Greg Holland, Craig Kimbrel named 2014 Relievers of the Year

 MLB Photo                                                                      Photo by Mike Sussman

Greg Holland of the American League Champion Kansas City Royals is the inaugural "Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year" and Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves is the first "Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year," Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday. Both Holland and Kimbrel participated in a press conference at Kauffman Stadium prior to Game Two of the 2014 World Series.

World Series umpires named

Jeff Kellogg will serve as the crew chief for the 2014 World Series, Major League Baseball announced today. Kellogg is one of three regular season crew chiefs who will have a role working the 110th Fall Classic.

Kellogg, who has more than 22 years of Major League experience, will lead a crew that features fellow regular season crew chiefs Ted Barrett and Jeff Nelson and Major League Umpires Eric Cooper, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds and Hunter Wendelstedt. All seven umpires worked the Division Series this Postseason. Kellogg was the crew chief for the Detroit Tigers-Baltimore Orioles American League Division Series, while Barrett led the ALDS crew on the Kansas City Royals-Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim match-up.

From left: Jeff Kellogg, Ted Barrett, Jeff Nelson, Eric Cooper, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds, Hunter Wendelstedt

Post season baseball brings record rating to Fox Sports 1

Friday night, with Game 5 of the 2014 National League Championship Series tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, up stepped San Francisco Giants left fielder Travis Ishikawa with two men aboard, and with one swing he became part of baseball lore when he scorched a line drive three-run, game-winning home run, sending the Giants to their third World Series in the last five years. Well over six million viewers tuned in at that moment to see the drama unfold, while the game delivered FOX Sports 1 a record-tying rating, according to Nielsen.

FOX Sports 1’s coverage of NLCS Game 5 between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, presented by T-Mobile, delivered a 3.1 household rating, tying it with NLCS Game 4 as the highest-rated program ever on FOX Sports 1, while drawing 4.891 million viewers making it the second most-watched program ever on FOX Sports 1. First is NLCS Game 4, 5.092 million.

FOX Sports 1’s top five shows and seven of its top 10 are 2014 MLB postseason games.

First 4 games of World Series dedicated to important causes

For the sixth consecutive year, the first four games of the World Series will be dedicated to raising awareness for important causes associated with charitable initiatives and partners of Major League Baseball, it was announced today.

Following are the dedications:

• Game One - Veterans & Military Families
• Game Two - Education & ALS Awareness
• Game Three - Advancing the Fight Against Cancer
• Game Four - Youth Outreach

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig said: "Major League Baseball is proud to utilize the global platform of the World Series to highlight causes that are important to so many of our fans and our culture as a whole. Baseball is a social institution with significant social responsibilities, and it is a privilege to draw attention to organizations that work tirelessly to address these challenges."