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I decided to add this section simply to honor some of the amazing players the game of baseball has had over time. And so maybe kids will learn a little about the proud history of the game they play every summer.
I wanted to start with Cal Ripken, Jr not because he was the greatest fielder in the game, nor the most prolific slugger, but because he embodied a work ethic, a love for his calling and a tenacity that I see missing so frequently in today’s world.
My hat’s off to Mr. Ripken, and I humbly thank him for the lessons, the effort, the entertainment and the memories.
Cal Ripken - The Iron Man
Calvin Edwin Ripken, Jr. (born August 24, 1960 in Havre de Grace, Maryland), commonly known as Cal or Cal Jr., is a Hall of Fame shortstop and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles from 1981 to 2001.
A 19-time MLB All-Star, Ripken is considered one of the best shortstops to ever play the game. At 6′ 4″ (1.93 m), he pioneered the way for the taller and larger shortstops. He was raised in Aberdeen, Maryland, by a baseball family.
His father, Cal Sr., was a long-time coach in baseball who managed the Orioles in the late 1980s. Ripken attended Aberdeen High School as did his brother Billy, who later played second base for various teams, including the Orioles.
He has two other siblings, Elly and Fred. He is married to the former Kelly Geer and has a daughter, Rachel, born in 1989 and a son, Ryan, born in 1993.
Ripken earned the nickname “Iron Man”, doggedly remaining in the lineup, despite numerous minor injuries. He played in a record 2,632 straight games spanning sixteen seasons, from May 30, 1982, to September 20, 1998.
He played his 2,131st consecutive game on September 6, 1995, against the California Angels, breaking the 56-year-old record set by the “Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig, the legendary New York Yankees first baseman.
Ripken hit a home run in game 2,130 and game 2,131, moving fans to the point that his 2,131st consecutive game was named Major League Baseball’s “Most Memorable Moment” in MLB history. Ripken was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility on January 9, 2007.
1981
Ripken, as a member of the Rochester Red Wings (the Orioles Triple-A farm club at the time), played in the longest professional baseball game. Ripken started at third base and played all 33 innings against the Pawtucket Red Sox in a game that took parts of three days to complete. He made his big-league debut in a strike year.
His consecutive game streak record-breaker, 14 years later, would be seen by many as a bright spot following the devastating 1994 strike. For example, the writeup in the 1996 Sporting News Baseball Guide, which called it “what almost everyone considered the high point of the major league season.” Ripken would eventually win the shortstop job from veteran Mark Belanger, an eight-time Gold Glover.
1987
1987 was a family affair year for Ripken as his dad, Cal Ripken, Sr., who was a former player, coach, and scout for the Orioles became manager of the club. That year, he became the first manager to write two of his sons into the lineup card when both Ripken Jr and his brother and fellow Oriole Billy Ripken played in the same game.
Ripken Sr also ended Ripken Jr’s 8,243 consecutive innings streak on September 22, 1987 as he felt it was a distraction to the struggling Orioles (the consecutive games streak continued of course). However, after going 67-95 in 1987 and beginning the 1988 season 0-6, Ripken Sr was fired by the Orioles.
Ripken won his second AL MVP award, the Gold Glove Award, 1991 All Star game MVP award (going 2 for 3 including a 3-run home run off Dennis MartÃnez), the Gatorade Home Run Derby contest (hitting a then record 12 home runs in 22 swings, including 7 consecutive homers to start the contest), Louisville Slugger “Silver Slugger Award”, AP Player of the Year Award, and The Sporting News Player of the Year Award. The only other player in MLB history to win all those awards in the same season, excluding the Home Run Derby, was Maury Wills in 1962.
Ripken also became the first player ever to win the Home Run Derby and be named All Star Game MVP in the same year. The only other player that has accomplished this feat is Garret Anderson of the Anaheim Angels in 2003. He was the first AL MVP in MLB history to win the award while playing with a sub .500 club. The Orioles finished in 6th place that year with a 67-95 record.
At the end of the 1991 season, Memorial Stadium, the Orioles’ home since 1954, saw its last MLB game against the Detroit Tigers. Ripken was the last Oriole to bat at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, hitting into a double play against Detroit’s Frank Tanana on Oct. 6, 1991.
1993
Ripken achieved a personal milestone on July 10, 1993, when he collected his 2,000th career hit, during a game at Oriole Park against the Chicago White Sox.
This came on the Saturday of “All-Star Weekend”, just prior to the All-Star Game played at Camden Yards on July 13.
1995
On September 6, 1995, many baseball fans within and out of the United States tuned in to cable TV network ESPN to watch Ripken surpass Lou Gehrig’s 56-year-old record for consecutive games played (2,130 games). The game, between the Orioles and the California Angels, still ranks as one of the network’s most watched baseball games. Cal’s children, Rachel and Ryan, threw out the ceremonial first balls.
Both President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore were at the game. President Clinton was in the WBAL local radio broadcast booth when Ripken hit a home run[13] in the fourth inning, and called the home run over the air. When the game became official after the Angels’ half of the fifth inning, the numerical banners that displayed Ripken’s streak on the wall of the B&O Warehouse outside the stadium’s right field wall changed from 2130 to 2131.
Everyone attending (including the opposing Angels and all four umpires) erupted with a standing ovation lasting more than 22 minutes, one of the longest standing ovations for any athlete; ESPN did not go to a commercial break during the entire ovation. During the ovation, Cal also did a lap around the entire Camden Yards warning track to shake hands and give high-fives to the fans.
