9.20.2007

09/18/2007 10:11 AM ET

"Survivor" host Jeff Probst debuts his favorite Major League Baseball postseason moment on actober.com in true survivor form"MLB stars" participate in tribal council in new celebrity actober.com

Major League Baseball has just posted its first celebrity-created spot on actober.com, the first user-generated content website produced by a major professional sports league. The newest spot created by and starring "SURVIVOR" host Jeff Probst is a parody of his role as host on the hit television show.

Probst, whose latest version of the reality series - "SURVIVOR: CHINA" will premiere on CBS on September 20, created a video utilizing some of the famous elements from the long-running hit series. In Probst's reenactment, look-alikes for MLB greats Bobby Thomson, Derek Jeter, and Kirk Gibson are called to tribal council where each must make a case as to why his postseason moment is the best. Bobby Thomson's 1951 "The Shot Heard Round the World," Derek Jeter's famous shovel throw to home plate in the 2001 American League Division Series against the Oakland A's, and Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run in the 1988 World Series are all debated and fans can watch to see whose torch stays lit.

The Survivor MLB 'actober' moment was developed by Probst and screenwriters Tom and Tim Mullen and directed by Terry Cunningham Groundlings actors Damon Jones and Steven Pierce portray Gibson, and Thomson, and actor Damian Cecere portrays Jeter. The Survivor actober.com video was shot in Jeff Probst's backyard in Los Angeles.

Powered by MLB.com, actober.com provides fans access to the largest online archive of MLB footage in the world and hosts over sixty clips of historical postseason baseball footage. Fans can utilize the vintage footage to create their own actober moments and win tickets to the 2007 World Series. Probst's 'actober' will run online and on select jumbotrons nationwide during Major League Baseball play.

"There's nothing better than October baseball, so it was fun to take some of my favorite playoff moments and have fun with them Survivor-style," said Jeff Probst. "I hope Derek Jeter, Kirk Gibson and Bobby Thomson have a sense of humor!"
Among the October "moments" featured on the site are classics such as Willie Mays' catch in the 1954 World Series, Carlton Fisk's 12th-inning home run in the 1975 World Series and Curt Schilling's bloody sock performance in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS. Since its launch at the All-Star Game in July, actober.com has received over 1.6 million hits.

Additional celebrity 'actober' moments are set to appear on the website soon, including videos from James Caan, Ellen Pompeo, Kate Mara and William Peterson among others.

"actober.com is the place for our fans to engage their passion for postseason baseball and have some fun doing it," said Tim Brosnan, Executive Vice President, Business, Major League Baseball. "We are thrilled that someone of Jeff Probst's talents has decided to join thousands of others in making his own 'actober' moment."

"We have been consistently and thoroughly impressed by the creative energy demonstrated in this process," said Dinn Mann, Executive Vice President, Content, Editor-in-Chief, MLB.com. "For fans worldwide, actober.com is playing out as a terrific platform, reflecting fabulous interest in baseball. We are grateful that so many cameras are rolling and eagerly await the next user-generated gem."

Probst is a seven-time Emmy Award-nominated American television personality, writer and director best known for his role as the host of the U.S. version of the "SURVIVOR" reality show franchise. He won an Emmy award in 2001 for his work on the series.