Cal Ripken Jr Baltimore Orioles Publications

Sporting News May 15 1989 Cal Ripken Jr/Baltimore Orioles Cover, Dale Murphy/Atlanta Braves, Mario Lemieux/Pittsburgh Penguins, Michael Jordan NBA's Top-Rated Player

Cal Ripken, Jr. is a retired baseball player and National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2007 inductee. He played shortstop and third base for the Baltimore Orioles from 1981 to 2001. In modern day Major League baseball, it is remarkable for a player to spend his entire playing career with just one team, especially a hometown team. During his baseball career, he was nicknamed Iron Man for doggedly remaining in the lineup despite numerous minor injuries and for his reliability to "show up" to work everyday. He is most well-known for breaking what was considered an unbreakable record - the legendary New York Yankees first baseman, Lou Gehrig's (the Iron Horse) fifty-six year old record for consecutive-games played at 2,130 when Cal played his 2,131st game on September 6, 1995 between the Orioles and California Angels in front of a sold-out, hometown crowd in Oriole Park at Camden Yards. To make the feat even more memorable, Ripken hit a home run in the previous night's game that tied Gehrig's record and another home run in his 2,131st game, which fans later voted as Major League Baseball's "Most Memorable Moment" in MLB history. Ripken added to that streak for three more years, and his consecutive games record ended at 2,632 games played after he voluntarily removed his name from the lineup on the final Orioles home game for the 1998 season. His record 2,632 straight games spanned over seventeen seasons, from May 30, 1982 to September 20, 1998. 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), 225 lbs. (102.27 kg), he pioneered the way for the taller and larger shortstops.