Cal Ripken: The Untold Stories Behind Baseball's "Iron Man" | Undeniable with Joe Buck

Joe Buck sits down with baseball legend Cal Ripken, who holds the record for most consecutive games played. Cal discusses his early introduction to baseball through his father, getting drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, playing under his father for that same team, breaking Lou Gehrig's record, and much more.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Cal Ripken Introduction
2:05 - Appreciation from Fans
3:20 - Childhood/Father's Influence
5:28 - Father's Toughness
6:30 - Cal's Mom Taught Him Baseball
7:45 - Comfortability in a Minor League Environment
10:25 - Cal's Dream Realization at 12
12:15 - Cal's Growth in High School
13:34 - Choosing to be a Shortstop rather than a Pitcher
14:35 - Drafted by the Orioles
16:40 - Diligently Keeping Statistics/Taking Notes
18:32 - Called up to the Big Leagues
20:41 - Cal Promoted to Shortstop
22:33 - Winning Rookie of the Year
25:15 - 1983 World Series
27:00 - Cal's Best Moment
28:23 - Cal's Father Hired as Manager
30:37 - Father Fired in 1988
34:18 - Moving Up the List in Consecutive Games Played
36:48 - 1994 Postseason Cancelled/Saving Baseball
39:36 - Inherent Pressure/Cal's Work Ethic
42:15 - Officially Breaking Lou Gehrig's Record
46:02 - 1996 Postseason Reflection
47:30 - Cal Taking off His First Game Ever
50:08 - Losing Father to Lung Cancer
52:44 - Closing Remarks
#joebuck #calripken #mlb #baseball #orioles

[@williammouri1096]

I cant think of any pro athlete that gave more of his time to the fans. At a home game he would regularly sign for an hour or two after it ended.

[@jedshilling4918]

My dad said that he would sign autographs even after the National anthem (not permitted by mlb). Guy was the man!

[@chrisdaugherty8265]

Such a shame that most of the new guys don’t want to have anything to do with fans nowadays, unless the camera is on them. There needs to be more guys like Cal in the MLB.

[@ronaldzent6321]

This man is the epitomy of class. Think he almost singlehandedly helped bring fans back to baseball after the players strike in 1994, which derailed the World Series. Or, that night he broke Lou Gehrig's "Iron" man streak, took a lap around the stadium and high fives fans. He and Tony Gwynn ( RIP), came into the league about the same year, '82. Both went into the HOF the same time. Two of the best ever. Great role models for youngsters as well

[@YouthIncSports]

Thank you for watching

[@englishwillable]

Anyone in the Baltimore area during that time will never forget those games leading up to Cal breaking the record

[@ronniejoe1029]

As a life long Os fan and being ableto watch his entire career, from a one yr old on my old man's lap, my first game at Memorial Park, my first game at Camden Yards, his Iron Man game, to his retirement. Cal played the game it was supposed to be played. Cal left his mark on the game for life. Thank you Cal! #ThisIsBirdland #LetsGoOs

[@petermonaghan9549]

I've been an Orioles fan since the '79 WS. When Cal started his streak I was 11yo. When he retired I was 31. There's a lot to be said for someone showing up everyday, honoring the game, respecting the fans, and being one of the best ever. Cal had a tremendous impact on my life.

[@randywalsh8383]

My Maryland High School Baseball coach was an Oriole scout. I remember visiting him at school in my mid 20's, the year that Cal came up. I remember asking my coach about Cal, because I didn't know that much about Cal....My coach just said, ''well, they say he's ready''...and he sure was !

[@dominicbarth]

I live in Germany and to this day I admire this man. I collected every Cal Ripken fan item I could get in Germany in the 90s and still have this box.. wonderful person and role model

[@mikeh1242]

I grew up in Maryland and watched Cal. What was cool is how his father was the coach and his brother played 2nd.