The humble superstar had to be convinced by his teammates (who in fact playfully shoved him out of the dugout) to take a victory lap around the stadium, shaking hands and creating a highlight reel moment that’s been replayed repeatedly in the ensuing years.
“It was very spontaneous. I was feeling a sense of anxiety that it was unfair to stop the game in the middle of the game. You felt for the pitchers — it’s almost like a rain delay. I just kept saying to myself, ‘okay, let’s get the game started. Thank you very much. I’ll celebrate it as much as you want after it’s over, but let’s stay with the game.
“Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro pushed me out of the dugout and said, ‘Hey, if you don’t do a lap around this thing, we’ll never get the game started.’ I thought it was a ridiculous sort of thing, …but as I started to do it, the celebration of 50,000 started to be very one-on-one and very personal. I started seeing people I knew. …Those were the people that had been around the ballpark all those years, and it was really a wonderful human experience.”
1996
On June 14 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City against the Royals, Ripken broke the world record of consecutive games played of 2,216. The record had been held by Sachio Kinugasa of Japan. Kinugasa was at the game to watch Ripken break his record.
On July 15th, Cal Ripken was moved to third base as an experiment. In the first inning, he dove for a grounder down the line and threw from his knees to get the runner out at first. This was the first time someone other than Cal had started a game at shortstop for the Orioles since 1982.
2001
In June 2001, Ripken announced he would retire at the end of the season. He was voted the starting third baseman in the All-Star game at Safeco Field on July 10, 2001, in Seattle. In a tribute to Ripken’s achievements and stature in the game, shortstop Alex Rodriguez (unknowingly foreshadowing his own future) insisted on exchanging positions with third baseman Ripken for the first inning, so that Ripken could play shortstop as he had for most of his career.
In the third inning, Ripken made his first plate appearance and was greeted with a standing ovation. Ripken then homered off the first pitch from Chan Ho Park. Ripken ended up with All Star MVP honors. He is the only AL player in MLB history with multiple All Star Game MVP Awards (1991 and 2001).
The Orioles planned to retire Ripken’s #8 in a ceremony before the final home game of the 2001 season, on September 23. Ripken’s final game was originally set to be played at Yankee Stadium; however, the September 11, 2001 attacks led to the postponement of a week’s worth of games. The games missed were added on to the end of the season’s schedule.
Since all the games the Orioles missed were at home, this changed the location of Ripken’s final game to Oriole Park, much to the delight of Orioles fans. Cal Ripken ended his career in the on deck circle in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Long-time teammate Brady Anderson, also playing in his last game for the Orioles, swung and missed a fastball high and tight on a 3-2 count to end the game. After the game, Ripken gave a speech thanking the fans for their support over 20 seasons.
In his final season, Ripken had the lowest zone rating of all major league third basemen (.734).
Post-playing life
Cal Ripken retired on October 6, 2001. He is a part owner of the New York-Penn League’s Aberdeen IronBirds, the Short-season Class A affiliate Minor League Baseball team within the Orioles’ system. The team plays at Ripken Stadium in Cal’s hometown of Aberdeen, Maryland.
On August 13, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that Ripken has been named Special Sports Envoy for the US State Department and that he will be going to China in October. “And we’re just delighted that somebody of Cal Ripken’s stature is going to be someone who will go out and represent America so well and represent what we consider to be American values, but also universal values; that hard work and stick-to-it-ness and the willingness to really put it all on the line every day is something that kids need to learn,” said Rice.
In October 2007, Ripken began working as a studio analyst for TBS Sports during the 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs.
On February 28, 2008, Ripken announced his venture into the massively multiplayer online sports game market with “Cal Ripken’s Real Baseball”.
On March 30, 2008, I-395 Eastern’s Branch in Baltimore, from I-95 to Conway Street, was to dedicated to Cal Ripken, Jr. This stretch of I-395 is now called Cal Ripken Way. On May 31, 2008, Ripken received an honorary doctorate from the University of Delaware, for “Doctor of Humanities,” and also served as the university’s commencement speaker.
Records and Awards
# 1982: American League Rookie of the Year
# 1983: American League Most Valuable Player
# 1983: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1984: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1985: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1986: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1989: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1991: American League Most Valuable Player
# 1991: MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
# 1991: American League Gold Glove Award (SS)
# 1991: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1992: Roberto Clemente Award
# 1992: Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
# 1992: American League Gold Glove Award (SS)
# 1993: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1994: American League Silver Slugger Award (SS)
# 1995: Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Sportsman of the Year”
# 1999: Ranked Number 78 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players
# 1999: Elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
# 2001: MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
# 2001: Ranked third greatest shortstop all-time in the The New Bill James Historical Abstract.
# 2001: Uniform number (8) retired by the Baltimore Orioles
# 2007: Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by 98.53 percent of voters. The highest percentage of votes ever for a position player, as well as third highest overall.
# 2007: Inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29th with the San Diego Padres’ great Tony Gwynn in front of a record crowd of 75,000 people
# Most consecutive games played at 2,632
# Most grounded into double plays at 350
# Most home runs by a shortstop at 345
# Most double plays by a shortstop, American League, at 1,682
# All-time leader in MLB All-Star fan balloting (36,123,483)
# Most MLB All-Star Game appearances at shortstop (15) - 1983-1996, 2001
# Most consecutive MLB All-Star Game starts (17)
Sources:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.baseballalmanac.com/
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