Cal Ripken, Jr.
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Calvin Edwin "Cal" Ripken Jr., nicknamed "The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseballfor the Baltimore Orioles. One of his position's most offensively productive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American LeagueMost Valuable Player. Ripken is best known for...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth24 August 1960
CityHavre De Grace, MD
CountryUnited States of America
The reality is that players can't play forever.
That's the result of the black cloud on baseball, .. Until it's rid of steroids, people are naturally going to think that.
I was always compared to the Energizer Bunny in my consecutive game streak because every day I showed up and went to work and they said he keeps going and going and going, but a lot of people do that.
I haven't given it (achieving 3,000 hits) much thought. I was taught a certain approach, how to come to the ballpark. I try not to do too much thinking about things like that. In this society we measure success in different ways. Three thousand (hits) represents success over a career, not a season. It'll be nice to get to that point.
I don't love the idea of the responsibility falling on the manager. That just adds to their in-game responsibility.
I kept thinking, 'this must be the coolest job - I'd like to be a professional baseball player.' They were getting paid to play a game, and what a cool lifestyle that was.
I think the cloud of suspicion has been hanging over baseball for a while. I think there has been some positive things that have come out of that. There has been a drug test policy that was been implemented that got the blessings of both the Players Association and MLB. They are trying to maintain the integrity of this sport and trying to get it back, but that cloud I think will hang over a little longer.
The last thing you want to do is go down in the history of All-Star game competition as the only injury (his nose was broken by Roberto Hernandez) sustained during the team picture.
I think Nick Markakis is a perennial All-Star, and nobody knows about him. I think people are learning about how good he is.
By far, the best moment of my big league career was when I caught the last out at the World Series.
You can keep going on and on about the interactions of people, which makes it a great drama and great event ,and you'll always hold that special, but if you're looking at a baseball moment, the feeling you get when you win the World Series by far exceeds anything else in the game that you're able to do.
Stubbornness usually is considered a negative; but I think that trait has been a positive for me.
I always thought being a gamer and someone who had a sense of responsibility to the game and to my teammates was the honorable thing.
The best thing you can do in the whole world is to play baseball. That's a lucky job... The passion for baseball is always going to be there.