Bronx, NY: In the month that we celebrate women’s history, the New York Mets officially named Jessica Mendoza their baseball operations advisor.
Mendoza, who is Mexican-American from Camarillo, CA, will take on her new role for the Mets as she continues to make calls from the booth as a member of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew alongside Alex Rodriguez and Matt Vasgersian.
“I am excited to work with Brodie and his team and am thrilled to be associated with the Mets and their storied history,” said Mendoza in a statement released by the Mets. “I’ve known Brodie and Jeff Wilpon for years now and I’m honored to be a small part of the organization. I would also like to thank ESPN and Disney for their understanding and confidence as I balance both tasks moving forward. Baseball is a passion of mine and I look forward to expanding on my love for the game.”
Mendoza has been a pioneer in the world of broadcast for women, as she is the first woman ever to call a game from the broadcast booth for both ESPN’s College World Series on June 16, 2015 and Major League Baseball for ESPN on August 24, 2015.
“Jessica is incredibly well respected throughout the industry and we are excited to bring her into the organization,” general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said in the Mets press release. “She is a world-class athlete and experienced television analyst with an extremely high baseball IQ. We are confident that she will help us in our efforts to win now and in the future. This hire demonstrates the continued support from ownership to invest in the intellectual capital of the New York Mets.”
Prior to taking on baseball, Mendoza was a softball star as an outfielder for Stanford University from 1999 to 2002. She currently holds various Stanford records: batting average (.416), home runs (50), hits (327), runs (230) and slugging (.719).
Besides an impeccable college career, Mendoza has appeared in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, as an outfielder for team U.S.A. and went onto win gold. She later competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China and went onto win silver with team U.S.A. Her softball career exceeds college and the Olympics and goes onto being a three-time World Champion, World Cup Champion and two-time Pan American Gold Medalist.
Mendoza has inspired many Latinas who are seeking to follow the road she has paved for countless women in the sports industry. As a wife and mother of two young boys, from taking on the softball diamond to the broadcast booth and the New York Mets front office, as well as for what’s to come in the future, Mendoza has made her Latino community proud.
