PLAY Campaign

RBI World Series this week

2010-08-02T10:42:00.000-04:00

This week we will be presenting to hundreds of kids at the RBI World Series in Jupiter, FL. Next week we will have 4 campaigns; Seattle, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Milwaukee.

Photos from KC and SD

2010-08-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

Make sure you check out pictures from our past 2 PLAY Campaigns that took place in Kansas City and San Diego at:
www.flickr.com/photos/playcampaign

Luke Hochevar

2010-07-26T12:32:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow in Kansas City, Luke Hochevar will be our player in attendance to show the kids how to be active and have fun while doing it!

RBI World Series

2010-07-26T12:17:00.000-04:00

Last year PLAY and the Taylor Hooton Foundation was lucky enough to be asked to go down to Jupiter, FL and run some events at the RBI World Series. RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities and they host many regional tournaments around the country in July followed by the World Series in August. It looks like we'll have the privilege of heading down to Jupiter again this year. The Florida Marlins host the event and always put on a great time. We're looking forward to it again and when we get more details we'll pass those along!

This Week

2010-07-26T12:14:00.002-04:00

This week we have 2 PLAY Campaigns. Tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th, we'll be in Kauffman Stadium with the Royals and on Wednesday the 28th we'll be in Petco Park with the San Diego Padres. We're really looking forward to having these great events and make sure to check back at the end of the week for pictures!

Cardinals, Indians, Orioles

2010-07-01T15:37:00.000-04:00

We have event pictures from the Cardinals, Indians, and Orioles PLAY Events all up RIGHT HERE. So make sure you click on the link and check them out. You can see all the pictures from the past PLAY Campaigns on the right side.

Cleveland and St. Louis Wednesday and Thursday

2010-06-29T17:34:00.000-04:00

We just had Baltimore and the Cubs today and I'm headed to Cleveland. We have our PLAY event with the Indians tomorrow and the Cardinals on Thursday. Make sure you check back to get all the photos and maybe win some autographs.

Chicago Cubs Pictures

2010-06-29T17:32:00.000-04:00

Pictures from today's Chicago Cubs PLAY Event are all up right HERE! Make sure you check them out and download some of your favorite.

Chicago Cubs PLAY Event

2010-06-29T17:31:00.000-04:00

We had a great PLAY event out at Wrigley Field today. We had about 50 kids from the Chicago Parks and Rec out to the the Stadium and Mark O'Neal, Ed Halbur, and Tim Bus organized a great event! We had hitting, stretching, running, and a tour of the weight room and training room. Clint Faught did a great job talking about steroid awareness. Ted Lilly and Marlon Byrd came out and threw to the kids and signed hats for everyone. Overall it was a great event!

White Sox Pictures Up

2010-06-23T17:48:00.000-04:00

Chicago White Sox PLAY pictures are up online RIGHT HERE.

Chicago White Sox

2010-06-23T17:11:00.000-04:00

When we showed up to U.S. Cellular Field this morning it was pouring. Rain was in the forecast for the whole day in Chicago.... but that would not deter us. Head athletic trainer Herm Schneider did a great job moving all the stations inside and having plenty of information for the kids to learn. Donald Hooton of THF started it off with his talk and then they broke up into 5 groups. There was a pitching station, hitting station, outfield station, infield station, and conditioning station.... all inside. It all went great even though it was pouring outside. The weather doesn't always work with us, but the teams are great at making it happen even with bad weather and the White Sox did absolutely that. Thanks to Laina Myers and Dan Puente for setting everything up. Great Event!

Giants PLAY

2010-06-16T11:36:00.000-04:00

Make Sure you check out the pictures from the Giants PLAY Campaign and every other 2010 PLAY Campaign so far this year HERE.

Arizona Diamondbacks PLAY Pictures

2010-06-10T10:58:00.000-04:00

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES from the Arizona Diamondbacks PLAY Campaign yesterday. More to follow including videos and pictures on this site!

