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There's No Ripping Ripken© Joseph J. Checkler
Jul 8, 2001
Sometimes, as a writer, I need some sort of muse to put an idea in my brain. However, the past two week period has been the best time to have a job writing about the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, two first balloters who have played the game since I knew what baseball was, announced that 2001 would be their last season. Maybe the Ripken announcement inspired Gwynn to follow suit, but it is fitting that these two legends bow out together.
What I remember the most about Ripken is how easy and smooth he made the game look, even though it was always evident that he was playing hard. I would never compare anyone to Joe Dimaggio, but from what I have heard of the Yankee Clipper, he always seemed to know how to make the play without having his hat fall off or sweat be seen. I notice this trait in Ripken. Unlike Joltin’ Joe, he did not always look like the most elegant athlete on the field. But he played well for so long, that it became expected that he would get the job done, and he usually did.
I went to my share of Yankees/Orioles games at Yankee Stadium over the years, but have no lasting image of one great Ripken moment. Sure, he hit a few dingers and turned some RBI singles into outs, but his mere presence on the field will be what stands out. Get used to hearing that. He could hit, too. He changed his stance every day, even more than my baseball idol, Don Mattingly. Sometimes his bat was resting on his shoulder, sometimes not, sometimes his stance was open, sometimes it was… you get the point. He was never satisfied with himself. That is a champion’s mentality. All anyone says these days is how he paved the way for the bigger, better hitting shortstops. I cannot dispute that beat the dead horse argument. He revolutionized the position the way L.T. revolutionized the outside linebacker position. Nobody will forget that. Oh, yeah, the streak. I went to game number 2,093 or something, my only trip to Camden Yards. As many have said, it wasn’t about the streak, but a guy who got up and went to work every day. Sure, he got some good breaks, like in the mid 1980’s when his ankle was so swollen that he could not put his shoe on. Luckily, the Orioles had an exhibition game against their minor league club the next day. The extra day of rest allowed his ankle to become human again, and helped Ripken himself be immortalized. He saved baseball the way he revolutionized shortstop. By showing up and doing his job. The timing, one year after the cancellation of the World Series, was impeccable. I will never forget Chris Berman, during game 2,131, exclaiming, “Drilled to left, oh my goodness he’s done it again!”
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