6 PLAYERS FOR THE PLANET ATHLETES NAMED MLB ALL-STARS
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Highlighted by 3 first time all-stars

Players For The Planet is proud to announce that 6 of our athletes have been named to the 2011 MLB All-Star game rosters to be played Tuesday, July 12^th in Phoenix, Arizona. Representing Players For The Planet will be Ryan Braun (OF, Milwaukee Brewers), Hunter Pence (OF, Houston Astros),  Russell Martin (C, NY Yankees), CJ Wilson (SP, Texas Rangers), Jay Bruce (OF, Cincinnati Reds), and Jacoby Ellsbury (OF, Boston Red Sox). This will be Jacoby, Jay, and CJ’s first all-star appearance. Cumulatively the group has 12 all-star appearances amongst them. Additionally, Andre Ethier is a finalist for the National League Final Man Vote. We congratulate each of them on their accomplishments on the field and their charitable work off it.

Ryan Braun was named an all-star starter after receiving an NL-record 5.93 million votes. The Milwaukee Brewers outfielder has led all NL outfielders in voting the previous three years. Ryan will be making his 4^th all-star appearance at just 27.  Ryan is hitting .320 with 16 homers, 62 RBIs and 19 steals while carrying a career-best 22-game hitting streak. The Mission Hills, CA native is in the top 10 in 8 offensive categories in the National League including 3rd in NL in R (57), 4th in NL in RBI (62), 4th in NL in SLG (.559), 4th in NL in OPS (.961), 5th in NL in BA (.320), 6th in NL in SB (19), 9th in NL in HR (16) and 10th in NL in BB (40). Upon hearing upon his selection as a starter along with teammates Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks, Ryan responded by saying ”It means the Milwaukee Brewers have arrived on the national scene”.

Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury will be making his inaugural all-star game appearance. The Oregon native leads the American League in steals with 26, is 5^th in runs with 58, and sports a .307 batting average. After hearing about his selection to the team Jacoby had this to say: “Obviously, I’m excited, just to be elected by your peers, someone you see every single day, going out playing. To be elected by them, it’s an honor, and I’m just excited to be going to Arizona. You’re going to be playing with the best players in the game. It’s always been a dream of mine to play in this game and it’s here, so I’m excited.’’

Russell Martin will be making his 3^rd all-star appearance in his first season as the catcher for the New York Yankees. The East York, Canada native and former Silver Slugger winner has 10 home runs, 34 RBI’s  & 7 stolen bases this season. The former Gold Glover winner’s work behind the backstop should be noted as the Yankees our 4^th in the AL in ERA with a 3.44 team ERA and lead the American League in wins with 50.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce will be making his inaugural all-star game appearance. Earlier this season Jay was the National League’s player of the month in May. He is 8^th in the national league with 18 home runs so far this season. Upon hearing about his selection, the Texas native, “I’m excited about the opportunity. It’s going to be a lot of fun. As a kid, you dream about going to the All-Star game, and now it’s happened. I don’t want it to be the last one, that’s for sure.”

Hunter Pence, Houston Astros outfielder and Texas native, will be making his second all-star game appearance. Hunter is 2^nd in the National League in batting average entering today’s action with a .325 average and has 57 RBI’s good for 6^th in the senior circuit. Pence yearns to take the field in his second all-star appearance after hearing of his selection:  “It would be very nice to get in the game. Last time I went in ‘09 and didn’t get to play, it’s kind of an empty feeling a little bit.”

CJ Wilson, a Newport Beach native and Texas Rangers starting pitcher, will be making his first all-star appearance. Wilson is 6^th in the American League in strikeouts with 109, to go along with his 8 wins, and 3.02 ERA. Upon hearing of his first all-star selection at 30, Wilson said on Twitter that he was “stoked” to get the call from his manager Ron Washington on Sunday morning. “I can already feel the huge west coast posse forming for the All-Star Game,” Wilson said via Twitter. “Thanks to everyone.”

Additionally, Players For The Planet athlete Andre Ethier, a native of the Phoenix area is up for the final vote to join the team. Andre has the Majors’ longest hitting streak this year at 30 games, the second longest in Los Angeles Dodgers franchise history, and has been among league leaders in batting average, currently .322.  Andre had this to say about his potential selection “I grew up in Arizona without baseball and this is the first All-Star Game there, it couldn’t be written any better than that for me. It’s my hometown, I grew up two miles from where the ballpark is.”

Our All-Stars will be joined in Phoenix by Players For The Planet founder Chris Dickerson and VP of Corporate Development, David Simmons.

ABOUT PLAYERS FOR THE PLANET:

Players for the Planet was founded by former Reds outfielder Chris Dickerson and former MLB player Jack Cassel to bring together professional athletes and inspire individuals in communities across the United States to be aware of the power we have to reverse the environmental crisis we are now beginning to recognize.

Contact: Chris Dickerson (cdickerson@playersfortheplanet.org)

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Reds players Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs and Ryan Hanigan encourage fans to recycle old electronics

For Information about the Ewaste Event

Contact: Alexa Potocki at 502-570-8545

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AFH ATHLETES – ARE YOU READY TO GO GREEN?

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we invited you, the fans, to join the AFH environmental initiative called Athletes Go Green. Athletes Go Green provided players, fans, and teams with the opportunity to join the green movement leading up to Earth Day, this past April 22nd. For four weeks, AFH members and other environmentally-minded athletes committed to one of five “green plays” for a week, and encouraged their friends, family and fans to do the same. For example, Steve Nash committed to carpooling to practice for a week, and then used Facebook and e-mail to encourage his fans to do the same. All of the athlete and fan commitments, team initiatives, videos, and comments are housed on the Athletes Go Green Facebook Cause page – a virtual meeting place for everyone participating in the green movement. Please follow us here as well as AFH to see how your favorite athletes are going green!

Join the Cause: www.causes.com/athletesgogreen

Please stay tuned for videos from the Players for the Planet athletes about what they will be doing to help this Earth Day!