Press Release

(June 25, 2009) Triple-A Baseball and ESPN today announced that the Cricket Wireless Triple-A All-Star Game will be televised live from PGE Park on ESPN2 on Wednesday, July 15, at 7 p.m. (Pacific). Portland Beavers play-by-play commentator Rich Burk will be joined by ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst and former major league All-Star Eric Young and field reporter John Manuel.
It was also announced that Beavers play-by-play broadcaster Tim Hagerty will join Josh Whetzel of the International League's Rochester Red Wings in the live broadcast of the game on the Westwood One Radio Network.

The 2009 game at PGE Park marks the 15th straight season Triple-A Baseball's midsummer classic has been televised live on ESPN2. The first two games were shown on ESPN in 1988 and 1989. Launched in October 1993, ESPN2 is now available in approximately 97 million homes.

Handling play-by-play duties on the telecast will be Burk, who has been the Beavers' radio and television play-by-play announcer since they returned to the PCL in 2001. He was the lead broadcaster for the Class A Portland Rockies of the Northwest League for five seasons before joining the Beavers. Burk has handled play-by-play duties on a fill-in basis for the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays. Additionally, he has handled play-by-play duties for Pac-10 football and basketball television broadcasts.

Young, who played briefly for Portland during a major league rehabilitation assignment in 2005, will serve as the analyst for the Cricket Wireless Triple-A All-Star Game. Young played 18 major league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Padres and Texas Rangers. Young hit a home run in the Rockies' first-ever home at-bat in 1993 and represented Colorado on the National League All-Star team in 1996. In addition to Portland, he also played in the PCL for Albuquerque, Colorado Springs and Oklahoma during his career. His son, Eric Young Jr., is a second baseman for Colorado Springs in the PCL and leads all Triple-A Baseball in stolen bases.

Manuel of Baseball America will serve as the on-field reporter on the ESPN2 broadcast. He has worked at Baseball America since September 1996, covering a variety of areas including college baseball, the minor leagues and prospects, the draft, the Olympics and international baseball. Manuel has been featured on ESPN's college baseball coverage and has served as a TV color analyst for the Durham Bulls of the International League since 2007.

Westwood One Radio Broadcast Radio coverage of this year's Cricket Wireless Triple-A All-Star Game will be featured live on the Westwood One Radio Network. Hagerty joined the Beavers broadcast team in 2008 after spending the previous three seasons as a play-by-play announcer for the Class AA Mobile BayBears. He started his broadcast career with the rookie-level Idaho Falls Chukars in 2004. Whetzel is in his seventh season as the voice of the Red Wings and his 15th broadcasting professional baseball. He was the play-by-play announcer for the Binghamton Mets, Kinston Indians and Albany Polecats before joining the Red Wings. He was the play-by-play announcer for the 1995 South Atlantic League All-Star Game and the 1998 Carolina League All-Star Game.

About the 2009 Cricket Wireless Triple-A All-Star Game The 2009 Cricket Wireless Triple-A All-Star Game, which will be celebrating its 22nd year this season, features the top players from Minor League Baseball's top two leagues - the Pacific Coast League and International League - in a head-to-head contest that will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. (Pacific). Additional events leading up to the 2009 Cricket Wireless Triple-A All-Star Game at PGE Park in Portland include the Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division All-Star Fan Fest (July 11), All-Star Home Run Derby presented by American Family Insurance (July 13), All-Star Gala presented by Widmer (July 14), All-Star Luncheon (July 15) and several other activities to mark the historic event. Past and present major league stars who have played in previous Triple-A All-Star Games include Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez, Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Todd Helton, Kenny Lofton, Alfonso Soriano, Mike Piazza, Garret Anderson and Bernie Williams.