[@user-pc7kp9py3s]

He signed countless autographs for hours after many many home games .. Md Boy .. Pure Class ❤

[@ronniejoe1029]

Us MD boys do it better! I'm very proud to be a lifelong Os fan

[@FormerPBABowlerJoeJenkinsII]

A true Maryland and Baseball Icon. The Ripken family are Baseball Royalty.

[@jeffreydean5112]

His streak breaking HR and his final All-Star HR are my favorites of his. He was my favorite player growing up even though I was a Phillies fan from Philly. He did everything the right way. I know the streak is the biggest aspect of his career but people forget about the homers, RBIs, All-stars, MVPs and WS's. He's one of the greatest players ever and paved the way for the bigger, hard hitting SS.

[@100hooker]

I remember watching that game, my brother was actually there because he was a friend of Troy Percival and went with Troys dad. When he hit that dinger, I hopped up and applauded. Great moment.

[@MarkColeman-og6no]

When Mlb ⚾ was so Awsome ! Not like today where it's all about the long ball and starting pitchers went more than 5 innings just a different time and so great and this guy played everyday that's lost today in all professional sports and it's a shame back then it was love of the game and many will be there today it's all money and analytics and very few really show the love they Really have for the game or team they play for so thank you Cal Ripken Jr. For the love of the game the team you played for and the person you are you are and will always be one of the best always!

[@ramongonzalez2112]

Ripken ushered in the era of the ‘big’ HR hitting shortstop. That’s what made Ernie Banks so unique.👍⚾️

[@YouthIncSports]

A true pioneer!

[@glenngrinter6818]

His HOF induction was a sea of people, no other crowd in the future will top it.⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️

[@paulferranti8536]

From a Yankee fan....Class.. would have loved him on the Yankees

[@skaz777]

‘Had me in tears several times. Thanks for this one Joe!

[@harveyotoole2029]

Ripken ....... Legend !!

[@joshuaholub5090]

I believe he is the definition of baseball player without a doubt. In fact when you look up the meaning of baseball player it should have his photo next to it and his amazing accomplishment of always being a dependable teammate and of course the two words "Iron Man"

[@LatrellSprewell15]

Fav player as a kid. I remember when Bill, Cal and Cal sr were on Sports Illustrated

[@YouthIncSports]

Iconic!

[@GuitarMatt]

I had that issue of that magazine too from SI as a little kid from Springfield, VA (40 miles away from Baltimore, MD then)

[@johnSmith-dv8nr]

Cal is all class.

[@1990westfalia]

Cal, every dad is going to ask their son to watch this. It doesn't matter the sport or part of life, they are in, it says the un-said. (I remember where I was on that night when...) Thank you Cal. Skillet

[@YouthIncSports]

Thank you for watching!

[@mjcb61]

As a mom I took 3 of my boys to a Royals game, mainly because they were playing the Orioles and especially to see Ripken. My boys stood along the 3rd base side with many many fans as Mr. Ripken signed autographs after the game. My 3 got close but Cal had to leave, but I smiled when my 3 said, boy he has blue eyes. They got close. I waited for them as they walked around looking for autographs when I realized I was by a bus that Orioles were getting on. I noticed a player was waving and I turned to see who it was but when I turned back around the player pointed at me and waved again. It dawned on me that it was Ripken waving at me. I smile to this day remembering that memory and just his kindness that night to a mom to take the time to wave. I talked to my 5 kids to make good choices, be kind to others, play hard and have fun and I think part of that was from following Cal and his amazing career. God bless you Cal Ripken. A little extra to this story from years ago, one of my boys got drafted by the Chiefs whose stadium was next to the Royals.

[@danlatus7413]

Your life’s work as a mom to 5 kids is so much more important than any professional athlete. God Bless you

[@cfdmedicmikerelfambo688]

I do this with my kids, Men always tell your kids you love them it’s means the world to kids

[@kevinshepardson6587]

The greatest ambassador of baseball in my lifetime.

