MLB News and Rumors

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Saturday that FOX Sports Arizona, the exclusive home of D-backs baseball, will again televise 150 regular-season games in high definition.

A trio of spring training games will also be carried on FOX Sports Arizona: March 13 vs. the L.A. Angels, March 27 vs. Colorado and April 4 vs. Milwaukee at Chase Field.

Daron Sutton returns for his sixth season as play-by-play announcer on the majority of D-backs telecasts on FOX Sports Arizona, with Greg Schulte filling in on select games. Mark Grace will return for his eighth year as an analyst, with Hall of Fame announcer Joe Garagiola Sr., Luis Gonzalez and Tom Candiotti stepping in as an analyst on select games.

FOX Sports Arizona will launch its 15th season of televising D-backs baseball with a special one-hour pregame show starting at 3 p.m. on April 6 prior to the Opening Day game against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field.

FOX Sports Arizona will air its Miller Lite “Diamondbacks Live” pregame show before telecasts from the site of the game. Diamondbacks Live, presented by CenturyLink, will air after each D-backs game this year. FOX Sports Arizona’s pregame and postgame shows will air live from Chase Field’s Miller Lite Diamond Club for home-game telecasts.

For the second consecutive season, FOX Sports Arizona also will air its “D-backs Snapshot” series. Profiles will allow fans to get to know their favorite players even better. There are six episodes planned for 2012, featuring Ryan Roberts, Daniel Hudson, Trevor Cahill, Jason Kubel, Willie Bloomquist and Paul Goldschmidt.

In addition, the Diamondbacks 10th inning will return in 2012, as the monthly magazine show gives viewers an up-close view of the D-backs organization, its players and its fans.

Coming off an NL West championship in 2011, the D-backs have already been selected to appear six times on FOX for regionally or nationally televised Saturday games. Those dates include April 7 vs. San Francisco, May 5 at the New York Mets, May 19 at Kansas City, June 2 at San Diego, June 30 at Milwaukee and July 14 at the Chicago Cubs.

The complete television broadcast schedule can be found at dbacks.combroadcast.

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PHOENIX Be sure to join FOX Sports Arizona at Chase Field from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, for the eighth annual Subway D-backs FanFest.
The free event will offer fans access to current players, coaches, alumni and broadcasters, including autograph and photo sessions on the field at Chase Field. Last years event drew an estimated 12,500 fans to Chase Field.
Among the D-backs players scheduled to attend are Willie Bloomquist, Geoff Blum, Craig Breslow, Sam Demel, Stephen Drew, David Hernandez, Aaron Hill, Daniel Hudson, Ian Kennedy, Jason Kubel, John McDonald, Wade Miley, Joe Paterson, J.J. Putz, Ryan Roberts, Bryan Shaw, Justin Upton, Chris Young and Brad Ziegler. Coaches expected to participate include manager Kirk Gibson, bench coach Alan Trammell and bullpen coach Glenn Sherlock. Broadcasters Daron Sutton, Mark Grace, Greg Schulte, Tom Candiotti, Oscar Soria, Miguel Quintana and Richard Saenz will also be in attendance, as will D-backs legend Luis Gonzalez.
Fans can visit the FOX Sports Arizona booth throughout the event to get a free T-shirt and schedule poster, meet FOX Sports Arizona girl Mallory and get your photo taken for our website and Facebook page. Kidkaster auditions (ages 10-14) will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and you can meet FOX Sports Arizona personalities Jody Jackson (11 a.m. to noon), Mark McClune (noon to 1 p.m.) and Brad Steinke (1 to 2 p.m.).Other FanFest activites include:–Children 12 and under will receive free autographs in a special area, while others can receive access to autograph sessions with a 5 donation to the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation.
–The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a Subway cash card. Each custom card is loaded with an amount ranging from 1-100.

–Season tickets can be purchased during the event through the Select-A-Seat program, which highlights available seats for the upcoming season throughout the ballpark. Mini-plans will also be made available to fans, as well as information on group outings. Single-game tickets will not go on sale until late February.

–A brand new area called the D-backs Digital Clubhouse will provide a central hub for connecting with the team through digital media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, MLB At Bat and the Digital D-backs Wi-Fi portal. D-backs players will interact with fans through the teams social media accounts, and fans will have the chance to participate in an on-site scavenger hunt via Twitter to win D-backs tickets and prizes.

–D-backs home clubhouse tours.

–Question and answer sessions with D-backs players, coaches, broadcasters and alumni.

–Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation Yard Sale.

–Family Fun Zone featuring speed pitch, T-ball and other interactive inflatables, presented by Cox Communications.

–D-backs Training Centers Wiffle ball fields and clinics featuring D-backs players and coaches.

–Brand new on-field food court.

–Live Sports 620 KTAR broadcast throughout the day.

–Kids will have the opportunity to color their favorite players headshots at the ACC booth, with the headshots to be featured in Sunday games throughout the season.

–Sign-ups to audition to sing the national anthem or be a Rally-back, Golden Glover or D-backs Legends Race participant.

Up-to-date information regarding FanFest can be found at dbacks.comfanfest or by calling (602) 462-FEST (3378).

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