Cal Ripken, Jr.

• Born: August 24, 1960
• Place of Birth: Havre de Grace, Maryland

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Calvin Edwin Ripken, Jr. was born on August 24, 1960, in Havre de Grace, Maryland, to Cal and Vi Ripken while his father was playing a minor-league baseball game in Topeka, Kansas. His father began working for the Baltimore Orioles organization during the late 1950s. He stopped playing and turned to coaching when he injured himself catching a ball in 1961. Cal, Jr. was born into baseball: from the beginning of his life, baseball was a family affair. He grew up wearing baseball uniforms and attending games that his father managed in the minor leagues. Ripken’s brother, Billy, also chose baseball as a career. Ripken wanted to be a baseball player from a very early age.

Ripken’s mother nourished his interest in baseball when his father was on the road with his coaching duties. She took Cal to his games, congratulating him when he did well and consoling him when he did not. Ripken managed to spend time alone with his father by riding to and from the ballpark with him when he was in Baltimore. Although his father had the greatest influence on his development as a ballplayer, Ripken’s heroes were the minor-league players he knew. When he was in high school, he aspired to be one of them.

The Road to Excellence

Ripken grew up learning the Baltimore Orioles’ style of baseball. He spent his free time at the ballpark where his father coached, watching the games and the practices. He questioned his father and the players about what he saw on the field. He learned fielding, batting, and game strategy from them. When he was twelve years old, he started taking batting practice and catching fly and ground balls during the pregame workouts. Through his constant exposure to professional baseball, Cal gained invaluable knowledge about the game.

Ripken was a star pitcher and shortstop in high school. When he was a senior, he pitched a two-hitter, striking out seventeen, to lead Aberdeen High School to the state Class-A championship. He also earned a letter in soccer. He played amateur ball for the Putty Hill Optimists in Baltimore when he was sixteen years old.

The Emerging Champion

Despite being an Orioles fan, as Ripken planned for a professional baseball career, he almost did not want his hometown team to draft him. He was afraid that the public would think that the Orioles signed him because his father coached for the team and not because of his baseball talent. Yet, after graduating from high school in 1978, Cal was selected by the Orioles in the second round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. His progress in the minor leagues was examined closely because of his father. Some expected Ripken to be a star immediately because of his background, but he made his mistakes like any young ballplayer. He proved to be an outstanding player, however, hitting a total of forty-eight home runs in his last two years in the minors.

When Ripken advanced to the majors, his father was still one of the Orioles’ coaches. He felt some pressure to live up to his father’s expectations and started his rookie year with a batting slump because of his nervousness. He gained confidence, however, and recovered from his slump to finish the season with a .264 batting average. His superior fielding skills were apparent from the beginning. Early in the season, he played forty-four consecutive games without an error. He was named American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 1982.

In 1983, Ripken's play continued to shine when he was named the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP). He received this honor again in 1991 when he hit a career-high thirty-four home runs. He also won the Gold Glove Award as the top AL shortstop in 1991 and 1992.

Ripken played in every Orioles game from May 30, 1982, to September 20, 1998, breaking Lou Gehrig’s all-time record of 2,130 consecutive games played. Cal finished his streak at 2,632 games when he voluntarily pulled himself from the roster during the Orioles’ final home game of the 1998 season. He maintained his streak by playing through the pain of an injured lower back. Always a fierce competitor, his presence on the field was more about his love for the game than his need to break records.

Continuing the Story

Ripken hit .444 in the 1996 American League Division Series against Cleveland, and he followed that in 1997 by hitting .400 or better through the American League Division and Championship Series. He was the first shortstop to have twenty home runs in eight straight seasons, a streak he extended to ten in 1991. In addition, his fielding record suggested he was an alert and motivated player. He committed only three errors in his 1990 season, a major-league record.

