Major League Veterans Ripken, Tebbetts Die

Cal Ripken Sr., whose contributions to the Baltimore Orioles extend well beyond fathering and tutoring one of the best players in franchise history, died Thursday of lung cancer. He was 63.

Ripken died around 4:15 p.m. EST at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore with his family by his bedside. Ripken spent 36 years in the Oriole organization as a player, scout, coach and manager. He also found time to raise a family that included future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., a star with the Orioles since 1982, and former major league infielder Bill Ripken, who also played in Baltimore.

“We always talk about the Oriole Way. Cal Ripken Sr. was the one who indoctrinated every one of us who came in,” said Baltimore Manager Ray Miller, who served under Ripken as a pitching coach.

Ripken Sr. had leathered skin and a gruff voice, characteristics at least partially attributable to the fact that he was a heavy smoker. Back in the days when smoking on the field wasn’t taboo, he often cupped a filterless cigarette in his palm while watching batting practice or in the dugout.

Ripken taught Cal and Bill about baseball while serving as a minor league manager. He won 964 games in the minors and was 68-101 as manager of the Orioles in 1987-88.

“Cal Sr. played an important role in many of the successes of the Orioles. Players at all levels of development benefited from his vast knowledge of the game and his teaching skills,” then-general manager Roland Hemond said after Ripken was relieved of his duties as Baltimore’s third base coach in 1992.

Ripken Sr. was offered another job within the organization but instead retired.

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Birdie Tebbetts, who spent 56 years in the major leagues as a player, manager and scout, was remembered fondly by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

“For me, it’s like losing a member of my family. . . . I appreciate everything he did for me,” said Robinson, who won National League rookie-of-the-year honors in 1956 when Tebbetts managed the Reds.

Tebbetts died Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla., of congestive heart failure at 86.

The four-time all-star was a catcher from 1936-52 with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians.

From 1953-1965, he managed the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Braves and Cleveland. A heart attack ended his active days in 1965, but in 1968 he started a scouting career that lasted through 1994.

“Baseball has been so good to me and such a wonderful life,” Tebbetts told the Bradenton Herald last month. “I’d like to be remembered as a good father and a good citizen. But I am a baseball guy. That’s all I am. That’s all I ever was. That’s all I ever want to be.”