Simply stated, Cal Ripken Jr. ranks near the top of any short list of the greatest and most impactful baseball players to ever step foot on the diamond.
A revolutionary shortstop and a game changer in many ways, Ripken ushered in the era of the large shortstop - big, powerful and agile athletes that could field the incredibly difficult position and hit for power at the plate. Without him, we may have never seen larger athletes like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra and future generations attempt to play middle infield at the highest level.
The Hall of Famer’s career stat line is remarkable and his accomplishments are seemingly endless. A member of the 3,000 hit club, 400 Home Run club, a 19 time All Star, a 2 time AL MVP, a World Series Champion and a member of the MLB All Century Team, his place in baseball history is beyond secure.
The accomplishment that puts Ripken into baseball’s most rarified air may be his consecutive games played streak. 25 years ago this year, ‘The Iron Man’ broke Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games played and set the mark at 2,131, a number that is as significant as any in a sport that revolves around statistics. He pushed that streak to an unimaginable 2,632 before he took a day off. This accomplishment is one that we may never see remotely challenged, let alone surpassed.
In this exclusive interview, we discuss Ripken’s first autograph experience, rubbing shoulders with big leaguers as a young boy collecting knowledge instead of cards, seeing himself on trading cards for the first time and the pursuit of finding a home for his massive collection of trophies and awards.
