Cal Ripken Jr.

Yesterday as some of you may or may not know, Cal Ripken Junior was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame and I want to congraduate Cal and apoligize because I was unable to get to Cooperstown this weekend for the introduction. Cal's illustrius career began as he was growing up in Aberdeen, Maryland. With no College Baseball experience needed, Cal became a pro instantly playing for the Rochester Red Wings(The Orioles AAA minor league affiliate). Ripken's most notable highlight was playing in the longest professional baseball game of all-time. On April 18, 1981, the Rochester Red Wings faced off against the Pawtucket Red Sox.

The game went on for a very long amount of time. It was at 3 in the morning that the president of the International League, Harold Cooper was contacted. Finally, at 4:09am the game was stopped after the 32nd inning to resume at another date(Rochester eventually won 3-2). On August 10, 1981, Ripken made his debut wearing the Orange and Black of the Baltimore Orioles. For the next 20 years, Ripken was the face of the franchise, and in 1982 won Rookie of the Year in the American League.

It was in 1983 that Cal captured his first(and only) World Series ring as the Orioles defeated the Phillies 4 games to 1, making the final out of game 5. In 1987, Ripken felt like he was home, when his father, Cal Sr. became manager of the Baltimore Orioles and his brother, Billy joined the team. It was short-lived, however, as Cal Sr. was fired after going 67-95 in 1987 and 0-6 in 1988. It would take, oh but a few years before people started noticing Cal's consecutive game record.

After numerous risks of injury and letters from fans asking Ripken to take a game off and not break the record, Ripken finally broke the record on September 6, 1995 against the California Angels in a game where the President even showed up. Following the top of the 5th the record became official and Ripken was given a 22 minute standing ovation from the fans and players on both teams. Despite the length of the event, ESPN(who was broadcasting the game) never went to a commericial throughout.

On September 20, 1998, Cal decided to end the streak at 2,632. In June 2001, Cal announced that he would retire from baseball. Following the announcement it was announced that Cal had been voted into the All-Star Game at Safeco Field in Seattle. In a tribute to Cal's career, Shortstop, Alex Rodriguez switched positions with Cal putting Ripken back at his old position for one night. Cal would hit a home run en route to a victory for the American League and was named MVP.

In October, Cal retired after 20 years of playing. Recently, Cal released two books, "Get in the Game"(a motivational guide) and "The Longest Season"(a book detailing the Orioles' disasterous 1988 season).

To me, Cal Ripken is the last great player of the game because he's one of the last "real" players. In his 20 years he never took steroids, he never held the Orioles up for money, and when the tough got going(the 1988 season) he didn't flee to New York just because he thought he was better than any other player. Cal represents the model person that everyone should be when it comes to baseball. For that I congraduate Cal for his magnificent career and his induction into the Hall of Fame. Good job, old friend.