Sports Envoy Program
Baseball
Gilberto Mendoza Jr. started playing baseball at 4 years old. In high school, Mendoza played for Tottenville High, whom he went on to win a championship with. In football, he was the number one running back in NYC 2011-2012 PSAC football. His senior year at Tottenville, Mendoza earned a scholarship for both baseball and football to attend Baruch College in New York. At Baruch, Mendoza played Shortstop and Infield on the baseball team.
Baseball
Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, Brady attended Carlsbad high school in Carlsbad California where he excelled in baseball earning a scholarship to the University of California where he also studied economics. Brady was selected 10t hoverall in the 1985 MLB amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. Brady played 15 seasons in the Majors for 3 different teams and was also a 3 time All-Star and also still ranks amongst the top 10 Orioles in career batting leaders for games. In 2004 Brady was inducted in the Orioles Hall Of Fame. On November 8th to 16th 2011 Brady joined Ripken on a trip to Japan as a Sports Diplomat to help spread good will to the local community that was at the time effected by the earthquake and tsunami in March.
Baseball
After attending Rye High School, B.J. Surhoff was drafted by the New York Yankees in the fifth round of the 1982 MLB June Amateur Draft. In 1985, Surhoff was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the first round of the MLB June Amateur Draft. Surhoff’s MLB debut was with the Brewers the in 1987. In the positions of Left Field, Catcher, and Third Baseman, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, and Atlanta Braves. Surhoff retired in 2005 after a 19-season career. In 2007, Surhoff was elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame.
Baseball
Billy Ripken grew up surrounded by baseball because of his father Cal Ripken Sr. who played and coached for the Baltimore Orioles. His father, his brother, and himself made baseball history when Ripken was picked by the Orioles in the 11th round of the 1982 MLB Draft. He played in MLB from 1987–1998 for the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers (1993–94, ’97), Cleveland Indians (1995), and Detroit Tigers (1998).
In 1990, Ripken had his most successful campaign offensively. He batted .291, the highest total of his career and a mark which would lead the Orioles in 1990. Ripken finished fifth among AL second basemen with a .987 fielding percentage and led AL hitters with 17 sacrifice hits. Billy committed a total of 11 errors, the fewest in major league history among second baseman-shortstop combinations. In 1992, Ripken hit what would be a career-high four home runs, batting .230 with 76 hits and 36 RBI in 111 games. He had a .993 fielding percentage.
Since his baseball career, Ripken has written several books on the development of young baseball players as well as novels that illustrate the difficulties of parenting and children’s lives as child athletes. In 2001, Bill and Cal Ripken, Jr. Co-Founded the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation as a tribute to their father’s devotion to teaching life skills and lessons through sports. Their foundation helps to build character and teach critical life lessons to at-risk young people living in America’s most distressed communities.
Baseball
Adam Christ’s baseball career began at Des Moines Area Community College where he was a two-time all-conference selection from 1998 to 2000. In 2000, Christ played shortstop at Iowa State shortly before being recruited by the Cyclones. Playing infielder at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Christ went on to earn his BS in Kinesiology in 2003 from Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2008, Christ earned his MS in Athletic Administration from Minnesota State University, where he became Assistant Coach in 2009. After three years, Christ was promoted in 2012 to the position of Assistant Head Coach at the University, a position he remained in for four years. Since leaving Minnesota State in 2015, Christ has worked as the Assistant Coach at the University of Illinois.
Baseball
Francisco Javier Cordero (born May 11, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros from 1999 through 2012, often serving as the closer.
Baseball
Beginning his baseball career as the starting pitcher at Stanford University, Jeremy Guthrie currently plays for the Eastern Reyes del Tigre of the Constellation Energy League, but played for 15 years in MLB for the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, and the Washington Nationals.
Guthrie pitched for Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. During his time with the Kansas City Royals, he logged the most innings of his career during the 2013 season with 211⅔. He finished with a 15–12 record and a 4.04 ERA. The 2014 season Guthrie posted a 4.13 ERA over 202.2 innings and finished the regular season with a record of 13–11.
Guthrie is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and he served for two years as a missionary for the church in Spain. On February 1, 2018, Guthrie began a three-year assignment as president of its Texas Houston South Mission for the LDS church.
Baseball
Jed Lowrie is a free agent who was called up from the minor leagues in 2008 to play for the Boston Red Sox. He has primarily played shortstop throughout his career but has played second and third base as well. After playing 3 years with the Red Sox, he was traded to the Houston Astros before going on and playing for Oakland Athletics and then back to the Astros before going back to Athletics and finally, the New York Mets.
During Lowrie’s time with the Athletics, Lowrie set a new Oakland record for most doubles in a season: 49 in 2017. A year later, on July 10, 2018, owning a .288 batting average with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs, Lowrie was named as an All-Star for the first time in his career.
Lowrie and his wife Melissa are involved in several community and philanthropic initiatives, particularly around veteran and children’s issues.
Baseball
Ken Griffey Jr. was born Nov. 21, 1969. He is married to Melissa Griffey. They have three children: George Kenneth III (“Trey”), daughter Taryn Kennedy, and adopted son Tevin Kendall.
Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the greatest baseball players in history. “Junior,” as he is often called, won 10 straight Gold Glove awards, was named to the All Star team 13 times, was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1997, and hit at total of 630 home runs, placing him fifth on the all-time list. He is the first son to play on the same team as his father, current Cincinnati Reds coach Ken Griffey Sr. During his career, Ken Griffey Jr. played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, plus a short time for the Chicago White Sox.
In November 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Griffey a public diplomacy envoy. Due to his obligations to Major League Baseball, he was unable to make his first trip until February 2011, when he led a highly successful visit to Manila and Cebu in the Philippines. Ken Griffey Sr. has worked with our sports visitor programs on several occasions, most recently this March with our Honduran baseball coaches program.
Baseball
From Safford, Arizona, D.J. was a right handed pitcher who excelled at baseball from an early age which lead to him being drafted when he was 18 years old right out of high school by the Texas Rangers. Choosing to attend college instead, D.J. spent one year at Chabot College and Pima Community to help sharpen his skills, which led to him being drafted again by the Baltimore Orioles in the 27thround. D.J. made his Major League debut in 2003 while playing for the Kansas City Royals and spent 8 years in total as a Major League Player.D.J. is now a pitching coach in the New York Mets organization and spent the previous 3 years as a Major League scout with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2018, he was signed on as a pitching coach to New Zealand’s first ever professional team.