[@MAB1907]

I am so glad I was able to see Cal play, what a good person he is ! Thanks so much for the wonderful memories Cal…. Enjoy your retirement…. You only get to go through life one time and you sir made the very best of yours and it just so happened millions got to watch it….🙏🙏

[@YouthIncSports]

Thank you for watching

[@danthurman9076]

Thank you very much for the memories Cal Ripken

[@alexiamottle4030]

Pure class act

[@jasonburdette6921]

I saw him play against White Sox in Chicago 2001. His last season

[@Curly34584]

What a Class act👍

[@onehandclapping3094]

I’ve always said this. It’s all about opportunities. He was given the opportunity to be involved early to learn from the pros. That’s huge. Look at how many major leaguers have relatives that were in the pros. It’s all about opportunities and contacts. There were probably 50 more Ripkens in college but none had those opportunities

[@MrWCLewis12]

This was fantastic! Well done everybody. Cal was the man.

[@pfeiffdog0811]

This man is why I as a lifelong Illinois resident am also a lifelong orioles fan.

[@user-oc1bq2mf3q]

Me too , me too. Just moved out to Virginia from Illinois at 39 . I can not wait to go to Camden yard

[@GuitarMatt]

​@@user-oc1bq2mf3q I've been gone from my Northern Virginia roots of springfield in Arizona for nearly 2 decades. I'm 50 and I remember going to the old Memorial Stadium (which is a longer drive from NoVa than it's current location, being right where you enter the stadium from I-95 .) Eutaw Street is a nice place outside of the stadium where you can buy food. or you can get it cheap from the illegal vendors in the parking lot of the place. Camden Yards in Baltimore and Jacobs Field in Cleveland started a new trend of building baseball stadium facilities old school looking ways that were very postmodern in as many areas as possible in the 1990s. Enjoy your stay at Camden Yards if you go up there, indeed

[@GuitarMatt]

​@@user-oc1bq2mf3q I've been gone from my Northern Virginia roots of Springfield in Arizona for nearly 2 decades. I'm 50 and I remember going to the old Memorial Stadium (which is a longer drive from NoVa than it's current location, being right where you enter the stadium from I-95 .) Eutaw Street is a nice place outside of the stadium where you can buy food. or you can get it cheap from the illegal vendors in the parking lot of the place. Camden Yards in Baltimore and Jacobs Field in Cleveland started a new trend of building baseball stadium facilities old school looking ways that were very postmodern in as many areas as possible in the 1990s. Enjoy your stay at Camden Yards if you go up there, indeed!! PS--Cal Jr, Cal Sr, and Billy were a fixture in the DC area in Baltimore area landscape for a few years in my teenage years

[@GuitarMatt]

​@@user-oc1bq2mf3qI've been gone from my Northern Virginia roots of Springfield in Arizona for nearly 2 decades. I'm 50 and I remember going to the old Memorial Stadium (which is a longer drive from NoVa than it's current location, being right where you enter the stadium from I-95 .) Eutaw Street is a nice place outside of the stadium where you can buy food. or you can get it cheap from the illegal vendors in the parking lot of the place. Camden Yards in Baltimore and Jacobs Field in Cleveland started a new trend of building baseball stadium facilities old school looking ways that were very postmodern in as many areas as possible in the 1990s. Enjoy your stay at Camden Yards if you go up there, indeed!! PS--Cal Jr, Cal Sr, and Billy were a fixture in the DC area in Baltimore area landscape for a few years in my teenage years

[@beevee4445]

A NY Yankees fan - but I watched this game on TV and always appreciated Cal as a tremendous player! Don't watch much BB anymore (too much politics).

[@deansapp4635]

Cal and I graduated high school in the same year. In our senior year, His high school baseball team played mine. Both teams were great teams. Cal s team won and he was their pitcher

[@gabriel-1957]

So sad his father didn't say Son,I love you 😢!

