(from press release)

Baseball’s presence at the Olympic Games is on hold for now, but baseball’s past at the Olympics is on display for all to see at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Museum officially dedicates the new exhibit Olympic Baseball on Friday, May 1, celebrating the history of our national pastime at the Summer Games. The exhibit will run through January of 2010 and is located on the Museum’s second floor in the Today’s Game exhibit.

Olympic Baseball features more than 50 artifacts, about half of which were loaned to the Hall of Fame specifically for this exhibit. Players who loaned the Museum artifacts include past Olympians such as Mike Epstein, Jim Abbott and Doug Mientkiewicz as well as 2008 Olympians Matt LaPorta, Brian Barden and Brandon Knight. Countries represented with artifacts include the United States, Australia, Japan and Italy.

Artifacts in the exhibit include:

• Duplicate gold medals, struck from the original 1912 mold, awarded to the family of Jim Thorpe, who won both the decathlon and pentathlon and hit a double in two at-bats in an exhibition baseball game played at the 1912 Olympics
• Cap and jersey worn by U.S. catcher-outfielder Herman Goldberg, one of six American Jewish athletes to participate in the 1936 Summer Games in Nazi Germany
• A Japanese teacup, produced prior to the cancellation of the 1940 Tokyo Games, that features the Olympic rings and the image of a baseball player
• Official Olympic identification for Lloyd Monsen, left wing on the U.S. soccer team and the starting pitcher for both exhibition baseball games played at the 1952 Summer Games
• Bat used by Australia’s Max Lord in the Olympic demonstration baseball game in which the U.S. defeated Australia, 11-5, on Dec. 1, 1956
• Official Olympics competitor badge given to U.S. baseball player Mike Epstein, one of eight future Major Leaguers to play in the demonstration baseball games at the 1964 Tokyo Games
• Ball from the first baseball game at the 1984 Olympics, in which Italy stunned the Dominican Republic with five runs in the ninth inning for a 10-7 win
• Gold medal awarded to Team USA pitcher and future Major Leaguer Jim Abbott, who pitched a complete-game seven-hitter in the 1988 Olympic finale, as the U.S. topped Japan, 5-3
• Gold medal earned by Doug Mientkiewicz, who posted a team-best .435 batting average during the 2000 Olympics, the first games played with a ban on aluminum bats
• Road jersey worn by Daisuke Matsuzaka, the winning pitcher for Japan when it handed Cuba its only loss of the 2004 Olympic Games, a 6-3 first-round defeat.

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(from press release)

Starting this coming homestand, Los Angeles Dodgers fans will have the opportunity to sit in “Mannywood,” an area named to honor left fielder Manny Ramirez. Field Level seats, fair of the foul pole in left field, will be sold in pairs with exclusive Mannywood T-Shirts for $99. Ramirez wears Number 99.

The seats, the closest to the Dodgers left fielder, are in sections 51 and 53. Fans can order online at dodgers.com/mannywood. The limited edition Mannywood T-shirts are only available through the promotion.

On May 5, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, a limited edition “Yo estuve en Mannywood” (“I was in Mannywood”) T-shirt will be given to fans who purchase tickets in Mannywood.

The Mannywood section is just one of the innovative values the Dodgers are offering this season. The club will soon begin sales of three new Dodgers All-Inclusives, offers that include tickets, novelties, food and beverage and parking.

The Dodgers also lowered the price of the popular a.m./p.m. All-You-Can-Eat Right Field Pavilion. For 70 of the club’s 81 games, the price is $25 per person, down from $35 last year. (For the 11 premium games, the price is still $35.)

Also set to debut this homestand in the Right Field Pavilion are Warner Bros. branded sections themed for various feature films. Fans who sit in the “Terminator Salvation” section this homestand will receive a Terminator promotional item along with their ticket.

(from press release)

The Bowling Green Hot Rods, South Atlantic League Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, introduced the new face of the franchise last night. Axle made his debut in front of a packed house, arriving in a 1953 Chevrolet pick-up truck, just minutes before the Hot Rods played the West Virginia Power.

