Nation's Best High School Baseball Players To Play Fifth Annual Aflac All-American Baseball Classic
May 16 2007 - 5:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith to Serve as Honorary Chairman COLUMBUS,
Ga., MAY 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirty-eight (38) of the nation's top
high school baseball players will participate in the fifth annual
Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic, which returns to
San Diego for the second consecutive year. Hall of Famer Ozzie
Smith, who began his 19-year career with the Padres and was a
15-time All Star and 13-time Gold Glove award winner, will be this
year's honorary chairman. The 2007 Aflac All-American Baseball
Classic will be played at San Diego State's Tony Gwynn Stadium on
Saturday, Aug. 11, airing live on FSN at 3 p.m. ET. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO ) (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050721/CLTH055LOGO ) "I'm
thrilled to join Aflac in honoring the stars of tomorrow - the very
best high school players across the country - in San Diego, my
first major league home," Smith said. "I wish a game like this
existed back when I was in high school, and I can only imagine how
special it will be for these young men to get such national
recognition and exposure." As honorary chairman, Smith will promote
the game, make appearances, film a public service announcement and
be on-site in San Diego for game week activities, including serving
as keynote speaker at the Awards Dinner on Thursday, Aug. 9, and
throwing out the first pitch at the game on Aug. 11. Former
chairpersons include Reggie Jackson (2006), Cal Ripken (2004-05)
and Stan Musial (2003). The Aflac All-American High School Baseball
Classic showcases the nation's top high school players in an East
versus West match-up. Aflac All-Americans are chosen by official
selection partners Baseball America magazine and prep scouting
service Perfect Game USA. All participants must have just completed
their junior year of high school, be in good academic standing and
display redeeming qualities off the field that embody the ideals of
the sport of baseball, including discipline, determination and hard
work. Since the game's inception in 2003, 29 Aflac All-American
alumni have been selected in the first round of the Major League
Baseball first-year player draft, including No. 1 overall
selections Matt Bush (2004, San Diego) and Justin Upton (2005,
Arizona). "Now going into our fifth year, the Aflac All-American
High School Baseball Classic, and the immensely talented players
who participate in it, continues to illustrate why our game is the
nation's premiere high school baseball event," said Jeff Herbert,
Aflac's chief marketing officer. "San Diego warmly embraced our
players and their families last year. We are extremely pleased to
bring the game back to the San Diego community for another year."
As part of Aflac's ongoing commitment to the fight against
childhood cancer, all game proceeds from the 2007 Aflac
All-American High School Baseball Classic will benefit San Diego's
Children's Hospital and Health Center. Since 2003, the game has
generated nearly $355,000 for charity. Today kicks off the 2007
Selection Tour, a multi-city tour that travels to major league
ballparks to announce the players' official selection to the team.
Today, at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, Smith helped
honor southern California standouts Isaac Galloway (Los Osos HS,
Rancho Cucamonga), Aaron Hicks (Wilson HS, Long Beach), Clark
Murphy (Fallbrook Union HS, Fallbrook) and Ryan O'Sullivan
(Valhalla HS, El Cajon), the first four players selected to this
year's game. Over the next two months the Selection Tour will make
stops in over a dozen cities nationwide. The Aflac All-American
High School Baseball Classic is endorsed by Major League Baseball
and the Major League Baseball Players Association as the country's
marquee prep All-American event. For more information and tour stop
photographs, visit http://www.aflacallamerican.com/. About Aflac
For more than 50 years, Aflac products have given policyholders the
opportunity to direct cash where it is needed most when a
life-interrupting medical event causes financial challenges. Aflac
is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the
United States and the number one insurance company in terms of
individual insurance policies in force in Japan. Our insurance
products provide protection to more than 40 million people
worldwide. Aflac has been included in Fortune magazine's listing of
America's Most Admired Companies for seven consecutive years and in
Fortune magazine's list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in
America for nine consecutive years. Aflac has also been recognized
three times by both Fortune magazine's listing of the Top 50
Employers for Minorities and Working Mother magazine's listing of
the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers. Aflac Incorporated is a
Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit
http://www.aflac.com/. About Sports America Sports America, Inc.,
is a sports marketing and event management firm based in Rockville,
Md., which created and currently produces the Aflac Classic. Sports
America also produces the McDonald's All-American High School
Basketball Game. Media Contacts: Tim Turner Jeff Heckelman Aflac
Incorporated Edelman Sports (706) 243-5594 (212) 642-7718
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050721/CLTH055LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aflac CONTACT: Tim Turner
of Aflac Incorporated, +1-706-243-5594, ; or Jeff Heckelman,
Edelman Sports, +1-212-642-7718, Web site: http://www.aflac.com/
http://www.aflacallamerican.com/
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