FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2014 BASEBALL LEGENDS ROD CAREW, REGGIE JACKSON AND JOE MORGAN SCHEDULED TO HEADLINE THE 2ND ANNUAL FRANK ROBINSON CELEBRITY GOLF INVITATIONAL IN NOVEMBER Event will be Held on November 10th at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles To Benefit the MLB Urban Youth Academy Fans Have Unique Opportunity to Hit Links with Baseball Hall of Famers, Film and Television Stars, and Legends from Around the Sports World Registration Details Available at MLB.com/UrbanYouthAcademy Baseball Legends Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and Joe Morgan are scheduled to headline the second annual Frank Robinson Celebrity Golf Invitational on November 10th at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, Major League Baseball announced today. The trio will be joined by additional baseball legends and an array of celebrities from the worlds of sport, film and television to benefit the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, which provides free, year-round baseball and softball instruction to young people from underserved and urban communities within the greater Los Angeles area. Registered participants for the Frank Robinson Celebrity Golf Invitational will have the opportunity to play their rounds with sports and entertainment celebrities. As of today, additional baseball legends scheduled to attend include Ron Darling, Orel Hershiser and Bret Saberhagen. Film and television stars, including Anthony Anderson and Richard Schiff, as well as legendary sports figures Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Jerry West and Sugar Ray Leonard, are also scheduled to hit the links. Following the round, an awards banquet and dinner, featuring a live and silent auction, will be held at the club. Registration proceeds for the event, which will be hosted by Frank Robinson, the Hall of Famer and MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Development who oversees all MLB Urban Youth Academies, will go toward supporting the MLB Urban Youth Academy through the non-profit Major League Baseball Urban Youth Foundation. Additional information, including registration details and up-to-date celebrity attendees, can be found at MLB.com/UrbanYouthAcademy. “We are delighted and thankful for the support we continue to receive for the MLB Urban Youth Academy, both from celebrities and fans, through this event,” said Frank Robinson, MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Development. “We are starting to see all of the hard work and commitment by our Academy staff come to fruition at the Major League level, and we hope to see more results in the future. More importantly, we look forward to continue serving and providing opportunities for young people each and every day at the MLB Urban Youth Academy.” The MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton opened in 2006 as the first of what is now a growing network of facilities designed to give young people around the country the opportunity to learn about and play baseball and softball at no cost. The facility has served more than 10,000 young men and women in Southern California. More than 400 Academy student-athletes have gone on to participate in collegiate baseball and softball programs, and more than 200 Academy alumni have been selected in the MLB Player Draft, including seven in the 2014 draft. Three alumni have been picked in the first-round, including 2013 selections Dominic Smith (#11 overall pick by the New York Mets) and J.P. Crawford (#16 overall by the Philadelphia Phillies), and also 2008 first-round pick Aaron Hicks (#14 overall by the Minnesota Twins). Five MLB Urban Youth Academy graduates appeared on Major League rosters during the 2014 Regular Season (Hicks, Twins; Khris Davis, Milwaukee Brewers; Anthony Gose, Toronto Blue Jays; Efren Navarro, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; Jon Singleton, Houston Astros). All MLB Urban Youth Academies provide educational programming, such as SAT/ACT preparation and tutoring, and each Academy’s goal is to graduate 100 percent of the youth it serves. MLB Urban Youth Academies also operate baseball vocational programming, offering its participants and members of the local community the opportunity to attend free seminars on umpiring, athletic field management, scouting and player development, sports and broadcast journalism, public relations and statistics, as well as athletic sports training. There are now four operational Academies in Cincinnati (Ohio), Compton (California), New Orleans (Louisiana) and Houston (Texas). Ground has been broken on an additional facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a future Academy has been announced for Southern Florida. Each MLB Urban Youth Academy is similarly built with multiple fields, batting cages, pitching tunnels and indoor facilities (for both baseball/softball and educational activities). Major League Baseball is committed to increasing diversity throughout professional baseball through its various community and multicultural programs, including the Breakthrough Series, Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), the On-Field Diversity Task Force and the MLB Diverse Business Partners program. With these programs and the growing network of MLB Urban Youth Academies, MLB has continued to pledge resources to bring America’s pastime to young people in urban communities. # # # Contact: Steve Arocho, Major League Baseball, (212) 931-7581, [email protected] .