FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Home Entertainment and the Cardinals dedicate Sandlot Field for special needs kids

Like FOX Sports Southwest and FOX Sports North, FOX Sports Midwest used its team and community relationships to support FOX Home Entertainment’s 20th anniversary DVD of the classic movie The Sandlot.

The highlight of the St. Louis effort was the dedication of The Sandlot Field, a baseball field for kids with special needs.

How did it come together?

Through a process that began last September, FOX Sports Midwest connected FOX Home Entertainment with Cardinals Care, the team’s community foundation. FOX Home Entertaiment donated $50,000 to Cardinals Care, which partnered with TASK – Team Activities for Special Kids – to build the field in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Mo.

The field dedication

FOX Sports Midwest General Manager and Senior Vice President Jack Donovan, Cardinals executives, and Sandlot director David Mickey Evans and star Patrick Renna were among the speakers at the field dedication. Then two teams of baseball-loving kids, coached by joined by Evans, Renna and the FOX Sports Midwest Girls, played the inaugural game on the synthetic turf field.

Publicity

Three local TV stations and multiple web sites covered the event. FOX Sports Midwest aired footage in the next day's Cardinals telecast. The Cardinals tweeted to their 300,000 followers.

Screening at Busch Stadium

That night, The Sandlot was the star of a private event for Cardinals season ticket holders at Busch Stadium. Evans and Renna conducted a Q&A and trivia contest with fans, and The Sandlot screened on the Jumbotron. The Sandlot helped the Cardinals attract a significantly larger crowd to the event compared to previous years.

Video and more (click image)

KTVI (FOX) (click link for video)

KSDK (NBC) (click link for video)

FOX Sports Midwest Cardinals Live pregame show

FOX Sports Midwest Girls video (click link for video)

More links
* David Mickey Evans and Patrick Renna on the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest

* St. Louis Post-Dispatch

* KMOX Radio

* Cardinals Twitter

I wanted to thank you all so much for an amazing day. On behalf of myself and FHE we were honored to be part of the baseball field project with Cardinals Care, FSMW and TASK. The dedication and game with the kids on Thursday morning was so great and very moving. The evening was just as exciting and so great see how much fun everyone was having. Thank you for all the great promotional support in-stadium and in the St. Louis market! --Christine Lewison, Director of Marketing, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment