonderful is going to President Bush, an avid baseball fan and former co-owner of T F T E happen." With the cold winter far behind and a brand new the Texas Rangers, resumed an old tradition when he became G season of Major League Baseball ahead, players and fans alike the 12th president to attend an Opening Day game involving a celebrate the return of baseball on Opening Day. Washington team. The Nationals have generated excitement in One of the greatest rivalries in sports led off the their new home, already selling 1.8 million tickets and 2005 baseball season on Sunday, April 3. In a bringing baseball back to a market that had been the rematch of last year’s thrilling ALCS, the country’s largest without a team. World Series Champion Boston Red Sox Ballparks throughout the Major began their title defense against the New Leagues were once again packed on York Yankees. A crowd of 54,818 filled Opening Day, with 1,357,238 fans Yankee Stadium to welcome back Major passing through the turnstiles for the 30 League Baseball. New York extracted some Club home openers. Seven Clubs toppled revenge with a 9-2 win over Boston, in previous Opening Day attendance records Randy Johnson’s first start as a Yankee. for their ballparks. Robust attendance figures The big story of Opening Day 2005 however, have carried over from Spring Training, where a highest total with 13. The Orioles was the return of Major League Baseball to the record 3,405,043 baseball fans enjoyed roster includes players from U.S. Capital. For the first time since 1971, Washington exhibition games in Florida and Arizona. The previous Aruba, Canada, Cuba, Dominican D.C. has a Major League Club to call its own. The Washington attendance high for the spring was 3,330,200 in 1994. Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Nationals, previously the Montreal Expos (1969-2004), played The attendance outlook for the 2005 regular season is very Rico and Venezuela. their first-ever regular season game in Philadelphia against the promising as the 30 Major League Baseball Clubs sold Clockwise from upper left: Albert Phillies (an 8-4 loss) on April 4 and returned to Washington D.C. approximately 49 million tickets before the first pitch of the Pujols (Dominican Republic); Justin for their home opener on April 14. season. At the same point last season, Clubs sold Morneau (Canada); Mariano Rivera With a sell-out crowd of 45,596 on hand for baseball at RFK approximately 46 million tickets en route to the highest (Panama); Kazuhiro Matsui (Japan). Stadium, the Nationals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3. single-season total attendance in history, 73,022,969. National League Advertising & Promotion Eastern Division Players to Watch Dream Big! in Japan with MLB Atlanta Braves his season, Major League Baseball will launch its new Rafael Furcal Tadvertising campaign “Dream Big!” in Japan. Designed to Tim Hudson Andruw Jones appeal to sports fans and non-sports fans alike, the Dream Big! Chipper Jones tagline will be incorporated within broadcast, sponsor, special event, retail advertising and marketing campaigns. The John Smoltz campaign was created to bring the Major League Baseball brand to new audiences, while strengthening ties to current fans. The tagline “Dream Big” represents the aspiration to be the best and recognizes the importance of striving for Florida Marlins excellence in both life and sport. Josh Beckett The lead agency for the campaign is Dentsu. Cosmo Communications is providing support with retail and licensed Miguel Cabrera consumer product applications. The launch plan includes roll-outs for both sports and casual/lifestyle-based outlets, Carlos Delgado including print and in-store advertising. Television, outdoor advertising and additional print will support the 2005 MLB Mike Lowell Dontrelle Willis broadcast schedule on network partners NHK, Fuji, TBS and SkyPerfect. “Our goal is to create more MLB fans in Japan,” said Shawn Lawson Cummings, VP Licensing and Sponsorship, MLB International. “By attracting attention to our sport, we expand recognition of our teams and players. The more New York Mets familiar people are with MLB, the more likely they are to be a fan. Whether you live in New York or Tokyo, it’s our job to Carlos Beltran ensure that we communicate this message.” Pedro Martinez Kazuo Matsui Jose Reyes David Wright MLB and Partners Open Season with Watch Parties in Latin America he excitement of Opening Day 2005 was felt throughout Latin America. MLB worked in conjunction with partners in five countries Philadelphia Phillies Tto host official MLB Watch Parties for the first game of the season between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. In Monterrey, Mexico, MLB teamed up with Majestic Athletic for an Opening Day celebration at the exclusive shopping center, Bobby Abreu Pat Burrell Galerías Monterrey. An open Watch Party was held allowing baseball fans and shoppers to experience the action on big screen TVs. John Lieber Throughout the day fans had the opportunity to practice their swing, calculate their pitching speed, and take pictures with Wally, the Jim Thome Boston Red Sox mascot. Batting contests were held with winners receiving Majestic Athletic Authentic jerseys and PlayStation 2s. Billy Wagner A retail promotion was held in conjunction with two major retailers for MLB in Mexico – Liverpool and Washington Nationals Deportes Martí. Both have emerged as valuable one-stop shopping outlets for replica Majestic Athletic MLB apparel. Jose Guillen Cristian Guzman Both Liverpool and Martí helped drive fan turnout through Livan Hernandez advertisements on the radio, TV, newspapers and in-store Jose Vidro circulars. Brad Wilkerson In Venezuela, new television partner Meridiano TV hosted lucky fans at Crystal Palace restaurant in downtown Caracas. In the Dominican Republic, TV partner Venezuela CDN treated over 200 fans to dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Santo Domingo as they watched the game Gatorade is the on 15 big screen TVs. Watch Parties were also hosted by MLB - Majestic Watch Party in Monterrey, Mexico Official Sports Drink TV Max in Panama and UTS in Curacao. of MLB in Venezuela MLB Sponsorship ith a new two-year Wagreement signed, Global Gatorade is now the official sports drink of MLB in All-Star Fan Balloting Program in Record Venezuela. Gatorade will feature Number of Countries in 2005 official MLB and team logos on their bottles and packages aseball fans around the world will once again be able to vote for their throughout the 2005 season Bfavorite players and help decide who will start the 76th MLB All-Star and will be active in grassroots Game in Detroit on July 12, 2005. Starting this May, over 6.5 million ballots initiatives throughout Venezuela. will be distributed internationally. Countries with balloting include Canada, Gatorade joins current and long- Curacao, Dominican Republic, Japan, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. time MLB sponsors Polar, Maltin Curacao and Panama will run balloting programs for the first time ever in Polar and Pepsi in Venezuela. 2005. Fans in both countries will be able to cast their votes and have a chance to win a trip to this year’s Midsummer Classic at Comerica Park. In Latin America, the 2005 All-Star balloting sponsors include Presidente (Dominican Republic); Maltin Polar and Pepsi (Venezuela); UTS, Ennia and M&C Bank (Curacao); Grupo EGSA and TV Max (Panama); and DirecTV (Puerto Rico). In Canada, Rogers Digital Cable will sponsor this year’s in-stadium All-Star Balloting program for all Toronto Blue Jays games at Rogers Centre. This year marks am/pm’s fifth consecutive year as title sponsor of offline All-Star Balloting in Japan. Japanese fans will have the chance to place votes at over 1,300 am/pm convenience stores nationwide. This is also the first year of Yomiuri Shimbun’s involvement as co-sponsor in Japan. Over 2 million ballots will be distributed through their newspaper circulation. The Major League Baseball All-Star balloting is also available online in Spanish and Japanese at MLB.com. While the fan’s votes will determine the eight starting position players in each league, a separate ballot of managers, coaches, and players (the Player Ballot) will be conducted by Major League Baseball during the final week of balloting to fill out the rosters.