"FERRELL TAKES THE FIELD," STARRING WILL FERRELL IN A COMEDY SPECIAL FROM FUNNY OR DIE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, DEBUTS SEPT. 12, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO
One Day. Five Games. Ten Uniforms. Ten Positions. For a Cause.
Last March 12, in a role filled with hopes and dreams, Will Ferrell visited five different spring training ballparks in Arizona for FERRELL TAKES THE FIELD, a new HBO special from Funny Or Die, in partnership with Major League Baseball. Dedicating the special to the fight against cancer, Ferrell also honored the historic feat of Bert Campaneris five decades ago by playing every position on the field for ten different teams in the same day. The special debuts SATURDAY, SEPT. 12 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: Sept. 12 (1:40 a.m.), 16 (11:00 p.m.), 18 (midnight), 21 (9:35 p.m., 5:05 a.m.), 24 (11:45 p.m.) and 29 (10:00 p.m., 1:45 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Sept. 12 (3:15 a.m.), 15 (8:30 p.m.), 19 (3:00 p.m., 11:05 p.m.), 22 (10:45 a.m.) and 30 (5:05 p.m.)
The special will also be available on HBO NOW and HBO GO.
Ferrell's goal was to honor "Campy" Campaneris while also helping organizations dedicated to fighting cancer, including Cancer for College. Formed in 1993, Cancer for College is a charity that helps individuals adversely affected by cancer to realize their dream of a college education.
Ferrell played in the following games on March 12:
Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics (HoHoKam Stadium)
Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Tempe Diablo Stadium)
Cincinnati Reds at Arizona Diamondbacks (Salt River Fields at Talking Stick)
San Francisco Giants at Chicago White Sox (Camelback Ranch)
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres (Peoria Stadium)
An important part of the fundraising efforts is game-used memorabilia from Ferrell's journey across the five ballparks, to be auctioned at MLB.com with proceeds being donated to Cancer for College, as well as Stand Up To Cancer, a groundbreaking initiative created to accelerate innovative cancer research. MLB is the founding donor to Stand Up To Cancer.
On Sept. 8, 1965, Bert "Campy" Campaneris, in only his second major league season, went 0-for-3 playing all nine positions for the Kansas City Athletics in a game against the California Angels. Campaneris joined Ferrell as he began his journey on March 12.
Ferrell previously appeared on HBO in the 2009 comedy special "Will Ferrell: You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush." He was also an executive producer of and guest-starred in HBO's "Eastbound & Down" and "Funny Or Die Presents."
The new special is executive produced by Will Ferrell in association with Gary Sanchez Productions, Funny Or Die's Mike Farah and Joe Farrell, and Stuart Miller, and directed by Brian McGinn.
Funny Or Die launched in April 2007 and has become an award-wining top destination for comedy on the web. The site has over 19 million unique users per month, over 60 million video views per month, and has grown into a vertically integrated digital studio that produces high quality content over numerous platforms, operating a social media and marketing division with over 9 million Twitter followers, approximately 11 million Facebook fans (#1 Comedy Brand on both Twitter and Facebook) and devoted followers on numerous social networking and sharing sites.
Cancer for College was founded in 1993 by two-time cancer survivor Craig Pollard while a student at the University of Southern California. Pollard witnessed firsthand how cancer can not only devastate a family physically and emotionally, but can wipe them out financially as well. Since its inception, with the help of Pollard's Delta Tau Delta fraternity brother Will Ferrell, the charity has granted over $2 million in college scholarships to more than 1,000 cancer survivors around the country. To learn more about Cancer for College, visit cancerforcollege.org.
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