Ripken Draws as Much Criticism as Acclaim

Within 24 hours, Nolan Ryan, at the age of 43, hurled his sixth no-hitter and Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 1,308th consecutive game, giving him the second-longest streak in history. They are two of the most amazing stories of endurance in baseball history. And yet Ripken has received nearly as much criticism as acclaim for his streak.

Many people in Baltimore have suggested that Ripken should sit out a game once in a while. They think he has worn himself out in pursuit of Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 games.

For whatever reason, Ripken has looked lethargic lately. Since May 18 he is hitting .171 (14-for-82). It goes beyond that, too. He is hitting .211 over his past 85 games (66-for-313) and .227 over his past 143 games (125-for-550), which date to June 30, 1989. Up until then, Ripken was a career .278 hitter.

If Ripken, 29, is fatigued, he will admit to being tired only of people making the connection between his streak and his slump.

“The easiest thing to say when you’re not going well is that you have to find a reason for it,” Ripken said Sunday. “It can’t be that you’re not swinging well or hitting well. Somebody has to find a reason, and usually the reason is the streak. I try to dismiss that. I don’t think that is a reason for anything, especially 50 games into the season.

“The biggest myth to the whole streak is the fact that you have played 1,307 games in a row. The most you can play in a row is 162 games, or if you’re lucky to be in the playoffs and World Series, you add a few more games. Then you get four months off like everybody else. If you would ask me what the streak is now, I would say 50-some games, or whatever it is we have played this year.”

Orioles Manager Frank Robinson at least has seen fit to rest Ripken for a few innings. He removed Ripken in the sixth inning Saturday night with his team ahead 10-1. Ripken has played the entire game in all but 12 games during the streak. But four of those games have come in the past three weeks.

Ripken’s streak began May 30, 1982. Twenty-two of the players who were active then are working as television or radio broadcasters. And since then, Ripken has played with 20 second basemen and 27 third basemen.

“I feel lucky and blessed that I’ve been able to stay away from injuries and that I’ve had enough talent to be in the lineup every day,” Ripken said. “I don’t want to look ahead. Whatever unfolds, unfolds.”

Ripken would have to play every game until June, 1995, to break Gehrig’s record. It is remarkable he has come this far, especially because he plays such a demanding position and because such dedication and reliability are unheard of these days. No other active player has played in even two years’ worth of consecutive games.

It is remarkable, too, that he has avoided freakish injuries. Just Friday, a teammate, Brady Anderson, tripped on a block that supported the batting cage and sprained an ankle. He is on the disabled list.

It will take some sort of disabling injury to stop Ripken. He will not let criticism or a batting slump end his streak.

“It would have to be a serious injury where I didn’t feel I could contribute anything at all offensively,” Ripken said, “or if I felt I would be a real liability in the field I would be big enough to say that I can’t play. It would have to be something physical, I guess, where I wouldn’t be able to contribute.”

Catching lightning in a mitt

One of the unusual aspects of Ryan’s six no-hitters is that he teamed with six different catchers. The first of them, Jeff Torborg, said he was denied a second Ryan no-hitter while with the Angels. It would have made Torborg the only catcher to catch five no-hitters. (Ray Schalk also caught four.)

“It was 1973, the year he had two others, and it was against the Yankees,” Torborg said. “Thurman Munson hit a pop-up near second base in the first inning. Rudy Meoli and Sandy Alomar went for it, and then each of them backed off, thinking the other would catch it. It couldn’t have bounced more than three feet from second base. It should have been an error on one of them. But they ruled it a hit and couldn’t change it later.”

The other five who caught a Ryan no-hitter are Art Kusnyer, Tom Egan, Ellie Rodriguez, Alan Ashby and John Russell. As the following chart shows, those guys were likely to be contributing to a no-hitter if they weren’t catching one. A Ryan no-hitter added luster to their otherwise undistinguished careers.

“It’s a nerve-wracking experience,” Torborg said. “You want it so bad for him that you just hope that you put down the right fingers for the right pitch. It’s something you never forget. It is special.”

AB H HR RBI AVG

Torborg 1391 297 8 101 .214

Kusnyer 313 55 3 21 .176

Egan 979 196 22 91 .200

Rodriguez 2173 533 16 203 .245

Ashby 4123 1010 90 513 .245

Russell 918 206 33 117 .224

TOTALS 9897 2297 172 1046 .232

Only clams go bad sooner

Yankees starting pitchers, like the cans of tomatoes they often resemble, should come with a freshness date stamped on them. Their shelf life is amazingly brief. “Good through April, 1990” would have been the stamp on Pascual Perez, who apparently has blown out his right shoulder.

The Yankees have endured an abysmal run of luck recently when it comes to starting pitchers. They signed Andy Hawkins to be their ace last year, and now they are considering his release or his demotion to the minors. They signed Perez, and his shoulder lasted all of three starts. They traded for Mike Witt, and he made five starts before his elbow went pop.

This sort of stuff has been going on for years. Here are some strange facts about Yankees starting pitchers since 1984:

--In those 6 1/2 seasons, the Yankees have tried 50 starting pitchers. In the same span, the Mets have used 27.

--Of the 50 pitchers to start a game for the Yankees from 1984 through this year, 26 are no longer in the major leagues.

--Here are the top five in games started in that time: Ron Guidry (118), Dennis Rasmussen (96), Tommy John (85), Phil Niekro (66) and Rick Rhoden (59). All but one of them are retired.

--Now that the Yankees have no use for Hawkins, they have just about guaranteed themselves a different team leader in wins for the seventh straight year. The past six, beginning from 1984: Niekro, Guidry, Rasmussen, Rhoden, John Candelaria and Hawkins.

--From 1984-88, 36 pitchers started a game for the Yankees. Only two of them are still in the Yankees’ system (Lee Guetterman and Dave Eiland).

Idleness cuts Darling’s value

If the Mets are going to trade Ron Darling and receive anything of value, they first must give him at least three or four starts. The club has found a weak market for Darling, who has been mediocre out of the bullpen. He is scheduled to start Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field.

One American League scout explained the low interest in Darling this way: “He can still pitch. But the thing is he’s going to need six to eight starts just to get himself back to where he should be. I’d be afraid of making a trade for the guy and then watch him struggle for a bunch of starts, which is what would happen.

“When you make a trade during the season, it’s usually because you need help right away. Darling won’t do that for you. It’s an awful big risk. Darling’s always been the kind of guy who starts slowly. It always takes him a month or so to get on track. He’s been so set back now that it could take even longer.”

Darling has a career mark of 9-9 in April. He is 79-50 thereafter.