WE ARE BASEBALL: Baseball Hall of Fame Tour to Begin Multi-Year Journey on July 3

DYERSVILLE, Iowa, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In 37 days the banks of the majestic Mississippi River will be the first host for the historic Baseball Hall of Fame Tour (We Are Baseball) as it begins a multi-year journey to hundreds of cities across North America, bringing to fans a one-of-a-kind baseball experience through the illustrious history of the game with compelling historic artifacts, cutting-edge technology and digital media. Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. today became the first Commissioner to visit the Field of Dreams movie site, along with 2015 Hall of Fame inductee and MLB Network analyst John Smoltz, where the Tour's 2016 travels were unveiled during a live town hall announcement event only 90 miles from that first stop – Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa.

We Are Baseball will travel to six cities in its first four months of operation in 2016, including the hometowns of the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals, providing fans in those communities nearly 1,000 open hours of access to the exhibits provided from the vast collections of The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Many of the game's most iconic artifacts will be with the Tour, including the bat used by Bobby Thomson when he hit the walk-off home run in the 1951 regular season playoff, the glove worn by Willie Mays when he made the famous catch in Game One of the 1954 World Series, the trophy given to Ty Cobb for his 1911 season when he led the league with a .420 batting average and the jersey worn by Roberto Clemente during his final season in 1972.

Through its official ticketing provider, Tickets.com, the Tour's general public tickets across all six locations will be available beginning Tuesday, May 31 at 11 a.m. ET on the Tour's official website powered by MLBAM, HallofFametour.com.

A Tour schedule for 2017 will be released as it becomes available. Visit HallofFametour.com for complete details and the latest scheduling and ticket information.

We Are Baseball was developed with content provided by The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and through a partnership with IMAX Corporation, MLBAM, Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, CAA, and United Talent Agency, along with Arny Granat and Grand Slam Productions.

IMAX^® MOVIE
Central to the fan experience is a mobile IMAX^® theater showcasing an original IMAX film that will immerse fans into the past, present and future of baseball. The film will be produced by Thomas Tull and Tom Werner and will feature never-before-seen new content as well as historical footage.

TECHNOLOGY
To celebrate the shared experiences and bonds fans have for the sport, one-of-a-kind historical artifacts were curated by baseball historians and will be exhibited in unprecedented ways through state-of-the-art technology. This dynamic, customizable and sharable traveling exhibit will allow fans to "experience" the stories, traditions and stars covering baseball's past and present like never before – from the game's greatest luminaries, ranging from Honus Wagner to Willie Mays, Babe Ruth to Clayton Kershaw, and personalities and moments, like world renowned broadcaster Harry Caray or Bill Mazeroski's legendary World Series-winning home run, to Fenway Park's famed "Green Monster." Examples include:

• History Selfie: Put yourself into some of baseball's most iconic moments and share with your friends, family and followers via social media
• Hall of Fame Plaques in HD: Scroll through an interactive experience of the Hall of Fame plaques for every inductee
• Video Exhibit Cases: In a first-of-its-kind for baseball artifacts, utilize video screens to get the story behind a specific artifact before the artifact itself is revealed behind the screen
• Personal Plaques: Using touch screen technology and high resolution cameras, take your own photo to create a personal Hall of Fame replica plaque and craft your own Hall of Fame story
• Interactive Games: An interactive touch screen table will allow you to play fun games against your family, friends and other We Are Baseball visitors
• Mobile: Leveraging MLBAM's mobile development and technology expertise, the Tour also will integrate iBeacon technology for location awareness into the experiences for fans with the free MLB.com Ballpark app.

JAUNT VR
The Tour partnered with pioneering virtual reality (VR) company Jaunt to give fans up close and personal experiences of being present next to the game's brightest stars, on field, in the dugout and even in the clubhouse. Shot over a series of weeks and available only as part of the Tour, Jaunt captured footage at Spring Training camps for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland A's. They were also on field for the Boston Red Sox Fenway Park and Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field home openers and documented the ring ceremony for the 2015 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals.

FANATICS
In partnership with the inaugural Hall of Fame Tour, Fanatics, the global leader in licensed sports apparel and official MLB digital commerce partner, will operate a pop-up retail store and provide a wide range of officially licensed gear and customized products for each city stop. Local fans will have the ability to shop a wide selection of Hall of Fame Tour merchandise and Baseball Hall of Fame throwback designs, while also sifting through city-by-city Cooperstown memorabilia and collectibles. Fans unable to visit in person will be able to showcase their passion and pride by shopping all Hall of Fame Tour merchandise online.

MLB Sponsors for We Are Baseball are Cisco, Getty Images, MasterCard and Papa John's.

IMAX^® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.

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SOURCE Baseball Hall of Fame Tour