David Freese of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals was the only multiple award winner, as he earned Postseason MVP and top Postseason Moment for his dramatic game-tying, ninth-inning triple in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.

In addition to the Cardinals, four other Clubs claimed multiple GIBBY winners, including the Arizona Diamondbacks (Kirk Gibson, Manager of the Year; Ian Kennedy, Breakout Player of the Year); Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander, Starting Pitcher of the Year; Jose Valverde, Closer of the Year); New York Yankees (David Robertson, Setup Man of the Year; Robinson Cano, Wow Factor of the Year; Derek Jeter, Performance of the Year); and Tampa Bay Rays (Dan Johnson, Moment of the Year; Evan Longoria, Walk-Off of the Year).

This year’s winners of the GIBBY Awards – the ultimate trophies honoring the best players and must-see moments from the 2011 Major League Baseball season – were determined through a comprehensive six-week voting process (Oct. 29-Dec. 4) that included national and local media members, Major League Club front office personnel, former Major League players and online fan balloting at MLB.com. Over the past four seasons, fans have cast more than 40 million online votes for the 19 categories, none of which were restricted to individual League affiliation. A complete list of 2011 winners and highlights can be found at MLB.com/GIBBYs.

QUOTES FROM THE 2011 GIBBY AWARDS SHOW

GIBSON – “I’d like to thank all the fans and everybody who voted for me for Manager of the Year. It’s an exceptional honor for me, being a rookie manager. … It’s exemplary of why we all get up and play the game hard with dedication, and do it the right way every day.”

KENNEDY – “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me for this award. It’s an honor. Every one of those guys is deserving and had great years. I’d like to thank my teammates for putting me in this position to win this award.”

JOHN MOZELIAK (Executive of the Year) – “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me on this award. It’s a great honor, and I take a lot of pride in being recognized in this. … There are so many great people who work in our front office who deserve credit for this award. I’m honored and humbled by this. I also want to recognize our ownership that gives us so much support throughout the year.”

BEN REVERE (Play of the Year) – “I just want to say thank you to the fans who voted for me, to the Minnesota Twins faithful, and to MLB.com and MLB Network for allowing me to accept this honor.”

ROBERTSON – “This is a huge honor. This is one of those things I didn’t expect to win.”

The reunion charity eventwill take place at Bowlmor Lanes in Times Square on Oct. 25, which is exactly 25 years to the day of game six of the 1986 World Series.

In the 10th inning, with the score tied, Wilson stepped in with a full count and the winning run in scoring position. Hitting a slow ground ball up the first base line that appeared to be playable for Boston first baseman Bill Buckner, Wilson dashed out of the box only to see the ball sneak between the legs of Buckner, who was playing on two bad ankles. The ball skirted around Buckner’s glove and rolled slowly into right field. The Mets win.

Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of New York.  Grandstandsports.com CEO, Howard Schwartz, spoke about his affinity for the organization:  ”The opportunity to bring these two legends together is a dream come true for baseball fans everywhere. This is going to be an unforgettable evening for all and the fact that Ronald McDonald House Charities are benefitting from the outcome makes it a ‘home run’ in every sense of the word.”

A fun night out for adults and kids alike, the evening will consist of meet and greet opportunities with both Bill Buckner and Mookie Wilson, along with photographs and autographs of the legends. There will also be an organized question and answer portion of the evening along with a large silent and live charity auction. Auction items include a VIP Tour of Citi Field with a former Mets World Series legend. The night also includes open bar, hors d’oeuvres, and free bowling during the event.

Fans can purchase tickets (Starting at just $199) by calling 1-888-78-GRAND (888-784-7263) or at www.grandstandsports.com/1986.

MLB Network Radio channel broadcasts live from Chase Field and MLB All-Star FanFest in Phoenix July 9-12

Cal Ripken Jr. and Bill Ripken to host “Ripken Baseball” live in front of fans at MLB All-Star FanFest on July 11

Sirius XM Radio announced that it will offer baseball fans comprehensive coverage of 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Week in Phoenix, AZ, July 9-12.