Colorado Rockies Pictures are up

2010-06-10T10:56:00.000-04:00

Make sure you check out all of the pictures from the Colorado Rockies event right HERE. Thanks to Keith Dugger, Scott Gehret, Taylor Bucholz, Matt Daley, and Eric Young Jr.

Oakland Athletics PLAY Pictures

2010-06-09T01:02:00.000-04:00

For all of the photos from today's PLAY event with Oakland CLICK HERE.

Oakland Athletics PLAY 2010

2010-06-09T01:00:00.000-04:00

We had a great PLAY Campaign in Oakland today! We had 80 kids out from the Richmond PAL and they all had a great time. We had 5 stations out there; Clint Faught of the Taylor Hooton Foundation in the 3rd base dugout, Bob (strength and conditioning coordinator for the A's) in left field running them through agility drills, Asst. athletic trainer Walt Horn in center field leading them in stretching, Eric Patterson and Gio Gonzalez having a home run derby in right field, and Rajai Davis in the 1st base dugout teaching the kids about positive choices. It was a great campaign and Oakland did a great job!

Behind the Scenes

2010-06-03T11:29:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wanted to go behind the scenes at a Major League Ballpark? MLB players are treated amazing and their digs underneath are very comfortable and luxurious. Some people get to go on tours underneath but not everyone gets to go behind the doors into a Major League clubhouse. Check out these pictures from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and see where the likes of Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, and Elvis Andrus get to hang out and get ready for the games.

The entrance to the clubhouse from the players parking garage underneath the stadium

The entrance to the clubhouse from the tunnel

The main foyer at the entrance to the clubhouse

Inside the clubhouse

More clubhouse

Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Michael Young

Rehab Pool

Rangers Weight Room

The tunnel from the Clubhouse to the Dugout

The ramp behind the dugout that players can run up and down to get loose before an at-bat or toss some balls against to loosen up their arms

June 8th and 9th

2010-06-03T11:15:00.000-04:00

We have 3 PLAY Campaigns next week. The Oakland Athletics will be hosting theirs on June 8th and the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies will be hosting theirs on June 9th. Make Sure you check back for great pictures from the campaigns and links to videos and chances to get autographs.

Chris Young will be participating with PLAY in Arizona

Pictures from Cincinnati Event

2010-05-27T20:41:00.000-04:00

Check out the pictures from today's PLAY event with the Reds! Click HERE to see all of them!

Oakland Players

2010-05-25T10:54:00.002-04:00

On June 8th we will be hosting the PLAY Campaign with the Oakland Athletics. The players participating will be Rajai Davis, Gabe Gross, and Eric Patterson. We're looking forward to getting out there!

Gabe Gross and Rajai Davis

Eric Patterson

Chris Dickerson participating

2010-05-24T14:17:00.001-04:00

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Chris Dickerson will be participating in our PLAY Campaign on Thursday at Great American Ballpark!

Pictures from Texas Event

2010-05-24T09:51:00.000-04:00

For all pictures of the Texas Rangers PLAY Campaign click here

Media Placements in Texas

2010-05-24T09:47:00.000-04:00

Check out some of the spots that ran on TV from our event.

CBS 11 News - PLAY Campaign

FOX 4 News- PLAY Campaign

Texas Rangers Event

2010-05-24T09:42:00.000-04:00

We had our first PLAY Campaign of the year on Saturday and it was a huge success. We hosted around 85 kids from RBI and JR. RBI of Dallas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Joining the Rangers head athletic trainer Jamie Reed, asst. athletic trainer Kevin Harmon, all-star 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler, catcher Matt Treanor, and Don and Donald Hooton from the Taylor Hooton Foundation, the kids got to do fun activities on the field and in the training room.