[@CarmonBenford]

i got to know a lot more about this amazing baseball player just watching this. i can see the reason why all the comments below are saying he was a man of class. his name came up a lot. i was focused on the Pirates as always so a lot of this stuff didn't even dawn on me. i think it was amazing he felt he had to get Rick Sutcliffe's input on whether to take a seat or not. i love Rick's response. If someone told me what he said, i'd play the next day.

[@dzanier]

It’s impossible to not like Cal Ripken.

[@garymauk2963]

A great career, but a good to sometimes very good player. Checked off a lot of the achievement boxes due to consistency.

[@FormerPBABowlerJoeJenkinsII]

Just like 9-11 where everyone remembers where they were, i remember where I was on cals last consecutive game streak. Not comparison. 9-11 and Pearl harbour are the worst things ever.

[@johnfarr2738]

Cal was the first athlete I truly idolized. Cal you saved baseball after that strike by breaking the consecutive games played record. So I got to thinking, which record in sports is going to be the hardest to break? 2131 or 894 goals scored in hockey? Keep in mind that currently Alex Ovechkin is Only 67 goals away from breaking Gretzkys record.

[@francopasta3704]

O is in a slump…

[@GuitarMatt]

Ovie! Go Caps!!

[@thomaswolf723]

I know that Cal and his fans do not want to hear this, but his OPS for the months of August and September throughout his career was considerably under his OPS for the months April through July. (see baseball- reference). Playing every day must have sapped him of a lot of energy.

[@darkstar92772]

Class act.

[@JohnBernard-xw8zo]

Great story

[@SillyGoose2024]

10:05-10:10 this interview represents the first time in world history that a baseball player used the words that make the sound "dugout" in a meeting completely different than the one you might think of

[@FormerPBABowlerJoeJenkinsII]

I never got to meet Cal but I have met Billy Ripken. My ex-sister-in-law was married to cal and Billy's first cousin. It didn't do me any good but my son thought it was the greatest thing ever. He would tell everyone that he was related to the Ripkens. It was funny because he was so young.

[@papagrantits]

Baseball needs another Cal.

[@skiphyatt3034]

Joe if you read these Awesome show and great job interviewing THANK YOU

[@YouthIncSports]

thank you for watching

[@TWO4Lyfe]

Maybe Joe gonna let people talk without cutting them off?

[@T.C.Clarien]

Sachio Kinugasa Broke Lou Gehrig's Record before Ripken in 1987

[@marknan5352]

Iron . Man .

[@ORagnar]

44:00 Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak is still going strong 83 years later, but Cal Ripken might have the hardest record to break in baseball. 2/24/24, 9:48 p.m.

[@waynejohanson1083]

Hardest record to beat in baseball history is Cy Young's 511 Wins. And even Connie Mack 50 plus years of managing.

[@TWO4Lyfe]

To a kid that grew up in Maryland, y’all have no clue how he was THE HERO to our generation. Everyone has to play short, we all wanted to be #8. When Eddie left town, Cal stayed.

[@OhCanadathebest]

Shut up

[@mjcb61]

I love these interviews.

[@FormerPBABowlerJoeJenkinsII]

Me too. Baltimore county and Anne Arundel county.

[@matthewzervas7308]

yeah and there was a local legend he hit a homerun over the train tracks from field three at Edgewood High School. He played for Aberdeen.

[@matthewzervas7308]

maybe it was field six. regardless, it was an astronomical distance. like no one could concieve of hitting it that far. those fields are probably not in the same configuration since the school was torn down and rebuilt behind the first foundation.

[@billmalec]

Long time Orioles fan. Grew up in Maryland. O's fan through his career. I may be biased but I think that was the best time for baseball. I don't watch today because pro sports has become political and players care about themselves and not the team. Thanks Cal.

[@jojofreelancer1210]

Still wears Os colors

[@jimgregory6185]

1983....the last time the O's won the world series. 40 years ago as of 2023. Ugh

[@chriscolfer2915]

I bought his candy bar in 1996. I tasted just like the Reggie Jackson candy bar

[@jonlate4581]

He said 'brainwarsh.' Spoken like a true Marylander.🤣👍

[@user-dv3do1od2r]

Playing 162 games on a bunch of losing ball clubs....wow

[@lukerville]

I thought this was Steve Wilkos

[@jimgregory6185]

STOP WITH THE ADS!!!!!

