Cal Ripken, Jr. may have spent his career in Baltimore, but he became one of Washington’s heroes, too.
The Orioles great will join Tony Gwynn in the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday along with possibly Jim Rice, Goose Gossage and manager Dick Williams. The only drama over Ripken’s election is whether he’ll break Tom Seaver’s record 98.84 percent of the vote.
Lots of Washingtonians will head to Cooperstown, N.Y. for the induction just like they followed Redskins coach Joe Gibbs to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Ripken was as big around Washington as Gibbs.
Maybe it was nation’s capital lacking a baseball team during Ripken’s 1981-2001 career that made local fans trek to Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards to see one of the game’s greats. With today’s traffic, cable television and the Nationals in town, I don’t think Washingtonians would be so willing to head to Charm City nowadays. Besides, Ryan Zimmerman is keeping fans in Washington as “the next Cal Ripken.”
Perhaps it was Ripken’s fresh-faced, scandal-free persona that made women want to date him and men wish to befriend him. The man made milk sexy for goodness sakes. Politicians tend to be the centerpieces of Washington life over athletes, but no one mentions sexy and Dick Cheney in the same breath.
Maybe it was just Ripken’s low-key approach of going to work everyday (2,632 to be exact) that enamored him to fans. Remember when Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games? What a magical night. Was that really more than 11 years ago?
In a time when spoiled athletes acting like divas threaten to ruin sports, there’s something about a guy who clocked in every day like we do that was comforting. OK, he earned a ba-zillion times more per hour, but at least Ripken earned the money and didn’t act the fool following every big play.
Ripken’s post-career endeavors continue to touch Washington youth. A new generation of coaches are using “The Ripken Way” that will surely improve fundamentals. Don’t underestimate its impact in a time when ESPN shows only home runs and strikeouts, leaving youths to wonder if there’s anything else to thegame.
Certainly, some Orioles fans will cry foul when Washingtonians share in Ripken’s glory. However, Ripken’s final high school game was at Prince George’s Community College when pitching Bel Air High to the state championship over Thomas Stone. The Largo campus is in the Washington area and that’s good enough to claim he’s one of ours.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
