By Communications Division
MILFORD, Conn., and WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.
March 30, 2009
Through its partnership with Little League Baseball and Softball, Subway Restaurants announced its “Baseball Design Across America” tour which commenced with Little League’s National Opening Day game in Los Angeles on March 24.
The Opening Day event highlighted the start of Little League’s 70th anniversary season, and featured baseballs designed and autographed by celebrities that will be auctioned off to the public with the total proceeds benefiting the Little League.
The Baseball Design Across America tour will make stops in seven U.S. cities including the final stop in Williamsport, Pa., at the Little League Baseball World Series this August.
Beginning in Los Angeles, the tour will be accompanied by baseball legends, including Red Sox Hall of Famer Fred Lynn (Boston, June 9), two-time World Series champion George Foster (Indianapolis, June 26) and World Series MVP Bucky Dent (New York City, Aug. 6).
The tour also will make a stop in Philadelphia and St. Louis during Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities.
“As part of our commitment to healthy, active lifestyles for kids, Subway Restaurants have been proud sponsors of Little League Baseball and Softball since 2005,” Tony Pace, Chief Marketing Officer for Subway Franchisee Advertising and Trust, said. “National Opening Day in Los Angeles and the Baseball Designs Across America tour were developed to showcase this great youth sports organization. We look forward to another great season of kids playing hard and eating fresh, and to the culmination of the summer-long tour in Williamsport at the Little League Baseball World Series.”
Professional Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield and Mr. Lynn served as celebrity coaches in the National Opening Day game held at La Cienega Park in Beverly Hills, Calif. The legendary ballplayers also threw out ceremonial first pitches.
Some of the celebrities scheduled to design and autograph baseballs for the tour include Oscar winner Ben Affleck, singer Gavin DeGraw, World Series champion Ryan Howard, four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon and the cast of HBO’s “Entourage.”
On June 9, auctions for the celebrity-autographed baseballs will open to the public on Mission Fish, a charitable partner of eBay, and will run through the Little League Baseball World Series that concludes on Aug. 30.
“We’re looking forward to this summer-long event and its culmination in August at the Little League Baseball World Series,” Stephen D. Keener, President and Chief Executive Officer of Little Baseball and Softball, said. “Subway is an important partner in helping us to bring the benefits of Little League to families in the United States and around the world. The Baseball Design Across America tour will help to enhance those efforts even more.”
For more information on the Subway Baseball Design Across America Tour, contact
Mack Bridenbaker; at: (203) 882-2711; or e-mail: m.bridenbaker@sfaft.org.
Subway has proudly sponsored Little League Baseball and Softball since 2005, as a way to reach and encourage Little Leaguers and their families to live active lifestyles and eat healthily.