There were 4 stations that the kids went through:

1. Agility Drills with Kevin Harmon in the outfield

2. Learning about eating healthy and the importance of taking care of yourself in the Training Room with Jamie Reed

3. Hitting baseballs in the batting cages with Ian Kinsler and Matt Treanor

4. Learning about the dangers of performance enhancing drugs (PED's) and the side effects that come along with it's use in the Media Room with the Taylor Hooton Foundation.

The kids spent 15 minutes at each station and then came together at the end for a great group picture in the outfield. It was a very successful event with a great media turnout. Check out some of these pictures from Saturday's event-

Very Successful event and our thanks to the Texas Rangers and their training staff for putting on this wonderful campaign!

Pledge Cards

2010-05-20T13:18:00.002-04:00

The Pledge Cards for the Rangers have been sent to the stadium for Ian to sign for all of the kids attending the event. On the pledge cards that we hand out at each event has information on PLAY, PBATS, and the Taylor Hooton Foundation. It also has links to different websites to get all of the pictures from the event.

Do you want an Ian Kinsler signed pledge card? Let us know on our facebook wall (www.facebook.com/pbats.play) and we'll let you know how to get one!

Matt Treanor is in!

2010-05-20T13:14:00.003-04:00

Matt Treanor, one of the Rangers catchers, will be joining Ian Kinsler at Saturdays PLAY Campaign in Arlington! Matt participated in PLAY in 2007 and 2008 while he was a member of the Marlins.

First Stop: Texas Rangers

2010-05-19T13:33:00.003-04:00

We have our first PLAY Campaign of the year this Saturday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Ian Kinsler will be there as well as another player or two. The RBI of Dallas and Jr. RBI of Dallas programs will be involved and get a once in a lifetime opportunity to run on a Major League Field and get instruction from an All-Star 2nd baseman.

This blog is following the campaign through all 30 MLB parks this summer and you can check back here for links to videos and interviews from the players and athletic trainers. We'll have pictures of all of the campaigns and we'll give you behind the scenes looks at some of the best stadiums in baseball.

So right now we're asking for you go to to our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PBATS.PLAY and submit a question to ask Ian Kinsler. If we like your question and pick it to ask him on camera, we'll send you a signed ball from him! So go to the page and put down a question you want Ian to answer. It can be anything from Baseball related to growing up as a kid to how he's enjoying being a dad. Get them in by Friday afternoon!!

We're ready to get started!

"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too." ~Roy Campanella

Pledge Cards

2010-04-21T15:08:00.004-04:00

When you attend a PLAY Campaign you get a pledge card. Pledge cards have varied over the years and they provide information about PLAY as well as PBATS and the Taylor Hooton Foundation. The last couple of years we have done a brochure but this year we are going with more of a "baseball card" style. We have will have the picture of the player/s that are participating on the front of the card. This gives as a great gift to give to the kids and something for them to get signed. We usually get them signed beforehand so every kid walks away with something signed. Below are some examples of this year's Pledge Cards.

Colorado Rockies are in!

2010-04-14T11:24:00.002-04:00

The Rockies have scheduled their PLAY Event for June 9th at Coors Field. We're very excited to get out to Denver and host this wonderful event with them. The Rockies consistently put on one of the best events of the year!

Athletic Trainer

2010-04-12T13:44:00.002-04:00

PBATS is comprised of all major and minor league athletic trainers in professional baseball. Sometimes the terms "trainer" and "athletic trainer" get confused and put together. There is a big difference and a couple of years ago the Houston beat writer wrote a great article about it. Check it out.......

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080319&content_id=2444052&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

22 Down, 8 To Go

2010-04-12T13:37:00.003-04:00

As we're a week into the season we have 22 PLAY Campaigns scheduled for the 2010 season. We are in the works with the other 8 teams of securing dates and once we do I will pass them along to you. I'm excited for the season to start and to get out on the diamonds and educate today's youth about the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle.

