Baseball's Cal Ripken Reflections

Born and raised in the Aberdeen, Maryland area, Vi Ripken has nurtured a generation of great athletes including future hall of famer Cal Ripken, Jr. As she reflected on her son's upcoming induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29, 2007 in Cooperstown, New York (http://web.baseballhalloffame.org), any baseball fan could see why this Orioles legend and baseball's all-time iron man stayed firmly grounded with his feet on the mound.

Like any mother, she is proud of her sons, though unlike some celebrity parents, she never placed her sons on a pedestal. As she reflects, "When they were kids, they never walked on water. I'm proud for what they do but then again, that's what they chose to do and that's what they should be doing. They're putting everything into it and therefore, they should succeed," she added.

While the Ripken family lived their lives in the public eye, Vi simply saw baseball as the family business. "I lived that life and I'm gone from it now. Because that was my husbands' work and my sons' work, I just see it as their job."

When asked about her trip to Cooperstown, she stated, "I don't get as excited as the rest of the world about Cal's induction into the hall of fame." According to Vi, if other ball players were serious, they could all get into the Hall of Fame. While Cal was lucky that he didn't' have any serious injuries, she added that he played even when he was hurt.

Ripken's record for the most consecutive games overshadowed some of his other accomplishments. Throughout his career, he had 3,184 hits -- including 431 home runs -- batted .276, was an AL Most Valuable Player in 1983 and 1991, was a 19-time AL All-Star, and won two Gold Gloves.

Ripken, a shortstop and third baseman, didn't miss a game from May 30, 1982 to September 20, 1998, shattering the 2,130 record consecutive game streak once held by Lou Gehrig, the Yankees first baseman. When the Iron Man broke the Iron Horse's record, baseball was at a low point, still reeling from the strike of 1994. Vi observes," I guess Cal was kind of fresh. I think my sons were blessed because they got the best genes from my husband and me. Not everybody makes us mad. Some people make us smile."

A trip to Aberdeen, Maryland will be a blessing to baseball fans, who long to fall in love again with the pure sport of the game. Since the state-of-the art Ripken Stadium opened in 2002, the IronBirds (http://ironbirdsbaseball.com), a Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles have played to sellout crowds. To date, nine IronBirds have now graduated to the Major Leagues: Brandon Fahey, Jeff Fiorentino, James Hoey, Adam Loewen, John Maine, Val Majewski, Nick Markaskis, Garrett Olson and Chris Ray.

Also, each summer Harford County hosts one of youth baseball's premiere tournaments, the Cal Ripken World Series (http://worldseries.ripkenbaseball.com). This series represents the culmination of the baseball season for the 12-year-olds of Cal Ripken Baseball, the largest division of the Babe Ruth League. Currently the Ripken Museum is temporarily closed, though interested fans can log on to the Museum's Website (http://www.ripkenmuseum.com) for information on how to view the smalltemporary exhibit on the club level of Ripken Stadium.

For more information about traveling to this baseball oasis log on to http://www.harfordmd.com.