One week prior to Opening Day in 1998, Ripken’s father died after a long struggle with cancer. The loss of his father, a longtime Orioles coach, was devastating. In 1999, Cal underwent back surgery that cut his season short and threatened his future in baseball. He demonstrated the appropriateness of his nickname, “Iron Man,” when he returned in 2000, playing eighty-three games and recording his three-thousandth hit on April 15. In June 2001, Ripken announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

Cal’s farewell season was a productive one. As he toured rival major-league cities for the last time, he continued to hit effectively and was even voted the Most Valuable Player of the 2001 All-Star Game.

In 2007, Ripken was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He received the third-highest induction percentage in the history of the Hall of Fame and the highest ever for a non-pitcher at the time. A record crowd turned out to honor Cal and fellow inductee Tony Gwynn. Ripken humbly spoke of his family and career in his speech. Afterward, the crowd gave him an extended standing ovation as thanks for all he had done for the game. Also in 2007, President George W. Bush asked Ripken to serve as a special sports envoy for the United States. Cal’s efforts carried him to China as it prepared to host the 2008 Olympics. Ripken's baseball influence had reached global proportions.

Ripken continued to be involved in sports in retirement. He held ownership stakes in several minor league baseball teams, served as an analyst on television broadcasts, and was involved in various other sports-related business ventures. Ripken was the president and Chief Operating Officer of Ripken Baseball, Inc., whose goal was to share the love of baseball with a new generation. He remained active in the Cal Ripkin, Sr. Foundation, which promoted active lifestyles for youth. Ripken became a prolific author, publishing books on raising successful and well-adjusted youth athletes, motivation books for adults, and children’s and young adult fiction within the sports genre. Ripkin was also a highly sought-after public speaker. In 2024, Ripken participated in purchasing of the Orioles with a group of investors, including financial giant and former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.

Summary

Over the course of his career, Cal Ripken, Jr. demonstrated his tremendous stamina as well as his commitment to baseball. Perhaps best known for his record 2,632 consecutive games played, he also distinguished himself both offensively and defensively as one of the greatest shortstops in the history of baseball. Though Ripken never considered himself a superstar, he appeared in every All-Star game from 1983 to 2001. Regarded as a great teammate and leader, he influenced countless players who followed in his footsteps, and he remains one of the game's most universally respected and beloved figures.

Bibliography

“Books by Cal Ripken, Jr. and Complete Book Reviews.” Publisher's Weekly, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/authorpage/cal-ripken,-jr.html. Accessed 9 June 2024.

"Cal Ripken, Jr." National Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/ripken-cal. Accessed 6 June 2024.

Home Page — Ripken Baseball, ripkenbaseball.com. Accessed 17 Apr. 2023.

“'Iron Man' Cal Ripken, Jr. Discusses New Role as Part-owner of Baltimore Orioles with WTOP.” WTOP, 2 Apr. 2024, wtop.com/baltimore-orioles/2024/04/live-on-wtop-iron-man-cal-ripken-discusses-new-role-as-part-owner-of-baltimore-orioles. Accessed 9 June 2024.

Olney, Buster. "Untold Tales of Cal Ripken, Jr., the Iron Man Who Saved Baseball." ESPN, 7 Apr. 2020, www.espn.com/mlb/story/‗/id/29000336/untold-tales-cal-ripken-jr-iron-man-saved-mlb. Accessed 6 June 2024.

Ripken, Cal, Jr., and Mike Bryan. The Only Way I Know. New York: Viking, 1997.

Ripken, Cal, Jr., Mike Bryan, and Dan Gutman. Cal Ripken, Jr.: My Story. New York: Dial Books, 1999.

Rogers, Phil. “Cal Ripken: More than Baseball’s Ironman.” Baseball Digest, vol. 59, no. 9, 2000.

Rosenfeld, Harvey. Iron Man: The Cal Ripken, Jr., Story. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

Seidel, Jeff. Baseball’s Iron Man: Cal Ripken, Jr.—A Tribute. Champaign, Ill.: Sports, 2007.