Cal Ripken Takes Final Swing Through Tampa Bay As Illustrious Career Winds Down

ST. PETERSBURG - Paul O'Neill had heard the rumor that late September night at Camden Yards. It was unthinkable. Cal Ripken was planning to take the night off.

``We're all thinking, `Yeah, sure, he's not going to play.' But then we looked over in the dugout after the Orioles took the field, and he was standing there. That's when it hit us.''

``The Streak'' was over. After playing in 2,632 consecutive major-league baseball games, Ripken asked then-Manager Ray Miller to leave him out of that night's game against the New York Yankees.

So, as O'Neill remembers, one guy stood, then another, and pretty soon all of the Yankees were on the dugout steps, looking in Ripken's direction, and applauding.

``It just seemed like the right thing to do,'' he said.

With Ripken's 20-year career now in its final stages - he announced his retirement a couple of months ago, effective at the end of this season - baseball again is trying to do the right thing. Ripken is being honored at every stop the Orioles make in his final laps around the American League.

For the next three nights, the Devil Rays get their turn to shower the Iron Man with thanks as the Orioles make their last trip of the season to Tropicana Field.

``He exemplified the Baltimore Orioles,'' said Rays hitting coach Wade Boggs, who came up with Boston in 1982, the same year of Ripken's first full season in the majors.

``Even though the Orioles have had some great players, he's the guy you think of when you think of the Baltimore Orioles.''

The tributes to Ripken mainly focus on his consecutive games streak, but he affected the game in other major ways. Before Ripken, shortstops primarily were valued for defensive skills, but he showed it was possible to be a superior glove man and a major offensive threat.

Before moving to third base in the latter half of his career, Ripken won two gold glove awards, and in 1990 set major-league records for fewest errors by a shortstop (three) and the highest fielding percentage at that position (.996).

That same season, he had 21 home runs - part of a 10-year run with 20 or more homers.

``He was very cerebral and knew where to play guys. He didn't have the great range of an Ozzie Smith or the flash of an Omar Vizquel, but he revolutionized the big man at shortstop,'' Boggs said.

Rays trainer Jamie Reed recalled a night in Seattle - June 6, 1993 - when the Orioles and Mariners brawled.

Reed, then an assistant trainer with the Orioles, thought Ripken's consecutive-games streak, then 1,790, would end short of Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130.

``He got blindsided in the fight and he had a pretty good knee sprain, a medial collateral ligament. The next day he hobbled in and was pretty sore,'' Reed said.

``But he got some treatment, went out and took batting practice, came back in and gave us the thumbs-up.''

Son Of A Baseball Man

Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. turns 41 on Friday. He was born in Havre de Grace, Md., the son and namesake of a lifelong baseball man, Cal Ripken Sr.

Cal Jr. was taken in the second round of the 1978 draft by Baltimore, and joined the Orioles on Aug. 8, 1981, after the conclusion of a players strike. In 1982, his first full season in the big leagues, he led all rookies in doubles, homers, RBIs, total bases, games and runs.

On May 30 of that year, his consecutive-games streak began.

``He was happy just being one of the guys,'' Reed said. ``He didn't look for special treatment. He always took the approach that if he was sore or hurting, he just wanted you to make him more comfortable. It was never a question of whether he was going to play.

``I think it was a byproduct of his folks. His dad was just a blue-collar grinder.''

Ripken was uncomfortable with the hoopla surrounding the streak. He literally had to be pushed out of the dugout by teammates to take his famous victory lap around Camden Yards, slapping hands with fans at the game on Sept. 6, 1995, when he broke Gehrig's record.

Instead, the game was the thing for Ripken. Not only playing, but playing the right way.

``His consistency is what I really respect,'' O'Neill said. ``That's what makes you successful, doing it over a span of 15-18 years. He's one of the most consistent players who ever played.''

Even now, as his career winds down, Ripken has displayed an impressive finishing kick.

It began with his dramatic home run at the All-Star Game and hasn't let up. In a four-game homestand last week against Kansas City, Ripken had eight RBIs. He had three game-winning home runs against the Royals in eight days.

``I say all hot streaks in my career have been similar,'' Ripken said. ``I feel comfortable standing in the box. I feel relaxed. I see the ball well coming in, and you've got a chance to get a hit. Right now, all those things are true.''

It will end Sept. 30, ironically enough at Yankee Stadium. Every stop along the way to that point brings tributes and fanfare - for players, as much as fans.

Rays rookie catcher Toby Hall recalled being at home plate for his first game in Baltimore earlier this month and watching as flash bulbs erupted when Ripken came to bat.

``I'll keep a tape of that game,'' Hall said.

Ripken Will Stay Busy

Ripken won't have any trouble finding things to do in retirement. He is active in youth baseball, and early next year, Ripken's pride - the Aberdeen Project, an international baseball academy complete with a 6,500-seat replica of Camden Yards - will open in his hometown of Aberdeen, Md.

Fans still will have their memories, though.

``When he hit that home run in the All-Star Game, I just shook my head. It didn't surprise me a bit,'' Reed said. ``We had an expression when I was in Baltimore: That's just Cal. That's what I thought when he hit that home run. I mean, that's just Cal.''

(C) (CHART) RIPKEN BY THE NUMBERS

2,632: Consecutive games played from May 30, 1982 against Toronto through Sept. 19, 1998 against the Yankees. The previous major-league record was 2,130 by Lou Gehrig. The world record was 2,215 by Sachio Kinugasa of Japan

8,243: Consecutive innings played over 904 games from 1982-87. It is believed to be the longest such streak in major-league history.

19: Number of Ripken's All-Star Game selections.

18: Number of players in the big leagues the entire time of Ripken's streak.

17: Number of seasons Ripken's consecutive-games streak spanned.

7,076: Number of points the Dow Jones Average rose on the stock market during Ripken's streak.

463: Second-longest consecutive-games streak for the Orioles, by Brooks Robinson.

7: Number of players in baseball history to collect 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.