Cal Ripken
Cal Ripken
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...
actual along joy seems step work
When you're in the day-to-day grind, it just seems like it's another step along the way. But I find joy in the actual process, the journey, the work. It's not the end. It's not the end event.
brothers league lose playing rarely whether
Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I very rarely lost - then everything would go crazy.
flattered
I'm always flattered when someone thinks of me as a potential commissioner of baseball.
guys pains player
I had aches and pains when I played. No player is ever 100 percent, 80 percent, 85 percent. Guys that play 158 or 162 or 145, we are all in the same boat.
When you're an athlete and you play every day and are conditioning yourself every year, the aging is gradual.
realize
When you are away from the game and busy with other areas, you realize that the world does not revolve around baseball.
certain mind vanilla
I don't mind being described as vanilla in certain ways.
minor
I had trouble with my temper all the way through the minor leagues.
heard inside missed ninth people retire understood
I never understood that when I heard people retire - they said they missed being around the guys. I don't have a need to make a play in the ninth inning of a game anymore. But being on the inside and being part of a team is something that you really do value and you really do miss.
break conclusion sort
I never set out to do this; I never set out to say, 'Can I break this record?' Then all of a sudden, the preparations made for the celebration put pressure on me. I said, 'Okay, I have to get there.' After 2,130, there was sort of a realization it was a foregone conclusion you're going to play tomorrow.
criticism game learn listen might people player understand
You learn as a player not to listen to the criticism. Many of the people who put out that criticism might not be as accomplished, might not understand the game as well from the inside-out.
job park player ready
Your job as a baseball player is to come to the park ready to play every day, and the manager, it's his job to make those decisions about who plays.
asking hall people period project seem until
You don't project yourself in the Hall of Fame as a player. It's only during that five-year period where people start asking about it, and it doesn't seem real until it happens.