MLB.com unveils 2009 This Year in Baseball award winners
MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, announced the results of online voting in its eighth annual This Year in Baseball Awards during a live hour-long video webcast from its New York City studios. The voting saw a record 12 million votes cast as the top players and moments from the 2009 season were chosen from 14 different categories, as well as a new honor, none of which were restricted to individual League affiliation.
“These year-end awards are a privilege to present and have grown in importance, both in terms of fan participation and in how they are received by the winners,” said Dinn Mann, Executive Vice President, Content, and Editor-in-Chief, MLB.com. “We are grateful for every vote, and more, for the platform to celebrate greatness in baseball and to continue to identify ways to expand this significant, deserved recognition.”
A complete list of 2009 winners is below:
Hitter of the Year: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (.365, 28 HR, 96 RBIs)
Starting Pitcher of the Year: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals (16-8, 2.16 ERA, 242 Ks)
Closer of the Year: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees (44 SV, 1.76 ERA)
Setup Man of the Year: Jeremy Affeldt, San Francisco Giants (74 G, 1.73 ERA)
Rookie of the Year: J.A. Happ, Philadelphia Phillies (12-4, 2.93 ERA)
Manager of the Year: Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies (92-70, NL Wild Card)
Executive of the Year: Ruben Amaro Jr., Philadelphia Phillies (93-69, NL East champs)
Defensive Player of the Year: Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox (.994 FPCT)
Unsung Star of the Year: Jayson Werth, Philadelphia Phillies (36 HR, 99 RBIs, 20 SB)
Performance of the Year: Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox (Perfect game, 7/23)
Play of the Year: Dewayne Wise, Chicago White Sox (Catch preserved perfect game, 7/23)
Moment of the Year: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees (Passed Gehrig for NYY hits, 9/11)
Postseason Moment of the Year: Johnny Damon, New York Yankees (WS Game 4)
Oddity of the Year: Phillies fanatic (Dad’s catch thrown back by daughter, 9/15)
A special, first-ever X-Factor of the Year was awarded to former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Juan Pierre through a media-only vote by MLB.com editors, reporters and multimedia personnel. In 2010, this category will be added to the overall voting process. The 2010 This Year in Baseball Awards will include additional exciting enhancements to be unveiled at a later date.
Awards will be presented individually to this year’s winners in on-field pre-game ceremonies during the 2010 regular season.
Source: MLB.com
Krav Maga training goes online
Krav Maga is a self-defense and training program honed by the Israelis from years of conflict. Its moves have been used for fitness by celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, in movies (The Bourne Ultimatum) and in video games (GTA, and recently Splinter Cell, to name a few).
Krav Maga can be learned by anyone, quickly and easily. Around 2 years ago, partners Lee Rivnay and Amir Student took Krav Maga training online by launching KravMagaBootCamp.Com.
“When we started this site almost 2 years ago, internet experts were telling us that people wouldn’t subscribe to a video site when there was already so much material out there on Youtube and DVDs. Apparently they were dead wrong, as our traffic has doubled in the last year, and more and more folks (some of them Krav Maga instructors themselves) are turning to our site for their Krav Maga training. What we offer, that DVDs just can’t offer, is the fact that we are constantly striving to keep our materials updated and up to speed with the current methodologies and best practices of Krav Maga.”
“It’s great to see that others have followed in our footsteps, and are offering MMA training online, as well as other forms of online self defense training. What I think sets us apart from the pack is our attention to detail in production, coupled with the best Krav Maga instructors out there. Ran Nakash – our first instructor – headed up the Krav Maga training division of the Israeli Army, and was featured on the Discovery Channel.”
In upcoming months we are planning to launch a second Krav Maga training site, which will feature more great training and we are planning on celebrating Imi Lichtenfeld’s (the founder of Krav Maga) 100th Birthday with some special events soon to be announced.
Will sex be passed by Fantasy Football in men’s minds in 2009?
RapidDraft.com is putting up a $250,000 Grand Prize and free entries to move fantasy football ahead of sex
How often do men think of sex? The infamous Kinsey studies show 54 percent of men think about sex every day, several times a day(1). Another fantasy is ready to move ahead of sex – fantasy football.
The challenge. “If you play fantasy football or have a spouse or friend that plays, you know first-hand that men will think more about fantasy football than sex this year, especially in September. Millions of American men are researching players, poring over stats, studying depth charts and drafting their fantasy teams right now. With RapidDraft Fantasy Football, we’re offering the largest prize, $250,000, in fantasy sports history for a free game. Although both will get plenty of play, our goal is to move fantasy ahead of sex in men’s minds,” said Jeff Thomas, CEO of World Fantasy Games, and former Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) President.
The research. According to FSTA research from the University of Mississippi’s Dr. Kim Beason, fantasy sports consumers think about fantasy sports, on average, 41 to 42 minutes per day, with increased time during the pre-season. That’s almost two minutes per hour – or nearly two seconds per minute. “Any leisure experience that the player immerses into will involve increased time thinking or daydreaming about that leisure experience. Because fantasy football information is so persuasive in the media from August-December, it has to kick-start the mind into meandering about playing fantasy sport,” explained Beason. “Leisure is defined as time involved in activity, money spent on activity, and the state of mind of the person experiencing the leisure activity. Clearly, men who play fantasy sport are much more likely to involve all three of these areas – time, money, state of mind. Sex may barely be winning the time category, but not the money or state of mind.”
The solution. “Men can jump online at any time of day or night and play RapidDraft alone in the privacy of their living room. No coordinating others. No dead teams. No dealing with clueless buddies that pick a Defense in Round Three. Consumers compete against 11 fantasy experts represented online by life-like avatars backed with artificial intelligence. Our patent-pending technology is incredible and the online sports bar user experience is second to none. I’ve met a lot of guys that think they can beat the pros. Now they can prove it and help us officially move fantasy football ahead of sex once and for all,” Thomas offers.
RapidDraft is free to play until Labor Day by going to this link or by using Promo Code = go4it via the home page.
A woman’s view. “One of the age old stereotypes is that the only thing men think about is sex. But I think most women would agree, this time of year, men are living and breathing fantasy football,” said Fantasy Lunch co-host Caitlin “The Sports Blonde” Morrall, whose blog-talk radio show debuted in July where she shares insight with thousands of listeners. “Besides in RapidDraft the winner walks away with $250,000. Wives, girlfriends, and moms will be very happy if the fantasy thoughts of their ‘boys’ turn into a quarter of a million dollars.”
Vote Now. “To help us with the sex vs. fantasy challenge, we are conducting an online survey during the month of September – please vote by going to RapidDraft.com,” adds The Sports Blonde. “Do men think more about fantasy football or sex this time of year? The results will be distributed in October.”
RapidDraft and WFG are working with more than 50 marketing partners this year to get the word out. The target is the core fantasy demographic, the 18 to 49 year old male. And the tool is ‘the draft’ in the form of the most innovative, virtual live draft room ever seen, avatar-based play, and artificial intelligence rolled into games for the masses. FSTA research shows that the draft is the most popular time of the fantasy season. And it attracts extremely engaged fantasy consumers, spending at least five to six hours per week following their fantasy football teams. Our bet is that those numbers sky rocket in September, leading fantasy football to pass sex in the minds of millions of men.
iHigh.com creating America’s High School Sports Network
Some 10,000 Events to be Available for Viewing
iHigh.com is developing America’s first nationwide high school sports network.
Nearly 2,000 high schools throughout the United States already have signed commitments to join the network, which will include team sports Web sites, photos, schedules, video, plus live and recorded game broadcasts.
Through iHigh.com, sports teams are provided – free of charge – a Web site they control. On this site, they can place live broadcasts, videos, photos and team information. In addition, high school student-athletes looking to gain the attention of college coaches can create their own student profile and social network on MYiHigh.com, complete with game videos, photos and personal information.
“We are the first to offer a national network of member schools that can pull all high school sports and activities together,” said Tim Campbell, president and CEO of iHigh.com. “Others may have individual offerings, but ours is a comprehensive – and free– approach. Where else can you go to have total free access at your fingertips to high school games from throughout the country?”
Participating schools are strong supporters:
- “It’s clean and it’s simple and it gives the information I think that people want to see,” says Cary (NC) High School Athletic Director Kurt Glendening.
- “I think it’s something each school should have because it’s just an awesome site,” adds Todd Shipley, football coach at Shelby County (KY) High School.
- “iHigh.com is a site that every school in the country should turn to! There is no better way to promote your student-athletes and your school,” says Redd Rider of the Raider Sports Network at Good Hope High School in Cullman (AL).
- “It’s great for our community. It’s great for our school and to promote what we do here,” states A.J. Stadelmeyer, trainer for Ashland (KY) Paul G. Blazer High School.
As many as 10,000 sporting and school events are expected to be streamed live or on recorded video on iHigh.com this year. This is providing another benefit for schools and students because students are gaining valuable experience announcing and writing about games and special events. In the near future, iHigh.com will be providing seminars for aspiring announcers, using broadcasters from major colleges and universities as instructors.
Schools also are invited to include all sports on their site, as well as other extra-curricular activities such as band performances, club information, dance and commencement photos.
“The sky’s the limit. Each school has the ability to make their site as large as they want,” said Campbell. “We want iHigh.com to be a place where the community comes to find out about what’s going on in their local high school. We also want relatives living far away to be able to go online and watch their loved ones live on the Internet. iHigh.com is a gathering place for families and communities who enjoy high school sports and activities.”
Source: iHigh.com
All-Star Game Sprint online ballot on MLB.com caps record-setting fan balloting program
Fan balloting for the 16 elected starting position players in the 80th All-Star Game, to be played Tuesday, July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, came to a record-setting finish last night with the conclusion of the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Online Ballot on MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball.
Overall during the All-Star Game Sprint Online Balloting program, 223.5 million votes from 17.8 million ballots were cast at MLB.com and the 30 individual Club sites. Both figures are the largest figures recorded in the nine years of online balloting at MLB.com, surpassing the previous records established in 2008.
The American and National League All-Star Teams will be unveiled on the 2009 MLB All-Star Selection Show presented by Pepsi, televised nationally on TBS at 1 p.m. (EDT). MLB.com will provide comprehensive coverage of the All-Star Teams, including high quality video and details of every All-Star, immediately following the announcement. MLB Network will air a special MLB Tonight All-Star Edition, simulcast on MLB.com, at 6 p.m. (EDT) with expert analysis and a look at the players on the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote ballot.
Also after the conclusion of the show, fans will once again select the final player for each League’s 33-man roster via the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote exclusively online at MLB.com. Fans will also be able to cast votes by text exclusively on Sprint capable phones. Standard text rates apply.
The 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote will provide fans the opportunity to cast their votes from two lists of five players, one from each League, over a four-day period. American League All-Star manager Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays and National League All-Star manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies each will designate five players who will be the candidates for the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote. Balloting will continue until 4 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 9. The winners will be announced exclusively on MLB.com shortly after the balloting closes.
Source: MLB.com