SiriusXM will carry the 82nd All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 12 (8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT), and the State Farm Home Run Derby on Monday, July 11 (8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT), live from Chase Field on XM channel 176.

SiriusXM will also offer the exclusive radio broadcast of the XM All-Star Futures Game, featuring the top minor league prospects from the U.S. and abroad, on Sunday, July 10.  Pre-game coverage starts at 5:30 pm ET on XM channel 89.  SiriusXM’s Mike Ferrin will be the play-by-play voice for the Futures Game broadcast and former Major League GM and daily SiriusXM host Jim Duquette will be the analyst.  SiriusXM’s Grant Paulsen and Baseball America’s John Manuel will provide reports from on the field and in the dugouts.  Paulsen will host a special edition of his weekly show, Minors & Majors, live from the ballpark (3:00 pm ET/12:00 pm PT) leading into the XM All-Star Futures pre-game.

On Monday and Tuesday, SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio – channel 89 on XM and channel 209 on Sirius Premier (formerly known as “The Best of XM”) – will offer listeners extensive pre- and post-game coverage of both the State Farm Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game that will feature one-on-one interviews with current and former All-Stars, managers, coaches and other personalities from around the game.

Former All-Star pitcher Rob Dibble, former GM Jim Bowden and Casey Stern will team up for the State Farm Home Run Derby pre-game coverage starting at 5:00 pm ET/2:00 pm PT as well as the post-Derby recap.  On Tuesday, Dibble, former GM Jim Duquette and Stern will host the All-Star pre-game coverage live from Chase Field starting at 5:00 pm ET/2:00 pm PT.  Following the game, Dibble and Duquette will host the post-game show with Stern and Ferrin on the field and in the clubhouse talking one-on-one with the All-Stars.

Additionally, each day leading up to the All-Star Game, MLB Network Radio hosts will broadcast live from the MLB All-Star FanFest.  Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and Bill Ripken will host their exclusive show, Ripken Baseball, live in front of fans on Monday, July 11 (3:00 pm ET/12:00 pm PT).  Former pitcher Jeff Nelson, Jim Bowden, Jim Duquette, Casey Stern, Mike Ferrin and Grant Paulsen will also host live from the SiriusXM broadcast stage at the Phoenix Convention Center.

The following programs will originate from MLB All-Star FanFest and air on MLB Network Radio (channel 89 on XM; channel 209 on Sirius Premier):

Other hosts from across the SiriusXM programming spectrum will also broadcast from the All-Star festivities in Phoenix.

On Sunday, July 10 (3:00 pm ET/12:00 pm PT), Monday, July 11 (6:00 pm ET/3:00 pm PT) and Tuesday, July 12 (11:00 am ET/8:00 am PT), SiriusXM’s Steve Covino and Rich Davis will host their daily show from MLB All-Star FanFest, talking with special guests and fans and trying out FanFest’s interactive exhibits live on air.  Covino & Rich airs daily on SiriusXM Stars Too, SiriusXM’s talk radio channel for guys (channel 104).

SiriusXM airs every game from all 30 Major League Baseball teams live on XM channels 176 to 189, with some on XM channel 89, and in Spanish on XM channel 175.  A schedule of MLB games on XM can be found at www.siriusxm.com/mlb.

MLB Network Radio, the only radio channel dedicated to covering Major League Baseball seven days a week, 365 days a year, is available to both XM and Sirius subscribers and features a daily lineup of call-in talk shows hosted by Cal Ripken Jr., Bill Ripken, Jim Bowden, Rob Dibble, Jim Duquette, Kevin Kennedy, Jeff Nelson, Rico Petrocelli, and others.  MLB Network Radio also airs MLB Network television programming including MLB Tonight, the network’s live nightly studio show featuring live game look-ins and analysis by Harold Reynolds, Al Leiter, Mitch Williams, Bill Ripken, Dan Plesac and others.

