NESN to Premiere Jim Rice: The Journey to Cooperstown on Saturday, July 18 at 9 p.m.

Original NESN Entertainment (ONE) Special to air Commercial Free Thanks to Presenting Sponsor Sullivan Tire

BOSTON, MA – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will premiere an Original NESN Entertainment (ONE) special about former Red Sox slugger and 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Jim Rice on Saturday, July 18 at 9:00 PM. Jim Rice: The Journey to Cooperstown presented by Sullivan Tire, chronicles the untold voyage of the soon to be hall of famer by following him back to his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina. Rice introduced NESN to the people and places which shaped him as a ballplayer, and how they influenced his career with the Red Sox.

"Jim’s election into the Hall of Fame was long overdue and everyone here at NESN is very happy that he is finally being honored as one of baseball’s all-time greats,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer. “Jim humbly allowed us to follow him back to his hometown in South Carolina to document where he grew up and to meet some of the people that helped make him into the extraordinary player and person that he is today."

Jim Rice was one of the most feared sluggers in all of baseball in the late 70’s and 80’s while playing leftfield for the Boston Red Sox. He was an 8-time All-Star and was voted the American League MVP in 1978. Since retiring in 1989, Rice has served in several roles in the Red Sox organization including the team’s hitting coach from 1995 to 2000 and since 2003 he has served as a studio analyst on NESN. In January 2009, Rice was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 15th and final year of eligibility.

Jim Rice: The Journey to Cooperstown will recount Rice’s passage from a segregated small town high school team to the daunting left field role at Fenway Park during the tumultuous 1970’s in Boston. Former teammates like Ellis Burks, Dwight Evans, Rich Gedman, Fred Lynn, Jerry Remy and Carl Yastrzemski share anecdotes and stories from his remarkable career.

About NESN

NESN is owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins and is delivered to over four million homes throughout the six-state New England region and nationally via DirecTV and Dish Network. The definitive home for New England sports programming, NESN is the television home of the Red Sox and Bruins and is the highest rated regional sports network in the country. The network and its website, NESN.com, produce award winning content including, NESN SportsDesk a daily sports news program, over 100 NESN University college sporting events annually and distinctive Original NESN Entertainment (ONE) productions.