In 21 seasons with his hometown Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken racked up some very enivable numbers:
3,184 hits. 431 home runs. 1,695 runs batted in. A 19-time All-Star, and two-time American League Most Valuable Plater.
But perhaps his greatest number was 2,632. That’s how many consecutive games Ripken played in,shattering the Lou Gehrig record of 2,130, 25 years ago this weekend.
I met him 11 years after he broke the record. He had just written a book called “Parenting Youth Athletes the Ripken Way.”
So here now, from 2006, Cal Ripken:
Cal Ripken retired from baseball in 2001. A year after our interview, he was electyed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s 60 now and still lives in Maryland.