American and National League All-Star Team managers Ron Washington and Bruce Bochy, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, have announced the candidates for the 2011 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint (#FinalVote), which is held exclusively on MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, and the individual Club Web sites.

Last week, MLB.com finished the voting for the 17 starting position players via the 2011 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Sprint in record-setting fashion with 357.5 million votes and 27.4 million ballots, setting the stage for a dramatic, four-day online voting for the two remaining All-Star roster spots among the following 10 players:

American League

Alex Gordon (KC) – #VoteAlex
Adam Jones (BAL) – #VoteAdam
Paul Konerko (CWS) – #PaulStar
Victor Martinez (DET) – #VoteVictor
Ben Zobrist (TB) – #helpZogo

National League

Andre Ethier (LAD) – #VoteAndre
Todd Helton (COL) – #VoteHelton
Ian Kennedy (ARI) – #VoteIanIn
Mike Morse (WAS) – #VoteMorse
Shane Victorino (PHI) – #voteforshane

Fans began casting votes for the 2011 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint on MLB.com and the Club sites immediately following today’s Major League Baseball All-Star Selection Show presented by Taco Bell on TBS and can continue until balloting concludes at 4 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 7. The winners, as chosen exclusively by online fan voting totals, will be announced on MLB.com shortly thereafter.

Mobile voting for U.S. residents is available by sending “VOTE” to 89269 to receive the 2011 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote ballot. In Canada, fans should text “VOTE” to 65246. Msg&Data rates may apply.

FINAL VOTE CAMPAIGN MANAGER

MLB.com also will launch the 2011 All-Star Game Campaign Headquarters, which gives fans the chance to join a campaign for any of the 10 candidates and compete to become that player’s online “Campaign Manager.”

After completing the 2011 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint, fans are presented with the option to support the campaign of either of the two players for whom they just voted. When a player is chosen, MLB.com will track every vote that fan helps generate for that specific player, whether it comes from Facebook, Twitter or MLB.com links forwarded. The fans generating the most votes will be ranked on that player’s campaign page.

ALL-STAR GAME FINAL VOTE CELEBRATES 10th YEAR

The All-Star Game Final Vote program has seen over 250 million votes cast since its inception in 2002. In recognition of this milepost, MLB.com is giving eligible voters a 10-day free trial of MLB.TV from July 9-19, 2011. Fans will receive an e-mail notifying them of the instructions for redeeming this All-Star Final Vote offer.

Also, MLB.com and its partner Jib Jab, the leader in personalized entertainment, have introduced a specially-created Starring You^® campaign featuring each League’s five Final Vote candidates in a humorous, animated video of the traditional seventh-inning stretch song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Fans can watch the candidates’ Starring You^® videos and then cast their online votes for the 2011 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint here. They then can create their own free Starring You^® video where they can choose their favorite teams and insert photos of themselves, family and friends. The videos, including those featuring the 10 All-Star Game Final Vote candidates, are embeddable and can be shared via e-mail and through social network platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. For complete details, visit MLB.com/jibjab.

The 82nd Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and Le Reseau des Sports, and around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8:00 p.m. (EDT)/5:00 p.m. (local). For more information, please visit allstargame.com or dbacks.com/asg.

