McCutchen to replace Stanton for National League in 2012 State Farm Home Run Derby

Major League Baseball announced tonight that two-time All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates will replace Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins as a National League representative in the 2012 State Farm Home Run Derby, which will be held on Monday, July 9^th at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (CT) and will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Stanton, a first-time All-Star, will not participate in the event due to a right knee injury.  Thus, #NL Derby captain Matt Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp) of the Los Angeles Dodgers extended the invitation to McCutchen (@TheCutch22), who will join outfielders Carlos Beltran (@carlosbeltran15) of the St. Louis Cardinals and Carlos Gonzalez (@CargoMedia5) of the Colorado Rockies in representing the Senior Circuit.  The American League team is led by #AL Derby captain Robinson Cano (@RobinsonCano) of the New York Yankees along with outfielder Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19) of the Toronto Blue Jays, first baseman Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers and infielder/outfielder Mark Trumbo (@Mtrumbo44) of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The 25-year-old McCutchen is now an N.L. All-Star for the second consecutive season.  The Florida native is currently Major League Baseball’s leading hitter with a .359 batting average.  The center fielder’s 16 home runs and his 56 RBI are tied for both sixth in the N.L.  McCutchen has a .411 on-base percentage, a .605 slugging percentage and 14 stolen bases.  His 1.017 OPS is currently second in the N.L. and third in MLB.  The fourth-year Major Leaguer set a career-high with 23 home runs in 2011. 

For the second consecutive year, players will have the ability to use social media during the State Farm Home Run Derby (@StateFarm #HRDerby).  Last year’s first-ever “Social Media Derby” in Phoenix peaked at nearly 5,000 tweets per second during the final round, at the time the seventh-highest figure in the five-year history of Twitter.

              Social media stations will be set up on both sides of the Kauffman Stadium field near the dugouts, where players – including those participating in the #HRDerby – will be able to log into their own social media accounts while uploading photo and video content shot on their personal mobile devices.  ESPN will heavily incorporate social media into the television broadcast, creating a fully integrated social TV experience for fans.  Last year’s “Social Media Derby” in Arizona resulted in a significant volume of online activity and considerable increases in Twitter followings for the participating MLB All-Stars. 

This year’s State Farm Home Run Derby will continue to follow the format first introduced in 2011, featuring team competition between the #AL and #NL.  Both captains will select a charity for which they will hit during the Derby.    State Farm and Major League Baseball will donate a significant amount of money for charity through the event.  The donations will be made as follows:

• $150,000 will be awarded to the winning captain's charity in his name
• $100,000 will be awarded to Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA) in the name of the winning captain
• $25,000 will be awarded to the charity of the captain of the losing team in his name
• The remainder will be donated to BGCA on behalf of State Farm and MLB

The total amount of money distributed will be determined by the home runs hit during the competition.  For each Gold Ball home run hit by a State Farm Home Run Derby participant after the 9^th out throughout the State Farm Home Run Derby, State Farm and Major League Baseball will combine to donate $18,000 to designated charities.  The dollar figure was selected to coincide with the number of State Farm agents throughout the U.S. and Canada. State Farm will make an additional donation of $3,000 for every non-Gold Ball home run hit throughout the 2012 State Farm Home Run Derby.

In addition to coverage on ESPN, the 2012 State Farm Home Run Derby (#HRDerby) will be broadcast live on ESPN HD, ESPN 3D, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV, and ESPN Radio in the U.S. as well as ESPN International beginning at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (CT) on Monday, July 9^th. 

The 2012 All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The 83^rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (CT).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.  For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/2012.