Axle is a baseball lovin’ bear and hot rod enthusiast who is equally at home on the ball field or under the hood of a car. He brings a high level of energy designed to get Hot Rods fans and players pumped up during Hot Rods home games. When he’s not leading cheers from the top of the dugouts, Axle enjoys making kids smile and working on his classic car collection. He also enjoys fishing in the Barren River and spending time at his home in one of South Central Kentucky’s numerous caves, the identity of which must be kept a secret due to his large paparazzi following.

Axle declined to be directly interviewed for this story because his native tongue cannot be understood by people. However, speaking on Axle’s behalf, Hot Rods General Manager and CEO Brad Taylor said Axle “is very excited to join the Hot Rods team. He is looking forward to meeting fans all over South Central Kentucky, both at Bowling Green Ballpark and in the community.” Taylor added that Axle “gives our team a fun-loving, happy face, no matter what the score is.”

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(from press release)

The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels should make the playoffs in the American League (AL) in 2009 with most other teams lagging well behind. The National League (NL) should see another very tight race in the Eastern Division as has occurred in recent years.

However, this year it looks like there may be a three-way tie among the defending World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, and the New York Mets. Two of these teams should make the playoffs (one as Eastern Division champion and the other as NL wild card team) while the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers should handily win their divisions, said Bruce Bukiet (pictured).

Bukiet, an associate professor of mathematical sciences and associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at NJIT, once again provides the number of games each Major League Baseball team should win in 2009 based on the mathematical model he developed in 2000.

The contest for primacy in the AL East should go down to the wire with the Yankees winning 99 games to the Red Sox 97. With the two best records expected in the Major Leagues this season, both teams should make it to the post-season, one as AL East winner and the other as the AL wild card team. The defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays should take third place with 91 wins. In the AL Central Division, the Indians should win 88 games to the Minnesota Twins 83, while the Angels should win AL West by a whopping 21 games with 92 wins while the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics win 71 each.

In the National League East, Bukiet is concerned that for the third year in a row his favorite team, the Mets, will miss the playoffs on the last day of the season. “The model has been quite accurate with the Mets over past few years with the Mets slightly underperforming and the Phillies slightly over performing. If that repeats itself, it would spell another season of final game heartbreak to Mets fans.”

In the NL Central Division, Bukiet’s model calls for the Chicago Cubs to win 97 games, 12 more than the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. The Pittsburgh Pirates should win just 60 games, the least in the Major Leagues.

“In the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers should win 91 games, while the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks tie for second place, 8 games back,” said Bukiet.

His expected wins for the AL are the following.

* AL East: Yankees – 99; Red Sox – 97; Rays – 91; Blue Jays – 83; Orioles – 68.
* AL Central: Indians – 88; Twins – 83; White Sox – 79; Tigers – 78; Royals – 71.
* AL West: Angels – 92; Rangers – 71; Athletics – 71; Mariners – 65.

For the NL, he projects the following.

* NL East: Braves – 88; Phillies – 88; Mets – 88; Marlins – 73; Nationals – 67;
* NL Central: Cubs – 97; Cards – 85; Brewers – 82; Astros – 80; Reds – 75; Pirates – 60;
* NL West: Dodgers – 91; Diamondbacks – 83; Rockies – 83; Giants – 78; Padres – 76.

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(from press release)

With the International League’s final home opener for the 2009 season occurring last night in Norfolk, the League has enjoyed its best round of home openers in modern history. Both the total (138,467) and the average (9,891) attendance figures represent all-time highs for the IL dating back as far as single game attendance records have been kept.

Five teams experienced extra-special Opening Day success. Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium welcomed 14,182 fans for a franchise Opening Day record. Toledo set a Fifth Third Field single game attendance high with 13,100 on hand. A capacity crowd of 11,950 turned out for the first game at Huntington Park in Columbus. The Gwinnett Braves also opened a new stadium with 10,427 in attendance. A full house of 10,000 in Lehigh Valley exceeded last April’s opening game at Coca-Cola Park.

The highly successful round of openers comes on the heels of a record season for the International League in 2008. The IL drew an all-time best 7,132,296 fans a year ago, part of an overall Minor League Baseball record of over 43.2 million.

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