Too many professional sports players win fame outside their feats on the field or court. For steroids. For drunken driving. For domestic abuse. For tattoos, sexual conquests or outrageous salary requests.
Not Cal Ripken Jr., who earned renown for his work on the baseball diamond by pole-vaulting over Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games to end his career at 2,632. Baltimore’s Iron Man also proved himself a great fielder and hitter.
How many players have achieved a .996 fielding percentage in a season? And how many players have hit safely more than 3,000 times, 431 of them home runs?
Cal didn’t use drugs to help him achieve those stats. Luck, good genes and good sense kept himhealthy. An indomitable work ethic made his athletic prowess possible. And he stayed loyal to his hometown, making generations of fans proud to be from Baltimore.
So many players leave for the next best contract, shedding a city — and the thousands of loyal fans who pay to watch them — like a dirty T-shirt. Cal could have done the same, but he chose not to.
Leaving for a better deal isn’t wrong, but staying marks you as family.
That’s probably at least partly why 537 of the 545 Hall of Fame ballots cast to induct new members for 2007 contained Ripkin’s name, the third most in history behind Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. Fans here in Washington as well as in Baltimore love Cal — and with good reason. Even in retirement, he just traded his player’s uniform for an owner’s, and now spends his time building the next generation of talent on his minor league team and youth programs, including helping underprivileged children attend baseball camps.
Who knows, maybe with time, one of his protégés will rise to meet his legacy — and surpass it.
For now, we offer a heartfelt congratulations and a job well done to Cal Ripken Jr. as he deservedly enters the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
