January 9th 2007 was a special day for Calvin Ripkin Jr. Cal was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame receiving appearing on 537 ballots out of a possible 545, good for a 98.53%. Ripkin Jr., known as “The Iron Man” for playing in 2,632 consecutive games over the course of 16 years breaking fellow Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig’s record. A tremendous feat for anyone in all of sports.
Ripkin for much of his career played shortstop before moving to third base late in his career. Some say he pioneered the way for bigger shortstops to play the position. Usually known for their gloves, being small and speedy, Ripkin stood at 6’4 225 lbs during his playing days and hit 431 home runs over the course of his illustrious 21 year career. He is one of 28 members to eclipse 3,000 hits for their career. He has won two gold gloves and was a 19 time all star in his 21 years in the Major Leagues. He won 8 Silver Slugger awards at shortstop, an award to the top hitting positional player for the year. Ripkin won the American League MVP award in 1983 and 1991.
While playing his whole 21 year career for the Baltimore Orioles, Ripkin was able to grab share hold of many club records. These include the following:
– Games Played: 3,001
– Consecutive Games: 2,632
– At Bats: 11,551
– Hits: 3,181
– Runs: 1,647
– RBI: 1,695
– Extra Base Hits: 1,078
– Doubles: 603
– Home Runs: 431
– Total Bases: 5,168
– Walks: 1,129
– Strikeouts: 1,305
– Assists: 8,212
– Double plays: 1,682
Ripkin forever changed the position of shortstop. He paved the way for bigger bodied power hitting shortstops like Alex Rodriguez (now a third baseman), Troy Tulowitzki, Miguel Tejada, and Derek Jeter. For all his time spent with one organization, Ripkin developed his own brand which is now recognized today as the President and CEO of Ripkin Baseball, Inc.