May

Texas- May 22nd
Cincinnati- May 26th

June

Oakland- June 8th
Arizona- June 9th
San Francisco- June 14th
Atlanta- June 16th
Chicago WS- June 23rd
Baltimore- June 29th
Cleveland- June 30th

July

St. Louis- July 1st
Washington- July 7th
Minnesota- July 19th
Pittsburgh- July 20th
Florida- July 20th
Milwaukee- July 26th
Kansas City- July 27th
San Diego- July 28th

August

Seattle- Aug 9th
Philadelphia- Aug 10th
Toronto- Aug 11th
Tampa Bay- Aug 17th
LA Dodgers- Aug 31st

Padres, Cardinals, and Mariners join in

2010-03-10T14:05:00.003-05:00

We have added 3 more dates for this summer. The San Diego Padres (7/28), The St. Louis Cardinals (7/1), and the Seattle Mariners (8/9) have all added dates for the 2010 PLAY Campaign. We're looking forward to learning the importance of an active lifestyle in these wonderful ballparks!

1/3 of the Dates ready to go

2010-03-09T17:31:00.002-05:00

We now have 10 dates for the PLAY Campaign in 2010. We have just added the Florida Marlins for July 20th and the Kansas City Royals for July 27th. These are added to Texas, Toronto, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Cleveland who have already scheduled events. Add them to your schedule!

Twitter

2010-02-24T10:59:00.001-05:00

Make sure you're following PBATS on Twitter and Facebook! These great tools will keep you updated on everything PBATS and the PLAY Campaign.

Texas Rangers Event Confirmed

2010-02-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

The Texas Rangers event has been confirmed for May 22nd. The field has been reserved and the planning as been started. Another event that has been confirmed is the Toronto Blue Jays event which will be held on August 11th. Other tentative event dates that we've received are San Francisco for June 14th and Philadelphia for August 10th. The summer is starting to get busy!

Happy first official full squad workout day!

The first couple events are scheduled

2010-02-17T17:04:00.003-05:00

As Spring Training is starting, we're starting to get dates for the 2010 PLAY Campaign. These events take place in all 30 MLB stadiums throughout the summer with PBATS members, strength and conditioning coordinators, and some of your favorite ballplayers. We have a couple dates already. One is locked in stone and a couple others are tentative.

First one that is locked in: Tampa Bay Rays hosted by Ron Porterfield, Paul Harker, and Nick Paparesta will be held August 17th.

Other events that are tentatively scheduled:
Milwaukee Brewers - July 26th
Cleveland Indians - June 30th
Texas Rangers - May 22nd

Still waiting for confirmation on these but stayed tuned as more PLAY Campaigns are scheduled.

Pitchers and Catchers Report

2010-02-17T16:54:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow, February 18th is a big day in baseball. If you're a fan of baseball, it's a day that you wait for all winter. From the last pitch of the World Series to this day. You've been waiting. Pitchers and Catchers officially report to Spring Training camps tomorrow! Position players have to be there by the beginning of next week but if you travel around to camps, most are already there. PBATS members, the team's athletic trainers have all been at their spring training sites for at least a week. They've had organizational meetings and they're also making sure the training rooms are ready to go. A lot of treatments are needed at the beginning of Spring Training and they'll all be ready.

With Spring Training starting, this also means that the Community Relations Departments with every team are starting to fill up their event calendars. The PLAY Campaign is being put in all 30 teams calendars this year. We have had many talks with the teams already this week and event dates are starting to come in! We will keep you updated on specific dates as they roll in. Until then, get excited about the smell of freshly cut grass, cleats being laced up, and the popping of baseball mitts. The 2010 Major League Baseball season is here... and we're ready!

10 Minutes with Donald Hooton Jr.

2009-11-20T15:42:00.003-05:00

The Taylor Hooton Foundation is a partner with PBATS on the PLAY Campaign and the other day I sat down with Donald Hooton Jr., the Director of Business Development for the THF, and asked him a few questions about the foundation and their involvement with PLAY.

