ATLANTA — DRIVEN: Travel Baseball — Chasing the Dream presented by Toyota debuts Sunday, August 7, at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports South following the Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals telecast with an encore showing at 10:00 p.m. ET. This latest episode of the Emmy Award-winning series will also be available on FOX Sports GO (FOXSportsGo.com), a free app that provides live streaming video of content televised on FOX Sports South through select programming distributors.
Travel Baseball — Chasing the Dream delves into the proliferation of travel baseball teams and examines both the advantages and risks of playing youth baseball year-round. The show shares positive experiences from families involved in prominent travel baseball programs, such as East Cobb Baseball and the Charleston Diamond Devils, as well as the criticisms that these organizations face, including the over-specialization of players and an increase in related injuries.
Among those who weigh in on the conversation are Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, the president of East Cobb Baseball Guerry Baldwin, world-renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews and Georgia Tech head baseball coach Danny Hall.
• Smoltz: “I’m concerned about the game of baseball from a youth standpoint and in injury prevention. We’re trying to develop athletes at eight, nine, 10 and 11 years old and having them choose a sport that they have no business choosing at that age.”
• Baldwin: “Do the right thing for kids in the game. I think you have to stick to what’s in the best interest of kids and their baseball life, whatever it is, high school baseball, college baseball and beyond, and I’m not going to change that.”
• Andrews: “We’ve seen an escalation in youth sports injuries, a lot of the kids at a very young age are being treated like professional athletes and their bodies can’t mature enough to handle that workload.”
• Hall: “East Cobb has been the staple for my 23 years here at Georgia Tech. They have been the nuts and bolts of travel baseball.”
In addition to Smoltz, Baldwin, Andrews and Hall, DRIVEN features interviews with professional baseball players who have come through the East Cobb Baseball program, including Gordon Beckham, Nick Markakis and Dansby Swanson.
Prior to the debut of DRIVEN, FOX Sports South will deliver additional analysis of travel baseball with the nightly four-part series, Travel Teams: The Youth Baseball Debate, launching during the Braves LIVE! pregame show on Thursday, August 4, at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports Southeast. Throughout the four-part series, FOX Sports analysts Paul Byrd, Tom Glavine and Brian Jordan will talk about the various issues surrounding travel baseball teams, with discussion around both sides of the topic. A full schedule of topics is below, along with the programming schedule for DRIVEN:
Travel Teams: The Youth Baseball Debate – four-part series
DRIVEN – Travel Baseball: Chasing the Dream
*All airings will also stream on FOX Sports GO
About DRIVEN presented by Toyota
Debuting on FOX Sports South in 2012, DRIVEN is an award-winning original series featuring stories of dedication, focus and success both on and off the track or field. DRIVEN received Emmy Awards for Tougher, Faster, Stronger: The 2012 Bobcats Draft in 2013 and The Chipper Jones Story in 2014 and Michael Waltrip Racing — Life in the Pits and The Human Highlight Film in 2015.
About FOX Sports South
The FOX Sports regional networks serving the Southeast — FOX Sports South, FOX Sports Carolinas, FOX Sports Tennessee and FOX Sports Southeast — collectively reach more than 13 million households across seven states. They are the television home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Dream, Atlanta Hawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville Predators, Cincinnati Reds, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans, St. Louis Cardinals, UEFA Champions League and Bundesliga, as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference, and Big East Conference. Combined, the networks televise nearly 1400 live events each year. For more information, please visit FOXSportsSouth.com, FOXSportsTennessee.com, and FOXSportsCarolinas.com.
