How Cal Ripken Became Baseball's Iron Man

[@big8dog887]

Here's how highly Ripken was regarded. Early in 1995, with the 1994 lockout still unresolved, the owners had plans to start the 95 season with replacement players. Ripken's streak was still about half a season short of Gehrig's record, which for decades was regarded as unbreakable. Had the owners gone through with "scab baseball", the player's association essentially told Ripken that he could cross the picket line and it wouldn't be held against him. Fortunately, it never came to that, but if it had, Ripken has said that he wouldn't have done it.

[@BBUYTTV]

Wow I've never heard that story. Thank is a great one!

[@robertjohnson9756]

That and orioles owner peter angelos said he wouldn't use replacement players and ruin all the years of cal's hard work

[@BBUYTTV]

@@robertjohnson9756 That is surprising coming from Angelos.

[@robertjohnson9756]

@@BBUYTTV yes extremely probably one of the only good things he did as orioles owner

[@BBUYTTV]

@@robertjohnson9756 luckily he is no longer the owner. Bright future right now for the Oriole’s

[@mrnosaj71]

He played with more heart than anyone I ever saw. I was 12 in 1983, I'm a Brewers fan but Baltimore owned that year! I remember watching Cal get the record and thinking wow... I saw him play knowing he was doing something that will never happen again.

[@BBUYTTV]

That is a great memory. Thank you for sharing.

[@terrancethomas9792]

My Dad, who passed away and was an Orioles fan, said the streak was a feat of will not of skill. I agree. Players need to take days off so they can refresh and hit better.

[@michaeldipietro5010]

If I remember correctly, then Cal restructured his contract several times so that he could stay in Baltimore which in turned allowed the team to seek players to fill out the lineup. This goes without saying, but he did play with injiuries over his career. They were more of discomfort than debilitating. He really knew who to take care of his body to endure consecutive 162 game seasons. He was certainly fun to watch year after year.

[@BBUYTTV]

No doubt!

[@zach7193]

This man was a inspiration to Jeter and other players after.

[@BBUYTTV]

He was an inspiration to many! Thank you!

[@XJapanGonnaGiveItToYa-cd4xj]

The streak is amazing but imagine how much better Ripken would have been if he actually rested when he needed rest. Orioles missed the playoffs by one game in '89 while Cal hit .234 down the stretch. There were time he definitely put the streak before the team's success.

[@BBUYTTV]

It's a great point that unfortunately is unanswerable. It is likely that his career would have been even better and even more impactful for the Orioles if he periodically took some rest. Though you really do have to admire him for wanting to be out on the field every day.

[@XJapanGonnaGiveItToYa-cd4xj]

@@BBUYTTV I think that in particular is a failing of baseball culture slow whittling mangers' authority down to almost none in today's game. The player SHOULD want to play every day. The manager should be the one to make the tough call and say "you're sitting today, son" We went through the same thing with Nick Markakis. Every year he'd play 159 games and trail off at the end of the year. And every year the GM/Manager would tell the press in spring training "we're going to rest Nick this year" and then that would never happen.

[@XJapanGonnaGiveItToYa-cd4xj]

@@BBUYTTV I'd also like to point out that the last two times Ripken hit .300 was the 114 game 1994 season and 1999 when he got hurt and missed half the season. He hit .340 as a 38 year old!

[@BBUYTTV]

@@XJapanGonnaGiveItToYa-cd4xj well said!

[@BBUYTTV]

@@XJapanGonnaGiveItToYa-cd4xj he was a gamer until the end!

[@학부모스포츠PTV]

👍👍👍

[@fliplife67]

I wonder if PEDS were use to break this record.

[@BBUYTTV]

Who knows? I guess you can’t rule anything out from that era. Hopefully not

[@fliplife67]

@@BBUYTTV It’s tough because he did play in steroid era of 90s.

[@BBUYTTV]

@@fliplife67 you are right. It hangs over all of the players from that era

[@smrtn240]

mmm no. Get your facts straight. There were tests done on every high caliber player. Ripken was always clean. His honest work ethic instilled upon him at an early age proves this

[@fliplife67]

@@smrtn240 you can take Roids just to heal faster.

[@1neOfN0ne]

Unless it's brand new or something, I don't understand how this channel doesn't have more subs. There are other baseball channels on YT, with MUCH less quality content than this, but somehow have 50x to 100x more subscribers. Either way, I just subscribed and I look forward to new content. 👍⚾🏟️

[@BBUYTTV]

Thank you! Really appreciate your kind words. We are new. We have only been up and running for about 7 months. Thank you for the comment!