All-Star Game Final Vote Candidates – Historical Listing

(*All-Star Final Vote winner)

American League

Jeremy Bonderman (2007 DET)
Eric Byrnes (2003 OAK)
Eric Chavez (2002 OAK)
Carl Crawford (2005 TB)
Johnny Damon (2002 BOS*)
Jermaine Dye (2008 CWS)
Darin Erstad (2002 ANA)
Kelvim Escobar (2007 LAA)
Chone Figgins (2009 LAA)
Lew Ford (2004 MIN)
Jason Giambi (2003 NYY, 2008 NYY)
Jose Guillen (2008 KC)
Travis Hafner (2004 CLE, 2006 CLE)
Roy Halladay (2007 TOR)
Ramon Hernandez (2006 BAL)
Torii Hunter (2005 MIN)
Brandon Inge (2009 DET*)
Derek Jeter (2005 NYY)
Ian Kinsler (2009 TEX)
Paul Konerko (2004 CWS, 2010 CWS)
Adam Lind (2009 TOR)
Francisco Liriano (2006 MIN)
Evan Longoria (2008 TB*)
Hideki Matsui (2004 NYY*, 2005 NYY)
Bengie Molina (2003 ANA)
Pat Neshek (2007 MIN)
Hideki Okajima (2007 BOS*)
Magglio Ordonez (2002 CWS)
Carlos Pena (2009 TB)
A.J. Pierzynski (2006 CWS*)
Scott Podsednik (2005 CWS*)
Brian Roberts (2008 BAL)
Nick Swisher (2010 NYY*)
Frank Thomas (2003 CWS, 2004 CWS)
Jim Thome (2002 CLE)
Jason Varitek (2003 BOS*)
Justin Verlander (2006 DET)
Kevin Youkilis (2010 BOS)
Delmon Young (2010 MIN)
Michael Young (2010 TEX)

National League

Bobby Abreu (2004 PHI*, 2006 PHI)
Heath Bell (2010 SD)
Pat Burrell (2008 PHI)
Orlando Cabrera (2003 MON)
Chris Capuano (2006 MIL)
Luis Castillo (2003 FLA)
Steve Finley (2004 ARI)
Nomar Garciaparra (2006 LAD*)
Brian Giles (2002 PIT)
Carlos Gonzalez (2010 COL)
Tom Gorzelanny (2007 PIT)
Cristian Guzman (2009 WAS)
Corey Hart (2008 MIL*)
Trevor Hoffman (2005 SD)
Geoff Jenkins (2003 MIL*)
Andruw Jones (2002 ATL*)
Matt Kemp (2009 LAD)
Jason Kendall (2004 PIT)
Ryan Klesko (2002 SD)
Carlos Lee (2008 HOU)
Kenny Lofton (2003 PIT)
Brett Myers (2005 PHI)
Roy Oswalt (2005 HOU*, 2007 HOU)
Corey Patterson (2003 CHI)
Juan Pierre (2004 FLA)
Albert Pujols (2002 STL)
Aramis Ramirez (2004 CHI)
Mark Reynolds (2009 ARI)
Aaron Rowand (2008 SF)
Pablo Sandoval (2009 SF)
Benito Santiago (2003 SF)
Shane Victorino (2009 PHI*)
Joey Votto (2010 CIN*)
Billy Wagner (2005 PHI, 2006 NYM, 2010 ATL)
Larry Walker (2002 COL)
Brandon Webb (2005 ARI, 2007 ARI)
David Wright (2008 NYM)
Chris Young (2006 SD, 2007 SD*)
Carlos Zambrano (2007 CHI)
Ryan Zimmerman (2010 WAS)

Professional baseball greats Robin Yount, Mike Schmidt, Rod Carew, Jack Clark and Jack Morris will enhance the fan experience at the NCAA Men’s College World Series this Father’s Day weekend, thanks to AT&T*.  On Saturday, legendary third baseman and 1970 College World Series participant  with Ohio University Mike Schmidt will Facebook chat live with AT&T fans from the College World Series® from  9 – 9:30 a.m. CT. Go to Facebook.com/ATT, “like” AT&T and post the questions you’d like Mike to answer! On Sunday, iconic slugger Jack Clark will play catch at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha with a child whose father is deployed for the 3rd Annual Father’s Day Toss.

