Jessica Mendoza, born November 11, 1980 is an American former collegiate 4-time First Team All-American softball player. Mendoza was a four-time first team All-American while playing outfield as Standford University. She led the cardinals to their first ever Women’s College World Series Appearance and finished her college career with school records that are still held today. Mendoza graduated Stanford with a Bachelors of Arts degree in American Studies in 2002 and Masters in Social Sciences in Education in 2003.
Mendoza is a two-time Olympian and was a member of the U.S. Women’s National team from 2001-2010. Her team took home the Gold Medal in Athens, Greece in 2004 and the Silver Medal in Beijing, China in 2008. She is both a three-time World Champion (2002, 2006, 2010) and World Cup Champion (2006, 2007, 2010), in addition to being a two-time Pan American Gold Medalist (2003, 2007). In 2006, she was named the USA Softball Athlete of the Year and was also recognized in 2008 as the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year.
Mendoza was officially named to the Sunday Night Baseball team as an analyst on January 13, 2016 for ESPN. The announcement for Mendoza came after a historic year for her as she became the first female analyst for a nationally televised MLB Postseason game on October 6, 2015: AL Wild Card Game on ESPN. A few months prior to the historic start to her ESPN career she became the first female ESPN MLB game analyst during the August 24th, 2015 edition of Monday Night Baseball. She appeared on several Sunday Night Baseball telecasts during the stretch run of the season. In addition, her groundbreaking 2015 included being the first female analyst for the Men’s College World Series telecasts.
One of the most notable softball players in the last decade, Mendoza’s on-field experience has seamlessly translated to television. She joined ESPN in 2007 and in addition to her MLB contributions; she has served as an analyst and a reporter for the Men’s College World Series, the NCAA Women’s College World Series, and is also a sideline reporter for college football. She has also contributed content to espnW.
Prior to her work with ESPN, Mendoza was a field reporter for Yahoo! Sports at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and also served as the lead college softball analyst on FOX Sports.
Mendoza has a bright future ahead of her as she embarks in her new role at ESPN, and she continues to inspire men, women and children throughout the world. Mendoza resides in California with her husband, Adam Burks and their two sons, Caleb and Cayden.
