BALTIMORE – The longest-tenured employee of Ripken Baseball, Inc., left the company recently to start a Baltimore-based sports marketing and event management business. All-Pro Image & Marketing, LLC (API Marketing) officially opened for business Feb. 1 with the mission of using sports, sports-related events and athletes to make a positive impact on people’s lives – from the schools and youth leagues to the professional level.

Scott Lowe, a former employee of Cal Ripken, Jr.’s original marketing firm, The Tufton Group, and more recently general manager of Ripken Baseball Camps and Clinics LLC, departed Ripken Baseball on good terms after 8-1/2 years to start API with an anonymous partner. The co-author of Coaching Youth Baseball the Ripken Way is continuing his relationship with Ripken Baseball, taking on the company as one of API’s first clients. Prior to joining the Ripken group in 1999, Lowe spent more than eight years working in NCAA Division I sports information departments (Princeton, Drexel and Loyola, MD) handling media relations, publications, marketing and promotions. He was the director of athletic communications at Loyola (MD) from 1997-98.

“My experience at Ripken Baseball prepared me to face the next challenge in my professional life,” Lowe, 38, said. “I spent a little more than half of my career there, so naturally it was important to me to maintain that connection. I am grateful to Cal and Bill Ripken for the opportunity they gave me to grow their youth baseball business as well as the other tremendous personal growth opportunities that were afforded me during my tenure at Ripken Baseball.”

API strives to use lessons that Lowe learned through his experiences working with the Ripkens and in sports public relations to assist current and former professional athletes in building and protecting their images. The hope is to accomplish this by making it easy for athletes to connect with the community and assisting them in developing an understanding of how a positive public image can increase their marketability. That positive public awareness generally leads to business development and branding opportunities that can ensure the athletes’ financial success on and off the field during and after their careers. The hoped-for end results include memorable sports-related experiences for children, more accessible athletes for kids to relate to and admire and an increased awareness among today’s professional athletes of how every on- and off-field action impacts the public’s perception – for better or worse.

“Many of my fondest memories in life are a result of my participation and professional involvement in sports,” Lowe said. “I have a strong desire to help create similar experiences for kids by reconnecting athletes with their local communities. On the flip side, I hope to be able to influence athletes and help them understand how personally and professionally rewarding it can be to impact their communities and develop a positive public image.”

API offers an array of client-based marketing services to professional athletes, professional teams, collegiate athletic programs and other sports-related organizations. These services include image building, image protection, brand building, business development and other personal services. More specifically, API handles integrated marketing, community relations, foundation creation and management, media coaching, public speaking engagements, endorsements and post-career planning, among other services.

In addition to its client-based offerings, API is developing its own series of branded events and is contracting to provide complete event planning and management services for outside organizations and individuals. API’s first branded event was the API/PerformFit Sports and Fitness Camp for boys and girls ages 7-14. The camp featured Baltimore Orioles all-star second baseman Brian Roberts and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason. It was held June 30 to July 3 at the Park School of Baltimore.

API’s second branded event, the API Baseball Fall Fantasy Classic, offers a fantasy baseball experience in a competitive environment and at an affordable price. The event, which features Matt Williams and other former major league players, is slated for Sept. 3-7 at the Peoria Sports Complex, the spring home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners, in Arizona.

To go along with its Ripken Baseball consulting deal, API represents Game 7 Sports (creator and distributor of Ripken Quickball) for event management and marketing and has been contracted by the BIG EAST and Big Ten conferences to manage and market the inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge, hosted by the Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, Feb. 20-22, 2009, in Florida.

API also represents former major league pitcher, Olympic gold medal winner and top overall draft pick Ben McDonald and is working with former big league player and hitting coach Jeff Manto, former big league pitcher Chris Hammond and USA Baseball on additional projects.

API is in talks with several other potential clients and organizations about additional opportunities. The company’s website should be online soon at www.All-ProMarketing.com, and other API information is available at www.APICamps.com and www.APIFantasyBaseball.com. The office phone number is 443.834-5084.