“We are honored to provide this once-in-a-lifetime experience to the child of a local military family,” said Jason Simpson, AVP, AT&T Corporate Sponsorships. “AT&T has a long history of supporting our troops and the annual Father’s Day Toss is a fun way to show our appreciation to our military.”

In addition to playing catch with Clark, the child’s family, selected by Offutt Air Force Base, will be provided with commemorative items, tickets to the 2011 NCAA Men’s College World Series and a VIP tour of TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

Also in honor of Father’s Day, AT&T will provide members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands and their families, volunteers and staff with tickets, prizes and exclusive access during opening weekend. The group will receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium, including the locker rooms and press box, and exclusive access to the TD Ameritrade Park Omaha outfield for the 3rd Annual Father’s Day Toss on Sunday, June 19th with Jack Clark.

The additional baseball greats AT&T brings to the NCAA Men’s College World Series will sign autographs at AT&T stores and at the AT&T Fan Zone within the College World Series Fan Fest presented by Capital One at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha on Friday, June 17, Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19. Fan Fest is free and open to the public Friday, June 17 from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and Monday (June 18 – June 20) from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Friday, June 17

Robin Yount

• 2-3 p.m. AT&T Fan Zone, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
• 4-5 p.m. AT&T Store, 3575 L Street, Omaha, Neb.

Mike Schmidt

• 6-7 p.m.  AT&T Fan Zone, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

Saturday, June 18

Mike Schmidt

• 9 – 9:30 a.m. LIVE chat with Mike Schmidt on Facebook.com/ATT
• 10-11 a.m. AT&T Store, Village Pointe, Omaha, Neb.

Rod Carew

• 1-2 p.m. AT&T Store, 7820 Dodge St., Omaha, Neb.
• 4:30.-5:30 p.m.  AT&T Fan Zone, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

Sunday, June 19

Jack Clark

• 9 a.m. 3rd Annual Father’s Day Toss, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
• 11:30 a.m.– 12:30 p.m. AT&T Fan Zone, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

Jack Morris

• 3:30-4:30 p.m.  AT&T Fan Zone, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

While at the AT&T Fan Zone area, fans can take a commemorative photo, provide their point of view as a commentator for historic NCAA® Men’s College World Series® in a video booth and test their arm with a pitching game. Visitors can also check out the latest and greatest AT&T products and services, including AT&T Mobile Games, AT&T U-verse Live TV and the Motorola ATRIX 4G.

To keep up with all the activity in Omaha, AT&T is providing text alerts** – text CWS to 88222 to sign up. Participants will be notified of final game scores, team advancement updates, team practice times and locations and changes in game schedules and will also be among the first to know about special events, appearances, opportunities to win tickets and prizes, ticket availability and more!

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

** Standard text messaging rates apply.

In its 26th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, announced Dylan Bundy of Owasso High (Owasso, Okla.) as its 2010-11 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year.  Bundy was surprised with the news during a youth baseball clinic by former All-Star Third Baseman Aaron Boone.

“It felt great to surprise Dylan with the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award and welcome him into one of the most prestigious legacy programs in high school sports,” said Boone.  ”Gatorade has been on the sidelines fueling athletic performance for years, so to be recognized by a brand that understands the game and truly helps athletes perform is a huge honor for these kids.”

