Cal Ripken is a well-known baseball player who has written several books. He speaks to youth about the game of baseball and is involved in charity work. He has also founded a baseball camp. He writes a sports advice column for youth and makes baseball training videos.
He was a good player, and he was determined to play every inning until the end of the season. This was a difficult goal, and many people criticized him for playing so long.
His Life
Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. grew up in Havre de Grace, Maryland and had a strong relationship with the Baltimore Orioles organization due to his father’s coaching duties for the team. He was able to get on-field instruction from players and learn the strategies of the game at an early age.
One of the most important factors in his success was his work ethic and perseverance. He was known as “The Iron Man” of baseball because of his 2,131 consecutive games played streak, which broke Lou Gehrig’s record that had stood for 56 years and many deemed unbreakable.
Since retiring, he has continued to do good works for the community. He is involved with the Ripken Baseball foundation which hosts youth camps and clinics. He also has entered the business side of baseball and owns financial interests in several minor league teams.
His Career
Over 5.1 million households tuned into their televisions to watch Cal Ripken break Lou Gehrig’s record of consecutive games played on a cool fall night in Baltimore. Ripken’s accomplishment was the perfect example of what perseverance and hard work can accomplish.
Ripken’s dedication to the game of baseball didn’t stop after he left the Orioles. He has used his status as one of the greatest shortstops in baseball history to serve as a mentor for young players and promote charitable endeavors. He and his brother founded the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation to honor their father’s memory and provide underprivileged children with the opportunity to play baseball.
In addition to his charity work, Ripken is also a best-selling author. His first novel, Hothead, was published in 2011 and reached #5 on the New York Times best-seller list.
His Hits
During his 21 years with the Orioles, Cal Ripken Jr. played 2,632 straight games, a streak that earned him the nickname “The Iron Man.” Ripken’s streak is even more remarkable when considering the injury epidemic in baseball during his time on the field.
His father, a minor league journeyman catcher, instilled in Cal a hard work ethic that made him one of the most durable players in baseball history. He played through broken bones, a hospital ward’s worth of injuries, and a number of head jarring bean ball collisions.
The following chart summarizes Hit By Pitch statistics for each season of Cal Ripken Jr’s career. The table also includes comparisons to other player groups, such as Hall of Fame players, SS, and MLB average.
His Defensive Skills
During his career Cal Ripken exemplified consistency. He was always ready to play and did not want to miss a game. He was the model for young players coming up to bat, and he set a standard of playing every game possible that no one has ever come close to matching.
Ripken was an excellent defensive player and probably had the surest hands of any shortstop ever. He was very good at reading hitters and understood where they wanted to hit each pitch.
He would ask veteran teammates for advice and tips between games. Once, during pregame warm-ups in Asheville, North Carolina, a gunman began shooting into the stadium and Doug DeCinces grabbed Cal and carried him to the dugout for safety. Cal never missed a game after that.
His Personality
Ripken is a humble man who always put his teammates and the game of baseball before himself. He never got caught up in ego-driven arguments about his worth as a player or the money he could make from other teams. He is also a charitable person who donates to research on Lou Gehrig’s disease and founded a foundation for young people to attend baseball camps. He also writes a weekly youth sports advice column in the Baltimore Sun and has produced a series of baseball training videos.
Representations of Cal Ripken in the media have influenced the way we think about baseball, but they are part of a larger cultural trend toward nostalgia. Nostalgic discourses have become a popular response to large-scale cultural changes by encouraging conservative responses that focus attention on a decontextualized simplistic past.cal ripkin