Cal's Chronicles - Sporting News Today

Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is in Nicaragua, where he’ll spend four days talking baseball with children. It’s part of Ripken’s role as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy for the State Department. While in Nicaragua, Ripken will write a daily diary for Sporting News Today.

Well, we are back on U.S. soil after a very rewarding visit to Nicaragua. As I mentioned yesterday we couldn’t conduct our events in the City of Leon because of the unrest after the recent elections, but I don’t believe that hampered our trip too much.

The good news is that the baseball equipment and school supplies that we brought for the kids in Leon will still get to them. The good people at the Embassy will drop them off next week.

Speaking of the people at the Embassy, I do want to thank them for making sure that John Maroon, Tim Gebhart, Matt Backert and I had a great experience.

Obviously, our thanks to Ambassador Callahan and his wife Debbie. I also want to send a special thanks to a few people at the Embassy: Michelle, Craig, Shany, Kristin, Lia, Marixell, Felix, Thom, Kit, Scott and Marilyn, as well as the site officers who worked hard in each city.

I also want to thank the people of Nicaragua, who made us feel so welcome and were truly excited about our visit.

In addition, the Nicaraguan media was terrific and the trip was covered extensively. And, of course, a big thank you to my friend Dennis Martinez and his wife Luz. I always liked and admired Dennis, but I came away with an even greater appreciation for him, his passion, his ability to teach and his overall desire to grow the game in his native land…I hope we can help him achieve that dream.

Now we are home and it is time to reconnect with the people at the State Department and set dates for our next trip…spring of 2009 to South Africa.

As I mentioned earlier in the week, these trips are great initial trips and goodwill efforts. It seems that baseball connects people and supersedes any language barriers that might exist. That said, we don’t want to just make one journey to a country and simply leave.

After my trip to China last fall, my brother Bill made a follow-up trip earlier this year and we are working with the people in China to bring a Chinese team to the Cal Ripken World Series.

I want to make sure that we are back in Nicaragua and working with Dennis to help more kids follow and develop their passion for baseball. I believe it is a relatively untapped resource of talent at all levels.

Thanks to all of you for reading my daily blog. I am new to this blogging world, so I hope that you liked what I wrote. My kids thought it was pretty cool that I am a blogger.

See you around the ballpark…how long until spring training?
Cal

Today (Monday) was our last full day in Nicaragua, as we fly out of the country (this) morning. We were scheduled to have a big day in the city of Leon. Unfortunately, the mayor’s office and the Embassy decided that due to the unrest because of the recent elections, it would be best to cancel.

I feel bad for the kids who we would have been working with, but the change was unavoidable. But like I told Dennis, this will not be our last trip to Nicaragua and hopefully we can meet the kids from Leon during our next visit.

The positive that came from this was that we had a chance to be real tourists and have a fun and relaxing day. We started by taking a boat tour around some of the small islands that were formed by volcanoes.

Many of them now have beautiful private homes sitting on them. The most fun of the trip was the stop at “monkey island”. It is a very small patch of land in the lake where several monkeys live. They have become very comfortable with people. One even jumped into the boat, and we fed him tootsie rolls and bread. The others stayed in the trees on the island, but we tossed treats to them as well. I am sure that Rachel and Ryan, my kids, will be jealous when I tell them about that.

After the boat trip we visited Granada, Dennis’ hometown, for lunch and did some shopping. I found some great pottery that I will have shipped home for Kelly. Nicaragua
is known for its pottery, and the pieces were made by a couple and their sons—they were unique and beautiful.

Like I said, I am disappointed in the clinics getting cancelled. However, we had a wonderful first trip, and we had the chance to impact many kids and lay down the groundwork for future visits, as well as a way for Dennis and I to work together moving forward.

Dennis loves his native country and would be very proud to bring baseball instruction to many young ballplayers here. It is clear that there is talent and a love of the game here.

Thanks again for reading my blog. I will send a last one tomorrow to wrap up our trip.
Cal

What an action-packed day in Managua!

We started with an 8 a.m. coaches clinic, and after lunch we conducted a 2 ½ hour youth clinic for kids in the Dennis Martinez League. Most of them were younger ballplayers—eight and nine years old—so getting them organized is always a little
more challenging.

We break them into four groups and rotate them through four stations: I run hitting, Dennis runs pitching, Tim Gebhart of Ripken Baseball runs infield and Matt Backert of Ripken Baseball runs outfield. We had about 120 kids, and some of them were excellent ballplayers. We had a lot of kids, and we needed a little extra help, so I recruited Ambassador Callahan to assist me with the hitting station. He loves baseball and did a great job with the kids. Thanks, Ambassador!

