He?s remembered in Baltimore as No. 8. But there are plenty of numbers that define Cal Ripken Jr.
One World Series ring, two Most Valuable Player awards, 431 home runs and 21 seasons in orange and black. Until today, though, Ripken?s most telling number might be 2,632, the consecutive games he played between 1982 and 1998.
Could 100 be next? Ripken, who is likely to receive word today that he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, could challenge the Hall?s record for percentage of votes, currently held by Tom Seaver at 98.84 percent. Seaver was just five votes away from unanimous selection in 1992, while Ty Cobb came just four votes shy in the Hall?s inaugural class of 1936.
That same season, Baltimore native and baseball legend Babe Ruth ? often referred to as history?s best all-around player ? was spurned by 11 voters, earning just over 95 percent of the ballot. The man whose prior consecutive-games record Ripken broke, Lou Gehrig, received 51 votes ? just 22.57 percent of the 226 ballots in 1936.
How about other Orioles? Ripken is likely to surpass third baseman Brooks Robinson?s club record of 91.98 percent from the World Series year of 1983. Thirty voters passed on Robinson. Thirty-three voters passed on pitcher Jim Palmer in 1990, when the club?s most highly regardedpitcher earned 92.57 percent.
Numbers are often skewed based upon the player?s image in the media. No example is greater than that of Eddie Murray, whose résumé of 504 home runs and 3,255 hits was not enough for 73 voters. Murray earned just 85.28 percent of the vote in 2003.
Ripken and former San Diego Padres star Tony Gwynn, who is also expected to be inducted this summer, both played seemingly spotless careers in one uniform.
Neither had a run-in with the media. Both of them have the numbers. But will either approach 100 percent?
That?s up to the writers ? the same writers who have never before come to full agreement on the legends enshrined in Cooperstown.