-First off Donald, tell me a little bit about the story of the Taylor Hooton Foundation. - THF was formed in 2004 because a promising young teenager and athlete, Taylor Hooton, made a poor, uneducated choice and became actively involved in taking anabolic steroids. This decision led to his death. He committed suicide at the very young age of 17. The THF is the only entity, public or private, in the United States dedicated to providing steroid education to kids and their adult influencers. We believe if Taylor had been exposed to our Hoot’s Chalk Talk education, he would still be alive today.

-What is the main objective of this foundation and do you think you’re headed in the right direction? – The THF’s main objective is education, education, and education. Currently our organization spends 10 times the amount of money on this subject than the entirety of the Federal Government. We have reached over 100,000 kids with this message, and our goal is to reach over one million kids a year.

-Now this is the 2nd year THF has been associated with PLAY, do you think this has been a successful relationship with PBATS? –We love working with PBATS. With the help of major league baseball and PBATS we are able to reach over 5000 kids each summer. The best part of working with the Professional Athletic Trainers is that we get to teach them all about the dangers of Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs and the same guys that take care of the best athletes in the world teach them how to take care of their bodies through proper nutrition and exercise. It’s been a major success.

-I know you split time with the other guys on doing the PLAY Campaigns, but what’s been your favorite stadium so far? Wow that is a tough question because so many of them are really nice. Even though I haven’t seen them all my favorites would be: Yankee Stadium, PNC Park, SafeCo Park, and Miller Park. I am really excited to see Fenway in Boston, but it's hard to compare Fenway and Wrigley to the newer ball parks. Its hard just to pick one.

-When you’re dividing the trips up next year, which teams are you going to be lobbying hard to get? – I can tell you the teams I know I will make sure I get for sure: Pirates, Brewers, Red Sox, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Tigers, Mariners, Phillies, Yankees, Marlins, and Rockies. I would love to do them all … Every team that we got to visit this summer, the Athletic Trainers and S & C coaches welcomed us as if we were a part of the team and that always means a lot to me. I would love to have the opportunity to do all 30 teams in the summer time but logistically I think that would be impossible.

-As this campaign keeps picking up steam and getting bigger and better, what are your ultimate goals for the PLAY Campaign? –The PLAY Campaign is such a wonderful event not only for the kids but both PBATS and THF. I would love to see us continue to make it to all 30 ball parks each summer, and add more kids to each event (even though that makes it tougher on the staff and security). Our ultimate goal with PLAY campaign is to continue to reach more and more of our youth with both the message of being healthy and active but also and just as importantly to play drug free.

Awesome Donald! Thanks so much for your time! I am going to be bringing you a lot of different interviews throughout the year from people all around baseball involved in the PLAY Campaign.

Apply for Internships

2009-11-09T15:04:00.002-05:00

So PBATS does something really cool. They sponsor interns and let them come into the Major League clubhouse and training rooms. Not only do they let them in there but they let them get hands on experience working on some of the best athletes in the world. Could you imagine getting an internship with the Rangers and working on Josh Hamilton before the game? Or getting an internship with Tampa Bay and taping Evan Longoria's ankles before he takes the field? This can all be a reality if you apply for these internships. PBATS members are taking more interns than ever before. Male and Female sports medicine students are welcome to apply for the internships. Go to www.pbats.com and get in your applications!

Start of the Blog

2009-11-09T14:17:00.003-05:00

Hey guys, my name is Zach and I coordinate the PLAY Campaign with all 30 Major League Teams. We are setting up this blog so that you can follow me to all 30 stadiums in one summer and see the proud members of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS) host these wonderful events on the plush fields that some of your favorite ballplayers play on every night. I will have interviews from the athletic trainers, quotes from the players, and pictures of some of the lucky kids getting a chance to learn from some of their favorite big-leaguers. I will also update on any information regarding PLAY and PBATS. Thanks for following and I look forward to the upcoming baseball season!

Here is a picture from Milwaukee last year and Mike Cameron showing some kids the proper approach to tracking down a fly ball.