Mark Gilbert

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For other people named Mark Gilbert, see Mark Gilbert (disambiguation).

Mark Gilbert
United States Ambassador to New Zealand
In office
February 9, 2015 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byDavid Huebner
Succeeded byScott Brown
Personal details
Born
Mark David Gilbert

(1956-08-22) August 22, 1956 (age 67)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationFlorida State University (BS)
Baseball career
Outfielder
Batted: Both
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 21, 1985, for the Chicago White Sox
Last MLB appearance
July 27, 1985, for the Chicago White Sox
MLB statistics
Batting average.273
Home runs0
Runs batted in3
Teams

Mark David Gilbert (born August 22, 1956) is an American former

United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa from 2015 to 2017.[1]

Gilbert played for the

investment banker
.

In 2013, United States President

U.S. Senate
confirmed Gilbert on December 12, 2014.

Early and personal life

Gilbert is

semi-pro baseball as a pitcher and was offered a pro baseball contract with the 1919 Philadelphia Athletics.[5]

He is married to Nancy Gilbert. She owns The Masorti Travel Bureau, which developed the itinerary of the first trip of

Boca Raton, Florida, and the Gilberts live in Boca Raton.[4][5]

High school and college

Gilbert starred in baseball, basketball (as a

Woodland Hills High School), and subsequently at Pine Crest High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[8] He was a High School All American in basketball and all-state in baseball.[6][9]

Gilbert earned a bachelor's degree in finance from

stolen bases.[11] He also played basketball for the Florida State Seminoles basketball team for one season.[12]

Professional baseball career

Gilbert was picked by the

Quad Cities Cubs.[15][16]

On October 12, 1979, Gilbert was traded by the Chicago Cubs to the

American Association, and in 1984 he played for the Wichita Aeros of the American Association, batting .280 and stealing 55 bases (3rd in the league) and tying for the league lead in walks (77).[15] He became a free agent due to his length of service in the minor leagues on October 11, 1984, and that December 25, he was signed by the Chicago White Sox.[13][5]

Gilbert was promoted to the major league team from the

line drive, injured his right knee, and was sent back to the minor leagues.[5] On October 15, he was granted free agency.[13] The following year, he left baseball and had knee surgery in February 1986.[17]

Gilbert told the Chicago Tribune's Jerome Holtzman that during his career he endured through seven and a half years of playing in baseball's minor leagues because of his ambition to be listed in the Baseball Encyclopedia.[18] In 1992, Gilbert reflected on his baseball career to Holtzman, saying, "I think everybody thought I would flip out after I was told I couldn't play anymore. I didn't. I had played 22 straight years of organized baseball, since I was 7. I had had enough. I would have continued playing if I hadn't hurt my knee. But I was looking forward to doing something else."[17] He added that his career was worth it: "Absolutely. Everywhere I played I had fun. The most impressive thing being with the White Sox was how congenial everybody was. Carlton Fisk. Harold Baines. Tom Seaver. They were all superstars. Yet they were extremely nice to me and tried to help me as much as they could. No question. It was worth it."

After Gilbert was nominated to be a U.S. Ambassador in 2013, his former major league manager, Tony La Russa, told the Associated Press: "Sure, I remember him. I was always taken with his intelligence and how he was committed to what we were trying to teach — to become a teammate, a competitor, and to pursue excellence as a professional. You do that and get a proper foundation and out of the bottom, out drops your fame and fortune. I think he's now raised his excellence to a new level."[19]

Finance career

West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1996, and remained with the firm as it became Barclays Wealth.[10][20][7]

Political fundraising

In 2004, Gilbert was a trustee on the national finance committee for the presidential campaign of

New York Times reported that Gilbert had raised $1.23 million for Obama in 2011 and 2012 and a total of $3.36 million since 2007.[22]

Ambassadorship

On October 30, 2013, Obama nominated Gilbert to be

United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.[21][23] The United States Senate confirmed Gilbert in a voice vote on December 12, 2014.[24]

The

United States State Department has no record of any other former major league baseball player serving as an ambassador.[19] While Dennis Martínez, Cal Ripken Jr., and Barry Larkin have served the State Department in roles such as diplomacy envoys, goodwill ambassadors, and baseball sports envoys, Gilbert is the first credentialed ambassador who is a veteran of major league baseball.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Revesz, Rachel (January 20, 2017). "Donald Trump has fired all foreign US ambassadors with nobody to replace them". The Independent. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  2. ^ "Mark Gilbert Statistics and History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  3. ^ "Ex-baseball player nominated as ambassador to NZ" stuff.co.nz, October 30, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Anthony Man (October 29, 2009). "Early South Florida Obama supporter hosts Biden fundraiser", Orlando Sentinel.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz (2001). The Big Book of Jewish Baseball
  6. ^ a b National Portrait – US Ambassador Mark Gilbert | Stuff.co.nz
  7. ^ a b c d "Appointments and Resignations – Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa: Who Is Mark Gilbert?" AllGov.
  8. ^ "From MLB to New Zealand, former Forest Hills resident now making name as ambassador," TribLIVE.
  9. ^ [Pine Crest High School (Fort Lauderdale, FL)]
  10. ^
    National Archives
    .
  11. ^ Mark Gilbert Baseball Statistics [1978–1985]
  12. ^ "Former White Sox OF Mark Gilbert set to be ambassador", USA Today.
  13. ^ a b c d "Mark Gilbert Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac"
  14. ^ a b Jerome Holtzman (July 25, 1985). "Grandpa Finally Gets His Wish". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d "Mark Gilbert Minor Leagues Statistics & History," Baseball-Reference.com.
  16. ^ "1979 Midwest League – Season Review"
  17. ^ a b c Holtzman, Jerome (December 23, 1992). "7-game Sox career delightful memory". Chicago Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  18. ^ Jerome Holtzman (December 4, 1996). "Here's The Book-on Everything From Aaron To Zwilling". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  19. ^ a b c "Former White Sox OF Mark Gilbert set to be ambassador". USA Today. October 30, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  20. ^ a b c "Early South Florida Obama supporter hosts Biden fundraiser". Sun Sentinel. October 29, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  21. ^ a b "Obama bundlers nominated for diplomatic posts; Boca's Mark Gilbert for ambassador to New Zealand | Florida Bulldog". Browardbulldog.org. October 31, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  22. ^ "Obama's Top Fund-Raisers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  23. National Archives
    .
  24. ^ "Former White Sox player becomes U.S. ambassador to New Zealand". Chicago Tribune. December 13, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mark Gilbert.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
United States Ambassador to New Zealand

2015–2017 		Succeeded by
United States Ambassador to Samoa

2015–2017
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