As the recipient of the 231st Gatorade National Player of the Year trophy to be awarded since 1985, Bundy becomes only the second player from the state of Oklahoma to earn Gatorade National Player of the Year honors. The other was A.J. Hinch (Midwest City, Okla.) in 1991-92, a catcher who went on to play seven years in the MLB and now serves as Vice President of Professional Scouting for the San Diego Padres.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Bundy as the nation’s best high school baseball player.  A national advisory panel comprised of sport-specific experts and sports journalists helped select Bundy from more than 472,644 baseball players nationwide. Bundy is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior right-handed pitcher and third baseman posted an 11-0 record on the mound with a 0.20 ERA, 158 strikeouts and just five walks in 71 innings-pitched this past season, leading the Rams (37-2) to the Class 6A state final.  Now a three-time Gatorade Oklahoma Baseball Player of the Year, Bundy also batted .467 with 11 home runs, 54 RBIs and 50 runs scored this spring.  He tossed eight complete-game shutouts, including one no-hitter, registered a save and allowed only two earned runs to score in 2011.  He finished his senior season with a 0.35 WHIP and opposing hitters managed just a 0.81 batting average against him.  Bundy averaged 15.5 strikeouts per seven innings this year en route to a 31.6-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Bundy is the nation’s only three-time winner of Gatorade State Baseball Player of the Year honors in the award’s 26-year history.  He was an Aflac and Under Armour All-American in 2010 and a Rawlings First Team All-American in 2011. Bundy has signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball on scholarship at the University of Texas this fall, but is projected as an early first-round selection in this month’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

“Bundy established himself as the best high school pitcher in this draft early in the spring and hasn’t let up at all, pushing himself into top-5 pick consideration,” said Keith Law, Senior Baseball Writer for ESPN.com. “Bundy has stuff, command, and aggressiveness with a big-league arsenal that includes a fastball up to 99 and an outstanding cutter. He throws strikes and attacks hitters on both sides of the plate. With great makeup, stuff, and track record, Bundy shouldn’t get out of the top 10 picks.”

Bundy has maintained a 3.72 GPA in the classroom.  He has volunteered locally on behalf of both First United Methodist Church and Owasso Community Resources holiday service missions since 2009, participating in an annual drive that distributes 3,000 holiday turkeys.  He has also donated his time as a baseball clinic instructor at Sperry and Owasso high schools since 2008.  Bundy recently initiated a grassroots effort for Rams athletes to provide additional humanitarian relief to victims of the Joplin, Mo. tornadoes.

“Without question, Dylan is deserving of recognition as the nation’s best high school baseball player based on his statistics on the field and the impact his accomplishments have had on Owasso High’s success,” said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Jennifer Storms.  ”But he is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young athletes of what a leader and a student-athlete should be.  He represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient.”

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Social media start-up Tout.com catapulted into the limelight when Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most celebrated players in the NBA, chose the company’s real-time video status update application to announce his decision to retire from the NBA to his millions of fans. Tout enables iPhone users to “in one click” capture quick 15-second video messages that are instantly pushed out to friends, family, followers — or the whole world — through Twitter, Facebook, SMS and email.

“In addition to being one of the greatest basketball players of our time, Shaquille O’Neal is one of the savviest social media influencers out there,” said Michael Downing, founder and CEO of Tout. “We were thrilled that he instantly understood the potential of Tout.  Shaq now effectively has his own real-time media network through Tout, instantly updating his nearly four million Twitter followers and two million Facebook fans, determining the programming solely with his iPhone.”

O’Neal is using Tout to share real-time updates, from breaking his retirement news directly to his fans to the formal press conference scheduled for Friday, June 3. Shaq will be using Tout as his own personal media network, updating his Twitter followers and his Facebook fans directly with new and exciting developments in his life following his retirement from the NBA.

Available for free download in the Apple App Store, Tout makes it simple to capture life’s moments via an iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS or iPad2 and instantly share 15-second video status updates to friends, family or the whole world through Facebook, Twitter, email, SMS and iPhone contacts. The Tout application also alerts users to new Touts, and allows them to watch real-time updates from people they “follow” and Touts that are popular that day. At Tout.com, anyone can browse the community of popular users and see their most recent updates as they Tout them. Tout will be available for Android in July.

“We are gratified fans responded so favorably to the material changes we made this off-season across our web sites, mobile applications and live game products,” said Dinn Mann, Executive Vice President, Content, MLB.com. “As we do every season, we will continue to develop and deploy additional technology and content offerings to further daily fan engagement with the game.”

