NEW YORK -- The Major League Baseball Players Trust announced Thursday that it will give over 2,000 youth in the United States and Canada an unforgettable ballpark experience this season. Buses for Baseball, a program hosted by Major League baseball players and underwritten by Microsoft XBox, will furnish game tickets, transportation and personal welcomes from players to underprivileged children, giving many youngsters their first Major League experience.

The 2005 Buses for Baseball tour begins Friday, April 22 in San Francisco, when Barry Bonds hosts 50 students from Martin Luther King Middle School. Bonds, the 2004 Players Choice Award winner as overall Player of the Year and National League Outstanding Player, is just 12 home runs away from passing Babe Ruth for second on the all-time list.

Buses for Baseball will visit each of the 30 Major League parks, including its first stop to the nation's capital, when Zach Day and his Nationals teammates host some of the area's neediest children at RFK Stadium on June, 6.

The Players Trust partners with Major League Baseball teams, area mass transit authorities and charitable organizations in local communities to bring the thrill of Major League Baseball to underprivileged kids. Major League players from all teams provide an up-close and personal introduction to the game, delivering souvenirs and autographs for the kids.

The Major League Baseball Players Trust is a charitable foundation created by the players to help those in need. Through the Players Trust, Major League players contribute their time, money and celebrity to call attention to important issues affecting those in need and to help encourage others to get involved in their own communities.

Below is the 2005 schedule for Buses for Baseball:

•   Arizona Diamondbacks - June 28
•   Atlanta Braves - August 10
•   Baltimore Orioles - July 26
•   Boston Red Sox - June 1
•   Chicago Cubs - July 28
•   Chicago White Sox - June 21
•   Cincinnati Reds - May 24
•   Cleveland Indians - May 25
•   Colorado Rockies - June 11
•   Detroit Tigers - August 3
•   Florida Marlins - July 29
•   Houston Astros - July 27
•   Kansas City Royals - August 10
•   Los Angeles Angels - August 17
•   Los Angeles Dodgers - TBD
•   Milwaukee Brewers - August 12
•   Minnesota Twins - June 22
•   New York Mets - July 15
•   New York Yankees - TBD
•   Oakland A's - June 29
•   Philadelphia Phillies - June 7
•   Pittsburgh Pirates - TBD
•   San Diego Padres - August 28
•   San Francisco Giants - April 22
•   Seattle Mariners - August 15
•   St. Louis Cardinals - August 4
•   Tampa Bay Devil Rays - TBD
•   Texas Rangers - May 26
•   Toronto Blue Jays - August 10
•   Washington Nationals - June 5

[Dates as of 4/19/05 and subject to change.]

The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the thirty Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust, a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players.