BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Fans, Players Are Backdrop for Ripken Feat

A plane chartered by Turner Roofing flew over Camden Yards on Monday trailing a banner that seemed to express the sentiment of what is being called Streak Week here. It read: “God Bless Cal.”

The earthly message from an announced 42,086 was delivered via frequent and sustained applause.

Cal Ripken Jr., the poster boy for this or any Labor Day, heard it before each at bat, was lured out of the dugout to acknowledge it after hammering his 13th home run and responded to a standing ovation with repeated waves when he took his position at shortstop before the sixth inning of a game the Baltimore Orioles lost to the Angels, 5-3.

The end of the Angels’ nine-game losing streak may not have been quite as momentous as the continuation of Ripken’s streak of consecutive games played, but when Troy Percival, the Angels’ flame-throwing set-up man, knocked Ripken away from the plate in the seventh inning, it may have signaled a reawakened aggressiveness by the American League West leaders.

The crowd, of course, expressed displeasure with Percival after cheering loudest before that sixth inning, when the game became official, and the banner hanging from the warehouse behind the right-field bleachers that tracks Ripken’s streak was updated from 2,128 consecutive games to 2,129.

Ripken can tie Lou Gehrig’s major league record tonight and break it Wednesday night.

Brian Anderson, who pitches for the Angels tonight and was in the fourth grade when Ripken began his streak in 1982, reflected on teammate Percival’s courage Monday and said of Ripken:

“If you hit him and ended his streak, you might not be around long. You might have to change your name and go into the witness protection plan.”

Ripken has been hit only twice this year but 45 times in his career. He left without comment after Monday’s game, the Orioles implementing a 24-hour respite from a year of media grilling.

“No one wants to hit him and no one wants to see him lose the record, but you can’t keep putting the ball over the middle of the plate,” Percival said of the hanging curveball that forced Ripken to retreat.

“I applaud him and stand in awe of him too, but if the choice is winning a game or continuing his streak, I’m going to do what I have to do to win the game.”

A rookie-of-the-year candidate, Percival got Ripken on a fly to left while pitching two flawless innings before Lee Smith saved it.

On Sunday here, the Seattle Mariners had showed their respect for Ripken by standing on the top step of the dugout and applauding with the crowd when the warehouse banner was changed in the fifth inning.

Ripken seemed visibly shaken behind his sunglasses and later said, “It especially makes you feel proud when your peers support you that way. It’s great, but I’ve been lost at times. The ovations get longer and louder. I’m appreciative, but I don’t know what to do.”

Mired in their slump, the Angels had other things on their mind when the banner was changed. They didn’t join the applause, but Gary DiSarcina spoke of the respect they hold for Ripken.

Sidelined by torn thumb ligaments, an injury of the type his counterpart with the Orioles has avoided for more than 13 years, DiSarcina said Ripken’s test of will and ability is primarily a players’ record, appreciated most by his peers.

“Fans who come to a couple games a year can’t quite grasp what it is he’s doing,” DiSarcina said. “It means more to the players because that’s what you strive to do--play every day, and a lot of things can stop you, whether it’s poor performance, injury, a death in the family. That’s why players respect him. That’s why Seattle gave him a standing ovation. Ask anyone who the most respected . . . player in the game is, and invariably the answer would be Ripken.”

The fans do seem to grasp it. Their support of the hometown boy has been growing by decibels. Scalpers are getting $1,500 for some tickets to tonight’s and Wednesday night’s games. Supplemental box seats funding a research program for ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease and costing $5,000 are sold out. Ripken T-shirts and other items fill stores and kiosks around Camden Yards.

There will be a parade in Ripken’s honor on Thursday and there is already a parade of players into Manager Phil Regan’s office, begging to be in the lineup and part of it these next two nights.

“The box score will be the full front page of the paper. We all want to be part of it,” said Mike Mussina, who pitches Wednesday and has been hoping to get this start since July.

“When I’m older and I recount the greatest things that happened to me, I’ll say getting married, having children and pitching the day Cal broke the record.”

Mussina will be there when Ripken does it, but he is otherwise a little ahead of himself. He is neither married nor a father.