FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

MATT SHOEMAKER JOINS TAYLOR HOOTON FOUNDATION’S ADVISORY BOARD OF MAJOR-LEAGUE PLAYERS

Angels Pitcher Joins 36 Others in Helping to Educate Young People About the Dangers of Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs

  McKinney, Texas (Wednesday, April 19, 2017) – The Taylor Hooton Foundation announced today that Matt Shoemaker of the Los Angeles Angels has joined its “Advisory Board” of active players from throughout Major League Baseball. The Taylor Hooton Foundation is widely acknowledged as the leader in the advocacy against appearance and performance enhancing drug use by the youth of America. The Angels right-hander joins 36 other members of the Hooton Foundation’s “Advisory Board,” which now includes at least one player from 28 of the 30 major-league teams. The two remaining teams are working to secure new members, replacing those who were traded or became free agents in the off-season so that every MLB team will again be represented. Shoemaker replaces C. J. Wilson, who was a charter member of the “Advisory Board,” as the Angels’ representative. “It is so important that our young people have positive role models to look up to, especially when it comes to the topic of competing in sports and in life by doing things the right way,” said Taylor Hooton Foundation Founder and Executive Chair Don Hooton. “These major league athletes reached the pinnacle of their sport and, combined with our education campaign, are the most effective weapons we have in this national struggle. We are honored to have such a terrific group of major league players working with us.” As members of the “Advisory Board” – formed in 2014 and fully endorsed by Major League Baseball – the players will participate in the THF’s 2017 public-service campaign, All Me. For the campaign, a print and video PSA featuring each of the Foundation’s “Advisory Board” members will be created – with images provided by THF national partner, Getty Images – and will be made available to each player’s respective team for its program/magazine and video boards for the ‘17 season. In addition, All-Me-themed print PSAs will run in Major League Baseball’s All-Star-Game, League-Championship-Series and World-Series programs. In addition to their participation in the public-service-ad campaigns since 2015, members of the “Advisory Board” also take part in the THF’s educational activities in their local communities. Board members have also provided their input on the most-effective ways to educate North America’s young people about the dangers of anabolic steroids and other appearance and performance enhancing drugs. To date, the Taylor Hooton Foundation has spoken to and educated more than one-million people. It has a Latin American outreach and travels throughout the Caribbean, speaking to thousands of RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) athletes, coaches and parents in partnership with Major League Baseball. Additionally, the THF introduced a new eLearning program in 2014 – narrated by Bob Costas – to Little League Baseball that is offered to its one-million adult coaches and other volunteers. Members of the Taylor Hooton Foundation’s “Advisory Board” – to date – include: Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers) Jake Arrieta (Chicago Cubs) Jose Bautista (Toronto Blue Jays) Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies) Michael Blazek (Milwaukee Brewers) Jay Bruce (New York Mets) Matt Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals) Brian Dozier (Minnesota Twins) Matt Duffy (Tampa Bay Rays) Adam Duvall (Cincinnati Reds) Logan Forsythe (Los Angeles Dodgers) Brett Gardner (New York Yankees) Dillon Gee (Texas Rangers) Ken Giles (Houston Astros) Alex Gordon (Kansas City Royals) J.J. Hardy (Baltimore Orioles) Derek Holland (Chicago White Sox) Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers) Dallas Keuchel (Houston Astros) Jason Kipnis (Cleveland Indians) Nick Markakis (Atlanta Braves) James McCann (Detroit Tigers) Mark Melancon (San Francisco Giants) Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies) Joe Panik (San Francisco Giants) Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox) Josh Reddick (Houston Astros) Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals) Clayton Richard (San Diego Padres) Tyson Ross (Texas Rangers) Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox) Marcus Semien (Oakland Athletics) Matt Shoemaker (Los Angeles Angels) Neil Walker (New York Mets) Christian Yelich (Miami Marlins) Brad Ziegler (Miami Marlins) Mike Zunino (Seattle Mariners)    About The Taylor Hooton Foundation: The Taylor Hooton Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating North America’s young people about the dangers of anabolic steroids and other appearance and performance enhancing drugs.   The friends and family of Taylor Hooton formed the Foundation in 2004 after his untimely death at 17 years old following his use of anabolic steroids. For more information about the Taylor Hooton Foundation and its efforts, please visit www.taylorhooton.org and www.allmeleague.com.