I love baseball! My youngest son who is 11 has been playing ball for the last seven years and I could not be more proud of him! It's good to see these young kids out there striving to do their best and having fun at the same time. As a Mother, I absolutely love spending my nights and weekends at the ball park watching these little guys play. It breaks my heart when I hear a boy say he's never played. To me, baseball is the all American sport. These days to many kids are hooked on electronics - so sad! Every boy should be given the opportunity to learn the game of baseball.
With that said, I have something very cool I had to share with you guys! Disney is giving amateur baseball pitchers in the nation a chance to compete for a $1 million prize in the Million Dollar Arm Pitching Contest. The Million Dollar Arm Pitching Contest is being held to celebrate the opening of Disney's Million Dollar Arm, an incredible true story about two young men who went from never throwing a baseball to getting a Major League tryout! Such a touching story and I can not wait for this movie to come out! More information about the contest is below.
Amateur
baseball pitchers—male or female, who are legal United States residents
at least 18 years of age or older—are invited to qualify to compete in
the preliminary rounds of the Million Dollar Arm Pitching Contest at
either Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disneyland
Resort in California or at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day at the Tribeca
Family Festival in New York City.
Presented
by SUBWAY restaurants, the three qualifying events will take place on
April 25 and 26, from 7 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at both Downtown Disney
District in Anaheim, Calif. and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at
Walt Disney World
and on April 26 only, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Tribeca/ESPN
Sports Day during the Tribeca Family Festival in New York City.
Contestants will throw three pitches, each tracked by a radar gun, in an
attempt to throw the fastest pitch. All participants will receive
tickets for themselves and a guest to see an advance screening of
Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm” at an AMC Theaters location later that
evening.
Nine
finalists chosen during these qualifying events will have a chance to
compete for the $1 million prize at the world premiere of Disney’s
“Million Dollar Arm.” The top three eligible pitchers with the fastest
pitches from each qualifying round location will be flown with his or
her guest to the final contest, which will take place at the world
premiere of Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm” in Hollywood, Calif., on May
6. Each of these finalists will throw three pitches on Hollywood
Boulevard. Any eligible finalist who throws one 100 mph strike (out of
three pitches) will become a potential winner of the $1 million grand
prize.
The nine finalists and their guests will be VIPs at the film’s premiere along with stars, filmmakers, major league players, coaches, scouts and celebrities.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Subject to Official Rules available at event or at http://disney.com/PitchingContest.
ABOUT THE MOVIE
Based
on a true story, sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) finds that
business has changed and things aren’t going well for his career. In a
last ditch effort to save his livelihood he concocts a scheme to find
baseball’s next great pitching ace. Hoping to find a young cricket
pitcher he can turn into a major league baseball star, JB travels to
India to produce a reality show competition called “The Million Dollar
Arm.” With the help of cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball
scout Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), he discovers Dinesh (played by Madhur
Mittal from “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Rinku (played by Suraj Sharma
from “Life of Pi”), two 18-year-old boys who have no idea about playing
baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to sign them
to major league contracts and make a quick buck, JB brings the boys home
to America to train. While the Americans are definitely out of their
element in India, the boys, who have never left their rural villages,
are equally challenged when they come to the States. As the boys learn
the finer points of baseball, JB, with the help of his charming friend
Brenda (Lake Bell), learns valuable life lessons about teamwork,
commitment and what it means to be a family.
Directed
by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy, Disney’s
drama “Million Dollar Arm” stars Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, Suraj
Sharma, Lake Bell and Alan Arkin. The producers are Mark Ciardi, Gordon
Gray and Joe Roth. The executive producers are Palak Patel, Kevin
Halloran, Bill Simmons and Connor Schell. The film will be release in
the United States on May 16, 2014.