The Taylor Hooton Foundation announced today that JC Ramirez 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 the use of Appearance and Performance Enhancing Substances by the youth of America.

With the addition of the Angels right-hander—who replaces Matt Shoemaker as the team’s representative—the “Advisory Board” includes at least one player from each of the 30 major-league teams for the fourth straight season.

“We are truly honored to have JC Ramirez join an incredible group of major-league players who have stepped up to serve as positive role models,” said Taylor Hooton Foundation President Donald Hooton, Jr. “We’re also very proud of the support that Major League Baseball and these elite athletes provide in sending a positive message to kids that they, too, can accomplish all of their dreams without the use of drugs. Millions of middle- and high- school kids are using appearance and performance-enhancing substances to look their best and achieve their physical goals. The participation of these players in our efforts to educate young people that using these substances is not the right choice cannot be overstated.”

As members of the “Advisory Board” – formed in 2014 and fully endorsed by Major League Baseball – the players are participating in the THF’s 2019 public-service campaign, ALL ME. For the campaign, a print PSA featuring each of the Foundation’s “Advisory Board” members has been 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 other team platforms for the ‘19 season. In addition, ALL-ME-themed print PSAs will appear in Major League Baseball’s 2019 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 nearly two-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.

2019 Members of the Foundation’s “Advisory Board” – to date – include:

Jake Arrieta (Philadelphia Phillies)

Elvis Andrus (Texas Rangers)

Jose Berrios (Minnesota Twins)

Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies)

Matthew Boyd (Detroit Tigers)

Jay Bruce (Seattle Mariners)

Matt Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals)

Matt Duffy (Tampa Bay Rays)

Eduardo Escobar (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Brett Gardner (New York Yankees)

Ken Giles (Toronto Blue Jays)

Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox)

Alex Gordon (Kansas City Royals)

Kyle Hendricks (Chicago Cubs)

Derek Holland (San Francisco Giants)

Jared Hughes (Cincinnati Reds)

Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Jason Kipnis (Cleveland Indians)

Trey Mancini (Baltimore Orioles)

Nick Markakis (Atlanta Braves)

James McCann (Chicago White Sox)

Mark Melancon (San Francisco Giants)

Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies)

Chris Owings (Kansas City Royals)

Joe Panik (San Francisco Giants)

Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox)

JC Ramirez (Los Angeles Angels)

Josh Reddick (Houston Astros)

Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals)

Franmil Reyes (San Diego Padres)

Clayton Richard (Toronto Blue Jays)

Amed Rosario (New York Mets)

Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox)

Marcus Semien (Oakland Athletics)

Matt Shoemaker (Toronto Blue Jays)

Jameson Taillon (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Neil Walker (Miami Marlins)

Tony Watson (San Francisco Giants)

Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers)

Mike Zunino (Tampa Bay Rays)