[@mustardseedist]

Luke 16:18

[@danacoleman4007]

No. Cal 6'4"

[@guntrader5652]

He was good but no Lou Gehrig. Not even in the same league. If lou didn’t get sick he’d of played in 3000 straight games with 700+ homers and 3500+ hits

[@matthewzervas7308]

terrible audio right off the bat. at least -18db. not even sticking around to see how many ads.

[@BrianHiggins-pi5fk]

There are no ads idiot,buy a new phone lol 🎉

[@darkstar92772]

I’ll never forgive him for knocking the ‘83 White Sox out of the playoffs.

[@MrBaltimoreRon]

You should because that was Tito Landrum, not Cal.

[@darkstar92772]

@@MrBaltimoreRon I was kinda speaking of the bigger picture. Him being AL MVP n’ all. Oh yeah, I was 10 years old. I’ve slept since then.

[@RRR-ox9ud]

Love Cal but you can tell he did something! His head is bigger than Bonds'

[@BrianHiggins-pi5fk]

You really are stupid

[@gregaschenbrenner946]

Z

[@planckervine2267]

I find it almost impossible to believe, given the time and the logistics, that PEDs did not play a part in the streak.

[@drbonesshow1]

Had Gehrig not faced ALS Ripken would be just another player unable to break Gehrig's consecutive game streak.

[@MarkColeman-og6no]

That's a 🃏 joke

[@patrickgray5633]

No way Gehrig as great as he was he would do quote artificial he led off a game once took 1 AB & was taken out of a game to rest his back. Ripken never did that played in games when he was tired & kept playing to the point where the press would write articles about "Geez Cal give it up 1100 straight games is enough your hurting the team cause he would hit .260 instead of .290." We shouldn't make a big deal about guys doing their job but we live in a era where guys take a day off after a week or 2. You can't have it both ways.

[@MrBaltimoreRon]

@@patrickgray5633 Also cancelled a home Yankees game at Camden Yards due to "Rain" even though it never rained. Cal was hurt that night, but this does not get out in the open.

[@brendanmoran1405]

Booooo. Went ON strike TWICE during the supposed "streak". Joke...like Bonds, McGuire

[@jimgregory6185]

And good riddance to his no good, cheating wife.

[@MrBaltimoreRon]

Nice Story Bruh, Kelly Never Cheated.

[@georgehardie2016]

Joe buck and his million questions about his dad wtf ask some better questions terrible interviewer

[@jamesdavis6036]

There's only one Iron-man. Lou Gehrig Lifetime B/A is .340, this guy .276. They put anyone in the HOF these days.

[@somerandomguy5977]

Gosh you are dumb. Using batting average to talk about two players in completely different eras and using absolutely nothing else to prove your point and not only that but complaining that they let anyone in the hall of fame when baseball has an extremely strict hall of fame and nobody got elected several of the past years is just ridiculous. Get your head out of your ass and fucking breathe, you've already lost enough braincells breathing in shit all day fuck.

[@MrBaltimoreRon]

Nice Story Bruh, Jelly Much???

[@jamesdavis6036]

@@MrBaltimoreRon Not at all, read much?

[@edgardoberlioz2168]

Iron looks like a heart ♥️ attack overweight

[@fasthomes7874]

Talk about being in the mafioso if you wanna be real. But, we wanna be fake . Whatsa Matta Joe? You seem a little nervous on this one. Is he made? Make you nervous?

[@catherinekelly532]

lay the bat across home plate and go SIT DOWN. My father saw Lou Gehrig, and you broke nothing Cal. No honor in you as you were not in league with Gehrig in any way

[@BrianHiggins-pi5fk]

Lol shut up idiot