https:\/\/dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2100\/2025\/09\/08084311\/cal-with-brett-full.mp3<\/a><\/p>\nIn his conversation with Hollander, Ripken recalled several moments that he says remain as clear today as they were three decades ago.<\/p>\n
Among them was a silent but powerful exchange with his father, Cal Sr., who watched from a nearby skybox.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no words that were said,\u201d Ripken remembered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just body language. It was pointing at each other, acknowledging the record\u2026 it felt like there was like a thousand \u2018I love you\u2019s\u2019 coming through that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other standout memories included his children throwing the first pitch, teammates Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Bonilla pushing him out of the dugout for the curtain call and, above all, playing well on the field.<\/p>\n
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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND \u2013 SEPTEMBER 06: Cal Ripken Jr. hugs his son Ryan after a ceremonial first pitch during his 2131 ceremony ahead of the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 06, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ripken hit two home runs over the course of the series, emphasizing that his performance, and his team\u2019s, mattered as much as the celebration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was going to choreograph how that night would have gone, we\u2019d be battling for the playoffs,\u201d Ripken said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we played a nice spoiler role\u2026 the reason you get to play every day is that you\u2019re deserving of playing. So I wanted to do well personally, and I wanted our team to do well, and we both did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of moments that you get in a flashback sort of way. I mean, coming in the dugout\u2014you\u2019ve got Dad\u2019s plaque over there now. So, I mean, you stand right above here and point up to the skybox that was right behind us. And that memory was pretty\u2026 there were no words that were said. It was just body language. It was pointing at each other, acknowledging the record, and he was there.<\/p>\n
But it felt like there were a thousand \u2018I love you\u2019s\u2019 or something coming through that. So that one. Rafi and Bo pushing me out the corner of the dugout\u2014that was cool. My kids throwing out the first pitch and then showing them the shirt, I thought that was really cool. Playing really well and winning was super important for me.<\/p>\n
If I was going to choreograph how that night would have gone, we\u2019d be battling for the playoffs. We\u2019d be first place in the tough series with California. In the end, California was battling for the playoffs, and we were kind of back a little too far. But we played a nice spoiler role. So if we\u2019re going to celebrate it, you\u2019re celebrating the reason you get to play every day is that you\u2019re deserving of playing.<\/p>\n
So I wanted to do well personally, and I wanted our team to do well, and we both did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ripken also reflected on the presence of Joe DiMaggio, who attended the record-setting game and offered a rare comment: \u201cAll records can be broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something really majestic about Joe DiMaggio,\u201d Ripken said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne last image I have from 2131 was DiMaggio, who did not speak a lot. But you want to talk about the magic of baseball\u2014someone connecting the dots between his former teammate, whose record you just broke.<\/p>\n
Oh, by the way, DiMaggio might be the only other guy who has an unbreakable record. Maybe, maybe not. He said that night, \u2018All records can be broken.\u2019 But you want to talk about the magic of baseball, and kind of this connection between Lou Gehrig, DiMaggio, and a great night in Baltimore with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was this eerie connection\u2026 and the atmosphere that year was really unique. We just came off a strike, the cancellation of the World Series, and I think the fans were still trying to find something they really liked. A lot of them attached to the concept that I was going after this old record.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ripken likened the environment to a \u201cfestive World Series-type atmosphere,\u201d with baseball icons like Hank Aaron and even President Bill Clinton in attendance.<\/p>\n
But the durability of Ripken\u2019s streak, 2,632 consecutive games, wasn\u2019t without critics with some questioning\u00a0whether his pursuit of the record came at the expense of the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think in some ways\u2014and maybe I\u2019m getting way too philosophical on this\u2014but the atmosphere during that year was, we just came off a strike, the cancellation of the World Series, and a lockout. And I think the fans were still trying to find something that they really liked.<\/p>\n
And I think a lot of them sort of attached to the concept that I was going after this old record when baseball was a sport, you know, not this big form of entertainment or not this big form of business. And it seemed like Joe DiMaggio made that work with his presence.<\/p>\n
I think Hank Aaron was here. I can\u2019t remember all the people that were here. I mean, obviously, Bill Clinton was here both nights\u20142130 and 2131. It did have a really festive, World Series\u2013type, Opening Day\u2013type atmosphere. And it felt really good to compete under that environment, but also do really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the 2012 night the Orioles unveiled his statue, Ripken\u2019s brother Bill delivered what Cal called \u201cthe best speech\u201d defending him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBilly articulated pretty well\u2026 it\u2019s actually the opposite,\u201d Ripken said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou show up each and every day to try to meet the challenges of today. And Dad made sure that you came to the ballpark each and every day ready to play. The managers created the streak. That\u2019s who did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And I never heard it laid out so firmly and so succinctly. And to paraphrase, he said: \u2018The selfish ballplayer takes off when they\u2019re in a slump, day game after a night game, and Roger Clemens is on the mound, and he\u2019s okay and doesn\u2019t want to go 0-for-5 with three punchouts. The selfless player, the good teammate, says: I\u2019m still the best option. If I am, I can still help this team in some way.\u2019<\/p>\n
I thought that was the most well-articulated point to any critic of the streak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hollander closed by asking Ripken, \u201care you really Iron Man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast one, and to me, Ben McDonald\u2019s told so many stories about this over the years.<\/p>\n
The big question I have\u2014obviously there\u2019s a huge amount of determination and work ethic within you\u2014but are you, in fact, an Ironman?<\/p>\n
Because Big Ben says that you were hit with fastballs that didn\u2019t leave bruises, that you would go and do things that didn\u2019t actually physically affect you as it would other players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ripken credited genetics and a family trait of resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad was like that,\u201d Ripken explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got hit in the face with a line drive\u2026 went to the hospital\u2026 came back and you couldn\u2019t tell whether he got hit or not. I was blessed with good genetics. Sometimes you couldn\u2019t see a mark [from an injury]. I was blessed with being able to heal really well and maybe endure some of those nagging injuries that would take other people out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thirty years later, Ripken\u2019s record still stands, a testament not only to his durability, but to his daily commitment to the game.<\/p>\n
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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND \u2013 SEPTEMBER 06: Cal Ripken Jr. prepares to catch a ceremonial first pitch from his son Ryan during his 2131 ceremony ahead of the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 06, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thirty years after he passed Lou Gehrig to set Major League Baseball\u2019s consecutive games record, Cal Ripken Jr.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[88510,88514,88503,88506,88504,88501,88515,88513,88511,88512,88502,88508,88507,363,88509,88505,99],"class_list":["post-141867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baltimore-orioles-history","tag-brett-hollander-interview","tag-cal-ripken-2131","tag-cal-ripken-consecutive-games","tag-cal-ripken-ironman","tag-cal-ripken-jr","tag-cal-ripken-jr-30-years-later","tag-cal-ripken-jr-home-runs","tag-cal-ripken-jr-interview","tag-cal-ripken-jr-legacy","tag-cal-ripken-streak","tag-joe-dimaggio-baseball","tag-lou-gehrig-record","tag-mlb","tag-oriole-park-camden-yards","tag-orioles-30th-anniversary","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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