48 Fun Facts About Cal Ripken Jr.

Besides baseball, which sport did Ripken play for his high-school team?

Soccer was his other sport, and colleges came calling. He and his father decided he should turn professional at 17 instead, reasoning that he could always start college in his mid-twenties if baseball failed.

What is Ripken's famous nickname?

The Iron Man earned the name the hard way. He played on after badly spraining an ankle in 1985 and after twisting a knee in an on-field brawl in 1993, when even he doubted he could take the field next day.

Which award for a player's work in his community did Ripken receive in 1992?

The Roberto Clemente Award recognises what a player gives back, and his giving did not stop with his career. In 2001 he and his brother set up a foundation in their father's name to bring baseball to disadvantaged children.

Whose 56-year-old record did Ripken break in 1995?

Lou Gehrig's old teammate Joe DiMaggio, then 80, came to the game and said Gehrig would have tipped his cap. The Orioles sold special seats that night to fund research into the disease that killed him.

Which brother of Ripken's also played for the Orioles?

Billy Ripken joined the Orioles as a second baseman in 1987, the year their father took over as manager. Cal Sr. thus became the first man to manage two of his sons at once in the major leagues.

What did Ripken do in both the game that tied the consecutive-games record and the one that broke it?

Hit a home run: one in the sixth inning on the night he tied the old mark, another in the fourth the next evening, in game 2,131. The second came with the President of the United States in the broadcast booth.

Ripken's 1995 record helped baseball recover from which crisis?

A players' strike had wiped out the 1994 World Series and left many fans swearing off the game. His lap of the ballpark on the record night, shaking hands with the crowd, became the picture of its recovery.

Which driver won the NASCAR race renamed in Ripken's honour in September 2001?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Dover in the number 8 car and led the most laps. Thirteen days later the Orioles retired Ripken's own number 8 at his final home game.

Where did giant numbers change from 2130 to 2131 on the night Ripken broke the record?

The warehouse wall beyond right field displayed his streak in huge numbers. They changed to 2131 in the fifth inning, when the game became official, and the crowd stood and cheered for more than 22 minutes.

In 2024 Ripken became a part-owner of the Orioles in a group led by which billionaire?

David Rubenstein, a private-equity billionaire born in Baltimore, bought control from the Angelos family for a reported $1.725 billion. For Ripken, 63, it was an official return to the organisation he had played for all his career.

How did Ripken's streak finally end in 1998?

His own choice: less than half an hour before the last home game of the season he walked into his manager's office and asked for the night off.

Who beat Ripken to the 1990 Gold Glove?

Ozzie Guillén of the White Sox made 17 errors to Ripken's three, then a record low for a shortstop, and took the award anyway. Ripken finally won Gold Gloves in each of the next two seasons.

In which city did Ripken win both the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game MVP award in 1991?

Toronto staged only the second All-Star Game ever played outside the United States. Ripken won the home run contest there, then hit a three-run homer the next day that decided the game itself.

Which US president attended Ripken's record-breaking game?

Bill Clinton brought Vice President Al Gore with him and spent half an inning in the broadcast booth as a guest commentator, describing the play to a national television audience.

Which network carried Ripken's record-breaking game live?

ESPN stayed with the scene for the whole ovation, more than 22 minutes, without once cutting away to a commercial.

Ripken's only World Series title came in 1983 against which team?

The Philadelphia Phillies, an ageing team full of stars, went down in five games. Ripken hit only .167 in the series, yet he was the one who finished it, catching Garry Maddox's line drive for the final out.

Which award did Ripken win in 1982?

Rookie of the Year honours went to him after 28 home runs, as the Orioles chased Milwaukee to the season's final day. A game he sat out that May turned out to be the last one he would miss for 16 years.

Which Orioles manager moved Ripken from third base to shortstop in 1982?

Earl Weaver reasoned that a third baseman who can hit is easy to find and a shortstop who can is not. Once moved, Ripken did not come out of a game there for a single inning in the next five years.

Which Orioles third baseman, a mentor to the young Ripken, was traded in 1982 to open a place for him?

Doug DeCinces had been giving him tips since he was a boy hanging around his father's minor-league teams. The Orioles traded the mentor to California, and the pupil homered in his first at-bat of the new season.

Ripken grew up in, and later bought a team for, which Maryland town?

Aberdeen got its own minor-league club in 2002, when he bought a team in upstate New York and moved it home as the IronBirds. They played at Ripken Stadium, where his son Ryan later wore the uniform.

Whose record for home runs as a shortstop did Ripken break?

Ernie Banks set the mark before the Cubs moved him from shortstop to first base in mid-career. Ripken passed it and reached 345 home runs at the position before he, too, changed positions.

Which unwanted career record did Ripken hold until Albert Pujols passed him in 2017?

Most double plays grounded into: he took the record from Hank Aaron in 1999 and ended with 350. He hit the ball hard and was never quick, so his ground balls reached infielders with time to turn two.

Who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Ripken's record-breaking game in 1995?

His two children did the honours: Rachel, who was five, and Ryan, who was two. Ryan grew up to be drafted by the Orioles himself, and later played for the minor-league club his father owned.

Why did many doubt Ripken's 1982 move to shortstop?

He was thought too big: at 6 ft 4 in he towered over the small, quick men who normally played there. He covered the ground by positioning instead, and a generation of tall, power-hitting shortstops followed him.

Which shortstop swapped positions with Ripken at the 2001 All-Star Game?

Alex Rodriguez, voted in at shortstop, insisted that the 40-year-old third baseman take his old position for the first inning. Ripken then homered in the third inning and was named the game's MVP.

