Curtis Granderson will tour New Zealand from January 20 - 28. He will make appearances and host clinics for young ballplayers of all ages and abilities. In addition, Granderson will attend part of the BCO Under-16 tournament, which determines which nation will represent the Oceania region at the Under-16 International Baseball Federation World Championships. New Zealand's first game on January 25th will be the opening game of the tournament and will be televised on SKY Sports across the nation.
Granderson first served as an MLB International Ambassador when he traveled to England, the Netherlands and Italy in 2006. In 2007, he made a trip to South Africa and followed in 2008 with a trip to Beijing and Shanghai, China.
>>4 "It is always an honor to be able to represent Major League Baseball while working to not only teach others the game of baseball, but to also help this great sport grow on a global scale," said Granderson. "Baseball New Zealand has a strong foundation in place and has access to some of the greatest athletes in the world. I am looking forward to working with them and assisting in any way possible to make baseball a strong national sport."
Granderson continued, "It is also exciting to see so many other young MLB stars given the opportunity to share their passion and knowledge of the sport with other nations as I have done in past years. These trips are important for the future of MLB."