Clipper Says the ‘Iron Oriole’ Still Has a Long Way to Go

Joe DiMaggio knew Lou Gehrig. And Cal Ripken is no Lou Gehrig.

Ripken, the Baltimore Orioles’ shortstop, is rapidly closing in on the consecutive-game streak of Gehrig, Hall of Fame first baseman for the New York Yankees. Should his streak continue, Ripken will pass Gehrig’s mark of 2,130 in early September.

“I wish Cal the best of luck,” DiMaggio told Art Rosenbaum, former sports editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, “but he still has a long way to go before he passes Lou’s achievement.”

Gehrig was an established star in 1936 when DiMaggio joined the Yankees as a much-heralded rookie center fielder. DiMaggio was given the stall next to Gehrig in the Yankee locker room and leaned on the star for advice and guidance.

But, by 1939, Gehrig’s last season, he was barely able to function because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, later more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

“He’d lean into me trying to get up,” DiMaggio said. “The man had an iron will and, yes, the heart of a lion. He dressed so slowly. He’d get up and go out and try. It was so sad. We knew he was sick, but we didn’t know why.”

Two years later, at age 38, Gehrig was dead.

“That man,” DiMaggio said, “was one of a kind.”

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Trivia time: Who held the consecutive-game record before Gehrig and what was it?

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Go figure: Despite the drafting of a league resolution that will help generate funds necessary to build a new football stadium for the Raiders in Inglewood, owner Al Davis insists he hasn’t made a final decision on a future home for his team.

Asked if he thought the Raiders would actually move into the new facility, scheduled to open in 1997, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said, “I’m a commissioner, not a seer.”

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Add Davis: Bud Adams, owner of the Houston Oilers and chairman of the NFL’s Finance Committee, was asked where he thought Davis might play over the next two seasons if he agrees to wait for the new stadium to be built.

“There are a lot of places out there,” Adams replied, “although I guess Irwindale doesn’t count anymore.”

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Fore! Asked his opinion of the Sports Illustrated cover of San Antonio Spur forward Dennis Rodman, NBA Commissioner David Stern said: “The fact that a national publication would chooseto do that on its cover is an interesting comment on what’s going on in journalism today. But I only read it for its golf anyway.”

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Trivia answer: Everett Scott, a shortstop like Ripken, played in 1,307 consecutive games.

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Quotebook: Chicago Bull Coach Phil Jackson, when told that parents were complaining about buying their kids No. 45 Michael Jordan jerseys only to have Jordan switch back to No. 23: “Buy them books.”