Major League Baseball veteran Cal Ripken, Jr. is set to travel to Nicaragua next week, this time playing for diplomacy, according to the U.S. State Department.

Ripken, who made his career as an all-star shortstop with the Baltimore Orioles from 1981 to 2001, was named American Public Diplomacy Envoy for the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Culture by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in August.

Joining Ripken will be fellow ex-Oriole Dennis Martínez, who is Nicaraguan, and two baseball instructors, all of whom will visit Managua, León and Granada from Nov. 13 to 18 to spread the “Ripken Baseball brand of instruction to over 500 Nicaraguan kids and over 100 youth coaches,” the State Department said in a press release.