50 free Cal Ripken Jr. trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Cal Ripken Jr. played 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, a streak that began in 1982 and did not end until he chose to sit out a game in 1998. Along the way he won two MVP awards, a World Series, a Rookie of the Year, two Gold Gloves and the record for home runs by a shortstop, and he redefined what a shortstop could look like at 6 ft 4 in. This quiz covers the streak in detail: the night in September 1995 when the banner on the warehouse flipped from 2130 to 2131, the 22-minute ovation, the world record he took from Sachio Kinugasa a year later, and the rookie who finally took his place in the lineup. It also covers the family (a father who managed him and a brother who played beside him), the 1983 championship, the 1991 season when he won everything in sight, the 3,000th hit and the near-unanimous Hall of Fame vote. Fifty questions, four options each, with a short explanation after every answer. Orioles fans should clear the easy tier; the expert tier goes to the minor leagues and the 33-inning game.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Ripken played his entire 21-season career for which team?
Baltimore Orioles
He grew up in the organisation, where his father was a player and coach, and later bought a minority stake in the club.
Q 02What is Ripken's famous nickname?
The Iron Man
The Iron Horse was Lou Gehrig, the man whose record he broke.
Q 03Ripken holds the MLB record for what?
Consecutive games played
He also holds the unofficial record for consecutive innings, 8,243, until his father pulled him from a blowout in 1987.
Q 04Whose 56-year-old record did Ripken break in 1995?
Lou Gehrig
DiMaggio, Gehrig's old teammate, spoke at the ceremony after the record-breaking game.
Q 05Which brother of Ripken's also played for the Orioles?
Billy
They are one of only four brother pairs in MLB history to play second base and shortstop for the same club.
Q 06Which consecutive game number set the new record in September 1995?
2,131
When the game became official in the fifth inning, the banner on the warehouse beyond right field flipped from 2130 to 2131.
Q 07In which year did Ripken break the consecutive-games record?
1995
It came a year after a strike had cancelled the World Series, and fans later voted it baseball's most memorable moment.
Q 08What uniform number did the Orioles retire for Ripken?
8
Dale Earnhardt Jr., also driving number 8, won the NASCAR race renamed in Ripken's honour that same month.
Q 09In which year was Ripken elected to the Hall of Fame?
2007
A record 75,000 people attended the induction, where he went in alongside Tony Gwynn.
Q 10Who was the Orioles manager who first wrote two of his sons into a lineup in 1987?
Cal Ripken Sr.
He was fired after an 0–6 start the following season; the team went on to lose its first 21 games.
Q 11At how many games did Ripken's streak finally end?
2,632
He chose to sit out the last home game of 1998 so the streak would end on his own terms.
Q 12How many Gold Glove Awards did Ripken win?
Two
Many felt he was robbed in 1990, when he made only three errors all season and Ozzie Guillén won with 17.
Q 13In 1991 Ripken won the All-Star Game MVP and which other All-Star week event?
Home Run Derby
He hit a then-record 12 homers in 22 swings, including seven in a row to open the contest.
Q 14Which US president attended Ripken's record-breaking game?
Q 21Whose record for home runs as a shortstop did Ripken break?
Ernie Banks
Banks came to a ceremony and said he was happy, because it gave him a chance 'to come back and be remembered too'.
Q 22How many career hits did Ripken finish with?
3,184
Number 3,000 came in April 2000 off Héctor Carrasco of the Twins.
Q 23How many times was Ripken named an All-Star?
19
He was All-Star Game MVP in 1991 and 2001, the only player to win it in two different decades.
Q 24How tall was Ripken, unusually for a shortstop of his era?
Bill Clinton
Clinton joined the ESPN commentators for half an inning; Al Gore was there too.
Q 15Which network carried Ripken's record-breaking game live?
ESPN
It remains one of the network's most-watched baseball games, and it never cut to a commercial during the 22-minute ovation.
Q 16Ripken's only World Series title came in 1983 against which team?
Philadelphia Phillies
He hit just .167 in the series but caught the final out, a Garry Maddox lineout in Game 5.
Q 17Ripken won AL Rookie of the Year in which year?
1982
He was hitting .118 on May 1 before advice from Reggie Jackson turned his season around.
Q 18Which Hall of Fame manager moved Ripken from third base to shortstop in 1982?
Earl Weaver
Weaver's logic: a shortstop who can hit is harder to find than a third baseman who can.
Q 19In which two seasons did Ripken win the AL MVP award?
1983 and 1991
He was the first player ever to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive seasons.
Q 20Ripken grew up in, and later bought a team for, which Maryland town?
Aberdeen
The IronBirds play at Ripken Stadium, where his son Ryan later played in the Orioles system.
6 ft 4 in
Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Miguel Tejada are all seen as part of that legacy.
Q 25Which shortstop swapped positions with Ripken at the 2001 All-Star Game?
Alex Rodriguez
Ripken then homered on the first pitch he saw, from Chan Ho Park, and won the game's MVP.
Q 26Ripken was the last Oriole to bat at which ballpark in 1991?
Memorial Stadium
He hit into a double play against Frank Tanana; the team moved to Camden Yards the next spring.
Q 27Who was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Ripken in 2007?
Tony Gwynn
Ripken fell eight votes short of unanimity; John Travolta was among his guests at the ceremony.
Q 28Why was Ripken's final game moved from New York to Baltimore?
The 9/11 postponements
The missed home games were tacked onto the schedule, so he finished on October 6 at Camden Yards in the on-deck circle.
Q 29Ripken was chosen as starting shortstop on which honorary MLB lineup?
All-Century Team
His 345 homers at the position are still the record.
Q 30Ripken ended his streak in 1998 before a final home game against which team?
New York Yankees
David Wells was the first visiting player to notice he was missing from batting practice; both dugouts applauded after the first out.