When Ripken was introduced as an envoy, Karen Hughes, then-undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said of the program, "This sends an important signal to people that America is reaching out, and we want to engage with people across the world."
South Africa, a country of 48 million people, has not produced a major league baseball player. However, its team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 nearly pulled off a major upset before losing to Canada, 11-8, in its first game.
Ripken said he knows little about the country, and that's fine with him. He compares it with his pursuit of Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record. He said he didn't know a lot about the New York Yankees great until he neared the record and was flooded with Gehrig stories.
