MTV, MLB’s David Ortiz and Andrew McCutchen Team Up for Pop Culture Baseball Show

The league hopes kids will take a break from twerking to talk a little 9-on-9

Major League Baseball has a plan to bring the youth of America back to its national pastime: It’s called MTV.

Boston Red Sox DH and 2013 World Series MVP David Ortiz and Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen will executive produce a new weekly, 30-episode series on MTV2, slated to debut in April 2014.

Shot in New York City from inside the MLB Fan Cave — the league’s space that mixes baseball with music, pop culture, media, interactive technology and art — the new series will “move beyond game analysis, stats and highlights to showcase MLB athletes off the field, spotlighting the stars’ personalities and passions through a series of player interviews and features, in addition to celebrity appearances,” the network said.

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“Music is a passion of mine so when I was asked to be involved in a show that brings baseball to MTV, I jumped at it,” McCutchen said. “It is going to be a lot of fun to show a different side of baseball and the players.”

David Ortiz added, “Players want to be musicians and the musicians want to be players.  So it’s going to be pretty easy to get my friends in baseball to have some fun on MTV.”

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Content from the new partnership will exist on-air and online across MTV’s channels and platforms – MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits and MTV Jams – integrating MLB players into existing shows and events, in addition to the development of upcoming specials, weekend programming and more.

“As sports and pop culture increasingly collide, we’re thrilled to partner with MLB to cover baseball through a uniquely MTV lens,” said Stephen Friedman, president of MTV. “We will blur the lines between lifestyle and sports entertainment, spotlighting MLB’s most exciting players in a way fans have never seen before.”

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