Among the traffic records established at MLB.com during the first days of the season (March 31 – April 19) include:

• Fans watched 7 million video streams per day during the season’s opening 20 days, including 1 million live video streams per day.

• MLB.com averaged 11.5 million visitors per day, representing an increase of 17 percent from 2010 (9.8 million), highlighted by its single-highest visited day ever in the month of April with 13 million visitors on Friday, April 8.

• MLB.com averaged 122 million page views per day, 48% higher than the comparable 2010 average, and reached 2 billion page views earlier than ever before.

• MLB.com’s mobile sites have totaled 992 million page views across all Internet-enabled devices, a 138% increase from the 2010 season’s first 20 days.

• At Bat 11, the #1 selling suite of mobile applications available on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android and BlackBerry, has been accessed 35 million times since Opening Day, a daily average of 1.75 million accesses and a 115 percent increase over the 2010 comparable time period.

Washington Nationals’ left fielder Michael Morse has earned the top spot on Brand Affinity Technology’s monthly list of Rising Sports Stars.  This special MLB-only edition of the list identifies baseball players with the most significant leaps in popularity during the preseason – athletes poised for greatness as the season starts.  Morse turned heads with nine home runs during spring training, making him one of the most watched players as the regular season begins.  His popularity increased a whopping 92% over the preseason, putting him at the top of the list of stars to watch in the month of April.

This month’s Rising Stars list is the youngest to date, with none of the athletes more than 25 years old.  The top three spots on the list were rounded out by up-and-coming young pitchers Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics and Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays. The full list and additional details are available at: www.brandaffinity.net/RisingStars/april2011.

Rising Sports Stars is distributed by Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), a company that calculates daily consumer affinity based on a proprietary combination of media exposure, performance, awards, popularity, engagement, and fan base, among other indicators, for more than 45,000 athletes and celebrities.  The list identifies sports stars with the greatest leaps in popularity, on a percentage basis.  A meteoric rise may indicate a standout on-the-field performance, off-the-field achievement, or emergence from utility player to celebrity.

Washington, DC, whose hometown Nationals have finished in last place in all but one year since relocating from Montreal in 2005, is the unhappiest pro baseball city, according to analysis by Avvo, which offers free ratings and profiles for 90 percent of licensed doctors and lawyers in the U.S. Interestingly enough, Baltimore, located about 40 miles north of the nation’s capital and home to the Orioles, who last won a World Series in 1983, is the third most depressed baseball city, with Oakland (Athletics) sandwiched between.

Batting cleanup in the lineup of brokenhearted baseball cities is Seattle, then Houston, San Diego, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago (Cubs fans), Pittsburgh, Denver, Los Angeles, New York (Mets fans), Tampa, Dallas, Kansas City, Detroit and Milwaukee.

“Baseball fans are incredibly passionate about their teams so it’s no surprise they suffer from bouts of depression and disappointment after a big loss or after the seemingly endless succession of losing seasons,” said Mark Britton, founder and CEO of Avvo.

Below is a list of the most depressed baseball cities (in order):

1. Washington, DC
2. Oakland
3. Baltimore
4. Seattle
5. Houston
6. San Diego
7. Cleveland
8. Cincinnati
9. Chicago (Cubs)
10. Pittsburgh
11. Denver
12. Los Angeles
13. New York (Mets)
14. Tampa
15. Dallas
16. Kansas City
17. Detroit
18. Milwaukee

Methodology: Avvo reviewed data in cities that are home to 18 MLB teams that haven’t won a World Series in the past 20 years, and examined the teams’ on-field performance. In the nine weighted categories, cities and teams were ranked first to last. Statistics used to establish the rankings included: psychiatrists and divorce lawyers per capita (Avvo), unemployment rate (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), drinking rate, suicide rate and mentally unhealthy days reported among adults (CDC), and medical and legal-related questions (Avvo), as well as number of days over the past three seasons each team held first place and days eliminated from first place contention (Baseball-Reference.com).