Streak Puts Ripken in Rightful Place : Oriole Makes His Mark in Baseball History Despite Criticism

He has spent more than seven seasons downplaying the idea that going to work every day is unusual. But Thursday night, after showing up 1,207 straight times, Cal Ripken’s remarkable consecutive-game streak took on historical significance.

When he took the field against the Toronto Blue Jays at Memorial Stadium, Ripken didn’t set a record, but he established a baseball endurance standard unequaled in the last half century.

Not since Lou Gehrig’s incredible 2,130 consecutive-game record ended 50 years ago has there been a streak of this duration. With Thursday night’s game, Ripken moved past Steve Garvey into third place on baseball’s all-time list, leaving only Everett Scott -- and 922 games -- between him and Gehrig. Scott played in 1,307 straight contests, between 1916 and 1925.

“Only a couple of us know what it’s like to have a streak of this length,” Garvey said from San Diego, where he conducts a daily radio talk show. “It says something about the commitment of the player, not only to the game, but to the fans, because they are the ones we play the game for. Cal has certainly done that; he’s made a statement for himself.”

Atlanta outfielder Dale Murphy, who held the longest active streak at 740 before he sat down three years ago, had lost track of Ripken’s streak. He expressed awe and amazement that the Orioles’ perennial All-Star shortstop was about to climb into third place on the all-time list.

“Wow,” said Murphy, when informed that Ripken was on the verge of passing Garvey. “I couldn’t do it. It didn’t work out for me, I needed time off. I was at the point where it was just enough to be a novelty.

“I think Cal’s has gone on long enough that it’s not a novelty any more. What are you going to do, ask him about it every day?” said Murphy, who admitted that the streak became a distraction to him. “But I can’t say it is for Cal. It’s bad when it gets to the point where you play even if you can’t help the team -- but I know that’s not the way Cal is, which makes what he’s done even more remarkable. My situation was, when I wasn’t hitting, I needed a day off, just like anybody else.”

The debate over the advisability of Ripken’s streak has subsided considerably since his streak of 8,243 consecutive innings was stopped two years ago, when his father, Cal Ripken Sr., the Orioles’ manager at the time, decided it was creating too much attention. But there will always be some who insist The Streak curtails Ripken’s offensive production, just as there will always be those who feel he should be playing third base instead of shortstop.

Ripken long ago learned to explain his durability by insisting his string of games was nothing more than a series of 162-game streaks. “Once a season ends, it has no bearing on what happens the following year,” he said.

“Looking at it, I’m proud of the fact that I’ve done it,” he said, “not because of the number of games, but because I can be counted on to play on a daily basis.

“Each of us is supposed to do an individual job, but at the same time each of us is counting on others to do their jobs. If you can’t pull your weight ... I think I’ll be smart enough not to do that.”

Ripken tries to keep all phases of the game in perspective at all times, and that includes The Streak and whatever effect it has on his play.

“I’m a pretty analytical person,” he said, “and I read things like Rick Dempsey saying I’d be more productive if I took some time off. Maybe that would be, we don’t know, but how does that translate to the team? Maybe my stats would be better, but would the team be any better?

“I get as much enjoyment out of turning a double play to help hold a lead as I do from hitting a home run,” said Ripken. “You don’t have stats to back it up, but perhaps I can still have a stabilizing influence.

“Selfishly, perhaps, my numbers might be a little better if I took some time off, but I prefer to dwell on the positive things.”

Since his first full season with the Orioles in 1982, Ripken has been asked only once if he wanted to sit out a few days. “Joe Altobelli asked me after we clinched the division in 1983, but I was going so good at the time I didn’t want to disrupt anything,” said Ripken.

Within an hour after the Orioles had won the World Series that year, Altobelli went to Ripken, draped his arm around his shoulder and said, “Cal, we’re not going to go through that again.” But the next year, under Altobelli, Ripken played every inning.

The following year The Streak started to take on significance and was threatened for the only time since it began on May 30, 1982. In the second game of the season, Ripken sprained an ankle and it appeared almost certain he would miss time.

“It was a Wednesday afternoon game,” he said, “I can remember that very clearly. The next day was an off day and we were going to play the Naval Academy, and the next game wasn’t until Friday night.”

Amazingly, Ripken, who turns 29 next Thursday, recovered and it wasn’t until 1987 that his streak of consecutive innings was halted, as much to stem the publicity as anything else. “That just started out as a note, but it kept getting magnified,” said Ripken. “The trouble with innings is you play them nine at a time and it doesn’t take long for them to get into the thousands.”

He wasn’t enthralled with the idea of sitting down then (he’s missed only 26 of the last 11,996 innings the Orioles have played), and still doesn’t prefer to be idle, but he admits that attention over The Streak has subsided.

Manager Frank Robinson “has asked me a couple of times if I wanted to come out (of a game),” said Ripken. “But when you’re going good you don’t want to stop because you’re afraid you’ll lose it, and when you’re going bad, you figure you might get it going again.

“The blowouts are the only real time you have to experiment,” he explained. “If the experiment works, then you leave the game with a good feeling. If it doesn’t work, it’s no big deal because things weren’t good to start with.”

Ripken made up his mind early that he would do whatever he could to enhance his career. “When I first came up, there were a lot of guys who were close to retiring,” said Ripken, ticking off names like Jim Palmer, Al Bumbry and Ken Singleton. “Somewhere along the line it seemed there was always some feeling of regret ... a lot of small things, nothing in particular.

“It seemed like I heard a lot of ‘ifs” -- if I had done this, or if I had done that. I decided then, that when my turn came (to retire) I didn’t want to sit back and say ‘what if.’ Of course, I already have one, because they’ll always wonder what if I had taken a rest now and then.

“I don’t play games because of the streak,” said Ripken. “I play because that’s what I do. If you start out the season saying you want to play every game, it’s like going to work every day, and when you play 162 it’s great. But when you start putting a few seasons together and gets up around 1,000, then things change.”

Ripken was asked if he could perceive himself playing just to keep The Streak alive (something even Gehrig did on occasion). “That’s difficult to answer,” he said with a smile, “but I hope not. It would border on doing something strictly for yourself. It wouldn’t be something I’d be proud of. It wouldn’t go along with what I’ve been saying all these years. It would be a contradiction, and something I might question for the rest of my life.”

But that shouldn’t be interpreted as an indication that a slump would be enough to get Ripken out of the lineup. He doesn’t believe you solve problems by not playing, and he does believe there is enough time for rest in the off-season.

The idea of one day challenging Gehrig’s record is still too far off to even comprehend. Ripken would have to play every day until midway through the 1995 season (when he would be only 34). To put Gehrig’s streak, and what Ripken already has accomplished, into perspective, consider that Ripken will own the third longest streak in baseball history when he plays one more game. To catch Gehrig he would have to put together another streak that would be the equivalent of the seventh longest in history.

When Ripken’s streak started there were three players still active who are now in the Hall of Fame -- Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Bench and Willie Stargell -- and current teammate Gregg Olson was in the ninth grade.

The man comes to play. Every day. And that’s all the recognition he expects from The Streak. “That’s what it means to me -- that I can be counted on to play on a daily basis,” said Ripken.