In case you weren’t aware, there has been a great focus on the recent Nicaraguan elections, and there is some controversy over the results. I get the impression from the media that they are enjoying a reprieve from politics by covering our activities.

The coverage has been outstanding; Dennis and I have been on the front page of the sports sections of the two largest papers, El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa, everyday
since our arrival!

Today the Washington Post ran a very favorable story and ESPN was with us all day. All of this coverage goes a long way in letting people know of our trip and helps a great deal in spreading the message of baseball.

After the youth clinic, we paid a short visit to Dennis Martinez Stadium. It is an older stadium and could use some revisions but it has a lot of character. I loved the unique light towers that slightly curved in over the field. We ended the day with a visit to American College, which is actually a high school with an outstanding baseball program. The ballplayers asked wonderful questions about everything from turning double play to pursuing a baseball career and their education. They even had a question about steroids.

Dennis and I really liked that interaction, and there was very substantive questions and discussion. Tonight, after we visit the Ambassador’s residence for a barbeque, we’ll heading to bed early (I am tired!). Tomorrow, we visit the city of Leon and then head home Tuesday morning.

Thanks as always…please check in again tomorrow.
Cal

There was no baseball on the schedule Saturday. We had a chance to see a little of the country and its beautiful beaches.

We started the day with a drive to Rivas, where Dennis Martinez has a lakefront resort named La Mar. It is a wonderful place on Cocivolca Lake. Looking out onto the lake there are two dormant volcanoes,(what) a beautiful view. Dennis and I talked about his plans to grow the resort and maybe add some ballfields to it.

While there we relaxed, ate fresh fruit and drank coconut milk straight out of fresh coconuts. After our time there, we visited the beachfront tourist town of San Juan del Sur. It had a large, beautiful beach and it is quickly being discovered by surfers around the world.

After lunch we drove to the active volcano called Masaya and did some shopping at the market nearby. Saturday night, we visited the U.S. Embassy for a gathering of U.S. citizens living in Managua and then had dinner at the home of one of Dennis’ friends.

It’ll be back to baseball today with a coaches clinic and baseball clinic at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Managua and a visit to American College in Managua, one of the sponsors of our visit.

Monday, we have a full day in the City of Leon and we return to the United States on Tuesday.

Thanks for checking in.
Cal

We spent Friday in the city of Granada. The day began with a coaches clinic for about 40 youth coaches from Granada. I taught the hitting and Dennis Martinez taught the pitching. It was interesting to learn that these coaches had very few resources when it came to teaching the game. They seemed very happy to hear our presentation and receive a copy of the Ripken Baseball coaching manual, translated in Spanish.

Next we hosted about 50 younger kids from the area in a fast and furious game of Ripken Quickball. I like to refer to this as organized chaos, although I don’t know how organized it is, but the kids (that includes me) had a blast! For those of you that don’t know, Quickball is a fun game played with spongy balls that keeps the kids engaged and moving.

After lunch we moved to the stadium for a more formal baseball clinic with kids in the Dennis Martinez League here in Granada. Dennis is truly like Elvis here…it is fun to watch. Baseball-wise, the biggest difference between Nicaragua and China, where we went last fall, is the passion for baseball and the skill of the players. The kids in Nicaragua all play the game and there are many talented kids here. In China, the game is very much in the early stages of its development.

Following the clinic we visited the Barrio La Esperanza. This is one of the poorest areas of Nicaragua and the kids are assisted by an incredibly dedicated group of people from Empowerment International. They help the kids with their school work and do all they can to get kids through school. Dennis and I visited with the people there and met the kids. Before we left, we donated a few Quickball sets to them so the kids can play ball with better equipment. I was very happy that our foundation, the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, was able to make a financial contribution that will keep 20 kids in school for the next year.

In addition, I want to send a big thank you to the Spanish classes at Fallston High School in Harford County, the county where I grew up. The teacher, Jean Buttitta, contacted our office after reading about the trip and offered to donate school supplies. Well, they gathered and sent a 200-pound bag! The supplies were greatly appreciated by the kids and teachers in the Barrio and will help so much. Thank you, Fallston!

Today is our rest and cultural day. It should be a fun day. We will be visiting Dennis' resort in Rivas and we will be attending a meet-and-greet for Americans working in Nicaragua. In addition, we will stop by the volcano called Masaya and do some shopping…good thing because I have to pick up some souvenirs for Kelly, Rachel and Ryan.

Thanks for reading…talk to you tomorrow.
Cal