(born 1960), U.S. baseball player, born on Aug. 24, 1960, in Havre de Grace, Md. While many fans of professional sports were lamenting the greed and apathy that seemed to characterize most modern players, Cal Ripken, Jr., emerged as one of baseball's most heroic athletes. On Sept. 6, 1995, he played his 2,131st consecutive game, surpassing Lou Gehrig's record, which had stood for 56 years. Ripken, the polite, unassuming shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles was aware of the high standard for an all-American idol and met it with ease. That attitude was apparent from the beginning of his rookie season when, if the third-base coach of the Orioles said that the batting cage was littered with too many baseballs, Ripken was likely to be the first to start picking them up. Ripken's storybook life as a professional athlete proceeded from American League rookie of the year in 1982 to the league's most valuable player in 1983 (when the Orioles won the World Series), to his achievement as the successor of Lou Gehrig. Ripkin had been around baseball all his life, since his father, Calvin Edwin Ripken, Sr., was a minor league manager and later a coach for the Orioles. When Ripken, Jr., was a student at Aberdeen (Md.) High School, he took batting practice at the Orioles' stadium. When he peppered the outfield seats with baseballs, his father was impressed with the boy's strength and bat speed and suspected that his son had a chance for major league stardom. The baseball talent scouts concurred when, during his senior year of high school, Ripken batted .492 with 29 runs batted in (RBIs) in 20 games. As a pitcher, he achieved a 7–2 won-lost record, a 0.70 earned-run average, and 100 strikeouts in 60 innings. The Orioles drafted Ripken and sent him to their minor league system. After he made all-league teams in three consecutive minor-league seasons, they traded all-star third baseman Doug DeCinces to make room for Ripken in their 1982 lineup. The season started poorly, though. Ripken had only a .117 average through 18 games before a chance conversation with slugger Reggie Jackson turned his performance around. Jackson sympathized with Ripken, understanding how frustrating it was to hear well-meaning advice about snapping out of his slump. As Ripken recalled, Jackson told him, “ ‘Do what Cal Ripken can do, not what others think you can do.' My father had been telling me that all along, but it didn't register. When Reggie said it, it sort of jolted something in there and brought me back to Earth.” For the remainder of the season Ripken batted .281 to finish with an average of .264. He also hit 28 home runs and had 93 RBIs. During the year he moved to the shortstop position because the Orioles had a more pressing need there. Ripken played his entire career with the Orioles. His consecutive-game streak began on May 30, 1982, during his rookie year. He did not play every inning of every game during his streak (he was ejected during the first inning on two separate occasions). From June 5, 1982, to Sept. 14, 1987, however, he played 8,243 consecutive innings. His streak ended on Sept. 20, 1998, when he voluntarily took himself out of the lineup for the last home game of the 1998 season. He had played in 2,632 consecutive games. A few of Ripken's other accomplishments included winning the American League's most valuable player award, being elected many times to the American League all-star team, winning several Gold Glove awards, and holding the major league record for most home runs hit by a shortstop. |