Toronto Blue Jays Select Designated Driver for the Season Who Could Win Trip to 2005 All-Star Game

Designated Driver Program Offers Responsible Alternative

"Responsibility Has Its Rewards" was the message to Toronto fans as the Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball® (MLB), and the TEAM Coalition joined forces to get the word out to fans about the importance of responsible drinking and always using a designated driver throughout the 2004 MLB season.

TEAM Coalition -- an alliance of professional sports, entertainment facilities, concessionaires, the beer industry, broadcasters, governmental traffic safety experts, and others working together to promote responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sports facilities -- coordinated an MLB-wide promotion in support of existing designated driver programs. TEAM and its partners are educating fans about the importance of drinking responsibly and always buckling up and designating a sober driver.

Thousands of Blue Jays fans participated in the designated driver program offered during home games at the SkyDome. From those participants, one lucky designated driver for the season -- Ron Hatoski -- was selected to possibly win a trip to the 2005 All-Star Game® at Comerica Park in Detroit. The All-Star Game® prize package includes two game tickets, airfare, and hotel accommodations and will be awarded to one of the 28 designated drivers for the season whose team does not play in the World Series® . The winner of the All-Star Game® prize will be notified once the Clubs playing in the World Series® are determined. Official contest rules are available at www.teamcoalition.org.

"This promotion is an opportunity for the Toronto Blue Jays and MLB to show support for the clubs' efforts to encourage responsible fan behavior. And for the fans, it is a great reminder that responsibility has its rewards," said Jill Pepper, Executive Director of the TEAM Coalition.

"Fan safety in the ballpark has always been a top priority for MLB," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "We believe that this partnership is an excellent program that emphasizes fans' safety to and from the ballpark."

The designated driver booth program offers fans a solution to the problem of how to get home safely after drinking at the game: the designated driver -- the person who chooses to stay sober, drives everyone else home safely and makes sure everyone buckles up. "We want the game-day experience to continue to be safe and enjoyable for Blue Jays fans while they are at the stadium and as they travel home after the games," said Mario Coutinho, Director of Operations for the Toronto Blue Jays. "We are very happy to reward our fans with such a great opportunity for demonstrating responsible behavior."

TEAM's members and supporters include Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, ARAMARK, Beer Institute, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Miller Brewing Company, Coors Brewing Company, ESPN ABC Sports, National Association of Broadcasters, International Association of Assembly Managers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For more information on the TEAM Coalition please log on to www.teamcoalition.org.

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