All things Baseball

	Vicente Padilla at the Embassy
Cal Ripken's Visit to Nicaragua
	Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. was in Nicaragua November 13-18, where he talked baseball with children and little league coaches. Together with Nicaraguan pitcher Dennis Martinez, the visit included clinics for the little league coaches and training for children. It's all part of Ripken's role as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy for the State Department. Download the manual "Pitching Fundamentals" provided by Ripken Baseball for the clinics (pdf format). While in Nicaragua, Ripken wrote a daily diary for Sporting News Magazine. Read the blog at the Ripken Baseball website...

Granada, November 14

• Take a look at a picture gallery of Cal and Dennis playing baseball with children from one of the poorest sections of the city of Granada
• First thing in the morning Cal taught a clinic to 30 little league coaches for teams ranging from 8 to 12 years of age at the Cocibolca Jockey Club in Granada. Cal taught a class in batting fundamentals and Dennis handled pitching.
• Next a Quickball game with 50 kids (both boys and girls) from Barrio Esperanza, one of the poorest sections of the city of Granada where Empowerment International (EI), an organization run by a U.S. citizen named Kathy Adams works. She and other U.S. volunteers, including Peace Corps volunteers, run a stay-in-school program and help these kids do their homework.  Many of the children are from single parent and/or extremely poor (i.e., shack) homes. 
• In the afternoon, a clinic for little leaguers including batting, pitching and fielding instructions at Estadio Roque Tadeo Zavala, named after a former player (one of the best catchers in the Nicaraguan leagues during the 70’s). At the end, all equipment used was donated to the Little League Sports Association of Granada (ADEPLIG).
  Last but not least, Cal visited Barrio Esperanza for a walk through and a donation of school supplies to the children who participated in the morning clinic.

Managua, November 16

• Take a look at a picture gallery of Cal’s clinic with coaches
• First a clinic at Jackie Robinson Stadium for little league coaches from the Dennis Martinez league including 30 coaches for teams of kids 8 to 12. The clinic included pitching and batting lessons.
• Look at the picture gallery of the children's clinics
• In the afternoon, roughly 120 Dennis Martinez youth league players from 7-8 of the teams coached by the participants in the morning coaching sessions were there to take part in the clinics. 12 coaches from the morning clinic as well as Embassy personnel, included Ambassador Robert J. Callahan, a huge baseball fan assisted.
• At the end of the day, all equipment was donated to the Dennis Martinez Youth League.