As sure as the sun rises in the east, sometime around 2 p.m. on Tuesday Cal Ripken Jr. will be named to the 2007 class of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. When the announcement comes, you can rest assured that Baltimore media will be all over it.
TV stations WJZ, WBAL, WMAR, WBFF, along with cable outlets Comcast SportsNet and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, are all planning live coverage with plenty of feature material ready to get the juices flowing.
At 12 p.m., MASN, the Orioles? new TV home, will air Ripken?s final game from Oct. 6, 2001 against the Red Sox. Then they will today?s Ripken press conference live around 4:30 p.m. as part of the “Anita Marks Show.” At 7 p.m., MASN will air Ripken?s record-breaking 2,131st game from Sept. 6, 1995 against the Angels.
Tuesday night at 7 p.m., Ripken will join CN8?s Gregg Murphy as part of a special live “Out of Bounds” broadcast from the Sports Legend Museum in Baltimore. In addition to this one-on-one with Ripken, the early-edition “Out of Bounds” will feature a number of special guests, including Mike Flanagan, one of the Orioles? general managers and Ripken?s former teammate.
WBAL radio has a full day planned for the celebration. Dave Durian kicks off the morning with highlights from Ripken?s career and interviews with former teammates. At 2 p.m., when the announcement is expected, WBAL?s Scott Wykoff will be reporting live from Cooperstown.
Next, it?s a special edition of the “Ron Smith Show.” Smith will be joined by WBAL sports director Steve Davis for another hour of interviews reflecting on Ripken?s historic career. Orioles Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson will join the program and will offer personal congratulations to Ripken.
WBAL Radio will provide live coverage of Ripken?s post-selection news conference, which will be hosted by John Patti and Keith Mills. From 5:30 to 6, Ripken will be a guest on the station.
WBAL Radio caps off the evening beginning at 7 p.m. with a special encore presentation of “The Road to 2,131” and a replay of the entire 2,131st game. Relive that special night as we hear again from Jon Miller, Fred Manfra and the late Chuck Thompson.
Look for Ripken to pop up on CSN, MASN and all of the other Baltimore stations during the news hours anytime from 6 to 11 p.m.
Leave it to the Iron Man to be able to knock the upcoming Ravens-Colts game off the sports scene for at least one day. But then again, how often does a true local hero get a well-deserved spot in Cooperstown?
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. E-mail him at [email protected].