Ripken was the last Oriole to bat at which ballpark in 1991?

Memorial Stadium, the Orioles' home since 1954, closed with a loss to Detroit in which he made the last out. Home plate was then dug up and driven across town by limousine to the new ballpark.

Who was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Ripken in 2007?

Tony Gwynn had retired in the same autumn as Ripken, 2001, after 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres. So the two one-club men came up for election together, and each got in at the first attempt.

Why was Ripken's final game moved from New York to Baltimore?

The 9/11 postponements cost baseball a week, and the games the Orioles lost at home were added to the end of the schedule. A career due to finish in New York ended in front of his own fans instead.

Ripken was chosen as starting shortstop on which honorary MLB lineup?

The All-Century Team was picked by more than two million fans in 1999, and Ripken drew the most votes of any shortstop. A panel then had to add Honus Wagner, whom the voters had left only fourth.

Which visiting team joined the standing ovation when Ripken's streak ended in 1998?

The New York Yankees climbed out of their dugout after the game's first out to join the crowd's standing ovation for the man who was not playing.

Ripken got his 3,000th hit in 2000 against which team?

The Minnesota Twins were the opponents, in the same dome where he had played his 2,000th consecutive game six years earlier. Hit number 3,000 was a single, and it was his third hit of the night.

Ripken missed a unanimous Hall of Fame election by eight votes; who in 2019 became the first player to achieve one?

Mariano Rivera, a closer with a record 652 saves, was named on all 425 ballots in 2019, something no everyday star had managed. Ken Griffey Jr. had come nearest, missing by three votes in 2016 to Ripken's eight in 2007.

What was the title of Ripken's 1997 autobiography?

The Only Way I Know was written with Mike Bryan. He later turned even the Orioles' 21 straight defeats at the start of 1988 into a children's book, The Longest Season.

Ripken was named Special Sports Envoy in 2007 and first sent to which country?

China had already hosted America's first such envoy, the figure skater Michelle Kwan. Ripken spent a week and a half there teaching children to play baseball, and the trip became a documentary, A Shortstop in China.

Which longtime teammate made the final out of Ripken's last game while he waited in the on-deck circle?

Brady Anderson, in his own last game as an Oriole, struck out on a full count while the crowd chanted 'We want Cal'. So a career of 3,001 games ended one batter short of a final turn at the plate.

In what role did Ripken make his major-league debut for the Orioles in August 1981?

As a pinch runner: he went in for Ken Singleton in the 12th inning against Kansas City and scored the winning run. His first major-league hit did not come until six days later.

Whose world record for consecutive games did Ripken pass in 1996?

Sachio Kinugasa of the Hiroshima Carp had played 2,215 games in a row between 1970 and 1987. He came to Kansas City to watch his record fall, and said he saw in Ripken the same joy in the game.

What happened to Ripken's hitting in 1992 as contract talks dragged through the season?

It slumped to career lows of 14 home runs and 72 runs batted in, a year after his best season. He admitted the negotiations had distracted him; he signed in August, too late to save his numbers.

Who replaced Cal Ripken Sr. as Orioles manager after the 0–6 start in 1988?

Frank Robinson, a Hall of Fame outfielder for the club, could not stop the slide. The Orioles lost their next 15 games as well, and their 21 straight defeats set the record for the worst start to a season.

Which future Hall of Famer played for Pawtucket in Ripken's 33-inning 1981 game?

Wade Boggs, Pawtucket's third baseman, tied the game with a double in the bottom of the 21st inning, which only kept everyone out there for twelve more. Ripken played all 33 innings at third base for the visitors.

In which Maryland town was Ripken born?

Havre de Grace was his birthplace in August 1960, but the family rarely stayed put. His father managed Orioles farm clubs, and each summer the children followed him to another minor-league town.

For which Triple-A team did Ripken play the longest game in pro history?

The Rochester Red Wings were still level at 2–2 when the umpires stopped play after four in the morning. The game resumed two months later, and they lost it 3–2 in the 33rd inning.

Ripken's three-run homer in the 1991 All-Star Game came off which former Orioles teammate?

Dennis Martínez had pitched for Baltimore during Ripken's first years in the majors before moving to Montreal. The shot turned the game: the American League won 4–2 and his old friend took the loss.

Which rookie started at third base when Ripken finally sat out in 1998?

Ryan Minor had been a college basketball star, drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers two years earlier. His name went onto the lineup card beside the crossed-out RIPKEN, and his own big-league career ended with a .177 average.

Which future World Series manager replaced Ripken at shortstop when his record innings streak ended in 1987?

Ron Washington took his place late in a lopsided defeat, after more than 8,000 innings without a break. The Orioles manager who made the change was Ripken's own father.

Which Orioles great, coaching first base, was first to congratulate Ripken on his 3,000th hit?

Eddie Murray, himself a member of the 3,000-hit club, was standing a few feet from the bag as first-base coach. Ripken had long credited his old teammate with showing him how to play the game day in and day out.

Ripken was MVP on a losing team in 1991; which 1987 winner was the first from a last-place club?

Andre Dawson had handed the Chicago Cubs a signed blank contract and let them name his salary, then hit 49 homers for a team that finished last. Ripken's 1991 Orioles went 67–95 around his best season.

Which teammates pushed Ripken out of the dugout for his 1995 victory lap?

Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro told him the game would never restart unless he took a lap. He thought the idea ridiculous, he said later, until he began to see faces he knew and it turned very personal.