The Red Sox star will appear on the cover of EA's baseball game.
EA NAMES BOSTON RED SOX SLUGGER AND 2004 WORLD SERIES MVP MANNY RAMIREZ COVER ATHLETE FOR MVP BASEBALL 2005
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Wednesday, November 17, 2004 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that Boston Red Sox All-Star and 2004 World Series Most Valuable Player Manny Ramirez has been selected as the spokesman and cover athlete for MVP Baseball™ 2005, scheduled for release next spring under the EA SPORTS™ brand.
“This has been an unbelievable year for me and being selected as the cover athlete for MVP Baseball 2005 is a huge honor” said Ramirez. “I’m very excited about working with EA and helping to make MVP Baseball 2005 a huge success.”
Ramirez was named MVP of the 2004 World Series after batting .412 with a home run and seven RBI, leading the Boston Red Sox to their first championship since 1918. One of the best all-around hitters in the game, Ramirez led the American League in home runs (43) and slugging percentage (.613) while ranking 3rd in RBI (130). Ramirez was selected to his 8th All-Star Game (1995, 1998-2004), received his 7th Silver Slugger Award (1995, 1999-2004) and was named the American League recipient of the 2004 Hank Aaron Award which recognizes the outstanding offensive player in each league. Ramirez’s image will appear on all MVP Baseball 2005 packaging and merchandising.
MVP Baseball 2004 was the best-selling baseball video game this year with more than one million copies sold. Developed in Vancouver, B.C., by EA Canada, MVP Baseball 2005 will be available on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, the Nintendo GameCube™, and the PC.
EA SPORTS is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles and franchises include Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, MVP Baseball, NCAA® Football, NASCAR® racing and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®. The EA SPORTS home page is www.easports.com.
