For the sixth year in a row, FOX Sports Arizona will honor the United States military during its Memorial Day telecast of an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. This year’s production is set for Monday, May 27, when the D-backs and Texas Rangers stage a doubleheader at Chase Field. The network’s coverage begins at noon with the Diamondbacks Live pregame show.
Game 1 of the doubleheader will be the showcase for “Salute To The Troops, Presented by Sanderson Ford.” Throughout the telecast, FOX Sports Arizona will pay tribute to those who currently serve and those who have given their lives to protect the freedoms America enjoys. There will be interviews with Arizona National Guard servicemen and women and their families during the game, pregame and postgame shows.
A group of 235 consisting of Arizona National Guard families will attend the opener of the doubleheader, courtesy of tickets donated by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Many of the soldiers coming to the game are from Army and Air Force units, while others are from the 850th Military Police Battalion of the Arizona Army National Guard who recently returned from Qatar after being deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In addition to the interviews and tributes, FOX Sports Arizona is encouraging viewers to submit their own personal “salutes” for the troops that will be displayed during the telecast. Messages can be sent via Twitter by using the hashtag #FSAZsalute and posted on the network’s Facebook page (facebook.com/foxsportsarizona).
For Game 2 of the doubleheader, FOX Sports Arizona’s Fan Express bus will bring a group of 50 military personnel from the Military Assistance Mission. The organization, which provides financial and morale aid to Arizona’s active duty military, their families and wounded warriors regardless of the overseas deployment status, will be in attendance to receive a $50,000 check from the D-backs and Sanderson Ford during a pregame ceremony. One of the people riding on the bus will be Margy Bons, the founder of Military Assistance Mission. She will conduct the silent ceremonial first pitch in honor of her son, Michael Adam Marzano, who was killed in action in May 2005.
Leading up to the D-backs doubleheader, FOX Sports Arizona will also air FOX Sports Salute The Troops at 10:30 a.m. This program highlights the FOX Sports trip last February to a U.S. Army Base in Germany with a contingent that included Bob Brenly, Diamondbacks reliever Heath Bell, FOX Sports Arizona Girl Danielle and others from Major League Baseball. At 11 a.m., the Emmy Award-winning show "The Pat Tillman Legacy" can also be seen.
FOX Sports Arizona televises the most regional sports action in the state and is the exclusive cable television home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Coyotes, Arizona Cardinals, Northern Arizona University, Phoenix Mercury and the Arizona Interscholastic Association. FOX Sports Arizona is currently seen in 2.5 million households in Arizona and New Mexico and can also be seen across the country via home satellite services. And for even more coverage of the local sports scene, log onto www.FOXSportsArizona.com, www.twitter.com/foxsportsaz and www.facebook.com/foxsportsarizona.
