Ripken, Cal, Jr.
Webpages concerning "Ripken, Cal, Jr."
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Wikipedia-Article "Ripken, Cal, Jr."
- Cal Ripken redirects here to Cal Ripken, Jr. For his father the coach and manager, see Cal Ripken, Sr.
Calvin Edwin Ripken, Jr. (born August 24, 1960 in Havre de Grace, Maryland) is a former shortstop and third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Baltimore Orioles from 1981 to 2001. He was raised in Aberdeen, Maryland, a town near his birthplace, in a home steeped in baseball. His father, Cal Sr., was a long-time coach in baseball who managed the Orioles in the late 1980s. His brother, Billy Ripken, played second base for various teams, including the Orioles. He has two other siblings, Ellie and Fred. He is married and has a daughter Rachel born in 1989 and a son Ryan born in 1993.
Ripken was known as the iron man of baseball, playing 2,632 straight games, spanning fifteen seasons, without missing a single game (May 30, 1982 - September 20, 1998). He played his 2131st consecutive game on September 6, 1995, breaking the 56-year-old record set by New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig. During The Streak, Ripken played in 8,243 straight innings from June 5, 1982, to September 14, 1987, also considered to be a record, although not an "official" one as the major leagues have not traditionally kept statistics on innings played by non-pitchers. In 2005, the Orioles honored Ripken on the 10th anniversary of his 2,131st consecutive game. After the top of the 5th inning, the numbers 2130 on the warehouse behind the stadium changed to 2131, just as they did on September 6, 1995. Cal Ripken is also notable for having played third base for the Rochester Red Wings in the longest game in professional baseball history. A 33 inning, 8 hour, 25 minute, 3-2 loss to the Pawtucket Red Sox that began on April 18th , 1981, and didn't end until June 23rd when play resumed.
In addition to Ripken's legendary durability, he, along with gamers such as Robin Yount, is credited with redefining the shortstop position. Many of the game's current top shortstops, including Alex Rodriguez, name Ripken as their inspiration while growing up. Though he was brought up through the minor leagues as a third baseman, then-manager Earl Weaver gave him an audition at shortstop when he was first brought up to the Major League ballclub. Weaver's actions raised quite a few eyebrows; at 6'4", 225 lbs (1.93 m, 102 kg), Ripken was an enormous departure from the protypical shortstop of the time - small, fleet-of-foot players who play great defense, but are offensive liabilities. Nonetheless, Ripken demonstrated the ability to play more than adequate defense at shortstop, and as a result remained a fixture there for well over a decade, leading the league in assists several times.
Cal Ripken retired on October 6, 2001 and built a new stadium in Aberdeen, where he had played baseball as a boy. He is a part owner of the Aberdeen IronBirds, a minor league baseball team associated with the Orioles. On June 28, 2005, he announced that he was also purchasing the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League, an A-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Ripken has also made generous donations to charity causes, including many donations supporting research on Lou Gehrig's disease. He is also gives speeches about his time in baseball and some of the lessons he has learned.
Ripken unexpectedly made news in November of 2003 when he reported a naked man at his door. The visitor was a bleeding kidnapping victim dropped off near his home.
Ripken's first appearance on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be in January 2007; if, as expected, he is elected, he will be inducted in the summer of 2007.
Awards and records
- 1982: American League Rookie of the Year
- 1983: American League MVP
- 1991: American League MVP
- 1991: All-Star Game MVP
- 1991: Gold Glove Award for shortstop
- 1992: Gold Glove award for shortstop
- 1995: Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year"
- 1999: Ranked Number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players
- 1999: Elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
- 2001: All-Star Game MVP
- Most consecutive games played at 2,632
- Most grounded into double plays at 350
- Most double plays by a shortstop, American League, at 1682
Baltimore Orioles club records:
- Games Played, 3,001
- Consecutive games, 2,632
- At bats, 11,551
- Hits, 3,184
- Runs, 1,647
- RBI, 1,695
- Extra Base Hits, 1078
- Doubles, 603
- Homeruns, 431 (Baltimore has had 5 members of the 500 home run club on its roster, but none have hit more with the Orioles than Ripken)
- Total Bases, 5168
- Walks, 1,129
- Strikeouts, 1,305
- Assists, 8,212
- Double Plays, 1,682
Career Statistics
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OPB SLG AVG
+--------------+---+-----+----+----+---+--+---+----+----+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+
1981 20 BAL AL 23 39 1 5 0 0 0 0 5 1 8 0 0 .150 .128 .128
1982 21 BAL AL 160 598 90 158 32 5 28 93 284 46 95 3 3 .317 .475 .264
1983 22 BAL AL 162 663 121 211 47 2 27 102 343 58 97 0 4 .371 .517 .318
1984 23 BAL AL 162 641 103 195 37 7 27 86 327 71 89 2 1 .374 .510 .304
1985 24 BAL AL 161 642 116 181 32 5 26 110 301 67 68 2 3 .347 .469 .282
1986 25 BAL AL 162 627 98 177 35 1 25 81 289 70 60 4 2 .355 .461 .282
1987 26 BAL AL 162 624 97 157 28 3 27 98 272 81 77 3 5 .333 .436 .252
1988 27 BAL AL 161 575 87 152 25 1 23 81 248 102 69 2 2 .372 .431 .264
1989 28 BAL AL 162 646 80 166 30 0 21 93 259 57 72 3 2 .317 .401 .257
1990 29 BAL AL 161 600 78 150 28 4 21 84 249 82 66 3 1 .341 .415 .250
1991 30 BAL AL 162 650 99 210 46 5 34 114 368 53 46 6 1 .374 .566 .323
1992 31 BAL AL 162 637 73 160 29 1 14 72 233 64 50 4 3 .323 .366 .251
1993 32 BAL AL 162 641 87 165 26 3 24 90 269 65 58 1 4 .329 .420 .257
1994 33 BAL AL 112 444 71 140 19 3 13 75 204 32 41 1 0 .364 .459 .315
1995 34 BAL AL 144 550 71 144 33 2 17 88 232 52 59 0 1 .324 .422 .262
1996 35 BAL AL 163 640 94 178 40 1 26 102 298 59 78 1 2 .341 .466 .278
1997 36 BAL AL 162 615 79 166 30 0 17 84 247 56 73 1 0 .331 .402 .270
1998 37 BAL AL 161 601 65 163 27 1 14 61 234 51 68 0 2 .331 .389 .271
1999 38 BAL AL 86 332 51 113 27 0 18 57 194 13 31 0 1 .368 .584 .340
2000 39 BAL AL 83 309 43 79 16 0 15 56 140 23 37 0 0 .310 .453 .256
2001 40 BAL AL 128 477 43 114 16 0 14 68 172 26 63 0 2 .276 .361 .239
+--------------+---+-----+----+----+---+--+---+----+----+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+
21 Seasons 3001 1647 603 431 5168 1305 39 .447
11551 3184 44 1695 1129 36 .340 .276
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
| Preceded by: Dave Righetti |
American League Rookie of the Year 1982 |
Succeeded by: Ron Kittle |