Major League Baseball hosts Area Code Games for top prep players

Whether you’re representin’ the 212 (New York) or the 213 (Los Angeles), any baseball player worth his numbers will be in the 562 this weekend – that’s Long Beach – for the 25th annual Area Code Baseball Games Aug. 5-10 at Blair Field.

Created by Major League Baseball scouts in Northern California, the goal was to assemble the top high school underclassmen from geographical areas based on telephone area codes. Nearly 3,000 players compete nationwide for a chance to participate in the final Area Code Baseball games, the premiere search for the nation’s top baseball players.

More than 350 Major League players have participated in Area Code Baseball, including Dustin Pedroia, Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett.

Locally, look for Palm Desert High third baseman Tanner Rahier on the Southern California roster.

Eight Major League Baseball teams are partnering with Area Code Baseball to represent a specific part of the country: the Milwaukee Brewers (Southern California); Oakland Athletics (Northern California); Kansas City Royals (Pacific Northwest); Cincinnati Reds (Four Corners and Hawaii); Chicago White Sox (Midwest); Texas Rangers (Texas and Louisiana); New York Yankees (Northeast); and the Washington Nationals (Southeast and Virginia). The top 218 players from the regional Area Code games will play.

The complete athlete roster is available here.

The four games will be streamed live on Tues., Aug. 9, on ESPN3.com.  Commentators for the Games include Jim Watson, Bob Scanlon and Beto Duran. The broadcast schedule is as follows: 8:30 a.m. PST: Reds v. Brewers11:30 a.m. PST: Royals v. Nationals2:30 p.m. PST: White Sox v. Nationals5:30 p.m. PST: Athletics v. Yankees.

For more information on the Area Code Baseball games, follow Twitter @acbaseballgames, Facebook or visit AreaCodeBaseball.com.