The life and times of Cal Ripken could not be adequately captured in a 15-minute pregame tribute.
But the White Sox organization succinctly paid homage to the retiring future Hall of Famer before Sunday’s series finale with the Baltimore Orioles. An appreciative Comiskey Park crowd of 34,588 honored him before his final game in Chicago, which turned out to be an 11-3 romp for the Orioles.
While the tribute appeared almost fittingly understated, it overshadowed the Magglio Ordonez bobblehead dolls that were given to the first 10,000 fans in attendance and contributed to the attendance.
Ripken announced June 19 that he would retire at the end of this season. Comiskey Park was the first of the “last” ballparks he will be playing in this year.
“The last few springs, I’ve been asked retirement questions and it was asked, `How would you feel about a farewell tour?'” Ripken said at the start of this series. “It’s been very alien for me to think in those ways. But I also said once I arrived at that decision, I’m the kind of person that I’m not going to hold it in, but I’ll make it be known.
“The ramifications of making [the decision] known is that you set yourself up for more attention in a city. Maybe I’ll have a chance to actually celebrate the last time [I] come into a city and look around. You appreciate things that maybe you’ve taken for granted all these years you’ve played.”
Baseball fans across the country certainly have not taken Ripken for granted over the last 20 years. Here is Sunday’s timeline of events of Ripken’s last stand at Comiskey Park.
10:40 a.m.–Ripken hits the breakfast buffet in the Orioles clubhouse, snagging a glass of orange juice to wash it down.
11 a.m.–Gates open at Comiskey Park and about 1,000 fans rush down behind the Orioles dugout for a chance to catch a glimpse of the 40-year-old iron-man infielder.
11:56 a.m.–Ripken sits on the steps of the visitors dugout to give a television interview to Major League Baseball.
12:05 p.m.–Ripken takes some swings in the batting cage under the stands near the White Sox clubhouse.
12:30 p.m.–The White Sox scoreboard video screen displays a tribute to Ripken.
12:49 p.m.–Ripken trots out to short right field to warm up by stretching and sprinting as fans applaud.
1:08 p.m.–Harold Baines, Chico Carrasquel and Roland Hemond present Ripken with a chair from old Comiskey Park and a vial of dirt from the shortstop area. “I think I have a case somewhere for a jar of dirt,” Ripken says after the game.
1:10 p.m.–The Comiskey Park scoreboard explodes, marking the first time in park history a visiting player has been given that honor.
“[The pregame ceremony] got me juiced, it got me excited. I almost forgot about the game,” Ripken said after the game. “It all came off very nice, very warm.”
1:32 p.m.–Ripken steps to the plate for his first at-bat as fans stand to applaud. Ripken draws a walk from Rocky Biddle to load the bases as the Orioles go on to score two runs in the second inning.
2:56 p.m.–Ripken is safe on an infield single to deep shortstop, loading the bases before the Orioles score in the sixth inning.
3:35 p.m.–Ripken singles sharply to left-center off left-hander Ken Vining in the Orioles’ three-run seventh.
3:43 p.m.–The Sox announce that the bases used in Sunday’s game, bearing Ripken’s No. 8 and autographed by Ripken, have been auctioned to a fan for $5,200, with the proceeds going to the charity of Ripken’s choice.
4:35 p.m.–Ripken leads off the ninth inning for his final Comiskey Park at-bat as fans give him yet another standing ovation. Ripken removes his batting helmet and acknowledges the ovation before stepping back into the batter’s box.
“For my last at-bat, I said to myself, `Well, the game has been going on for so long . . . “‘ said Ripken of his gesture.
He collects his third hit of the day, an infield single to deep short to finish the day 3-for-4, raising his batting average to .227. Ripken entered this season a career .276 hitter.
“My first [major-league] hit was an infield hit against Chicago,” Ripken later recalls. “So maybe it is appropriate that my last hit in Chicago is of the infield variety.
“I wanted to get some hits; I wanted to do well. You want to be part of a winning effort. That’s a memory you will carry as your last visit to Chicago.”
5 p.m.–Ripken stops to sign autographs for fans lined up next to the Orioles’ dugout immediately after the game.
Ripken’s enduring baseball legacy will be his record streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. In 1995 he broke Lou Gehrig’s mark of 2,130.
“I thought my 7-year-old boy (Ryan) would be a little more upset because he’s so crazy into baseball,” Ripken said of his decision to retire. “But he saw the opportunity that I would be home. I talked to him a lot about that. It’s important for me to be home.”
STATS & STUFF
HISTORIC NUMBER
18
That’s how many players were in the major leagues when Cal Ripken’s consecutive-games streak began in 1982 and were still in it when the streak ended on Sept. 20, 1998. Of those 18, only six are playing now–Harold Baines, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Doug Jones, Jesse Orosco and Tim Raines.
DEFENSIVE NUMBER
.979
His career fielding average as a shortstop. In 2,302 games he made only 225 errors in 10,628 chances and owns seven major-league and four American League records for fielding by a shortstop, including highest single-season percentage (.996 in 1990) and fewest errors (three in 1990). He won Gold Gloves in 1991 and ’92.
BAD STAT
It certainly isn’t a record he would want, but Ripken is the all-time leader in grounding into double plays with 335. He passed Hank Aaron’s 328 last year to set the major-league mark after breaking Carl Yastrzemski’s American League record of 323 in 1999.
STAYING HEALTHY
From the start of his 2,632 consecutive games, which began May 30, 1982, until Ripken went on the disabled list for the first time on April 20, 1999, major-league players made 5,045 trips to the DL.
FIRST IN THEIR HEARTS
Ripken is the all-time Orioles leader in nine categories–games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, total bases, RBIs and extra-base hits.
WHERE HE RANKS ALL TIME
Games: 10 (2,975)
At-bats: 6 (11,285)
Hits: 17 (3,118)
Home runs: 29 (421)
RBIs: 18 (1,652)
Runs: 33 (1,625)
Doubles: 12 (594)
Total bases: 12 (5,063)
ELITE CLUB
Ripken is only the seventh player to collect 3,000 hits and 400 home runs and only the second to do it exclusively in the American League.
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PLAYER HITS HRS
Hank Aaron 3,771 755
Willie Mays 3,283 660
Eddie Murray 3,255 504
Stan Musial 3,630 475
Dave Winfield 3,110 465
Carl Yastrzemski 3,419 452
Ripken 3,118 421
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BEST AND WORST–BY PARK
Comiskey Park is not a favorite of Ripken’s. His average there was the lowest for any American League stadium in which he played.
BEST
.323 at Metrodome
.305 at Fenway Park
.291 at Ballpark at Arlington
WORST
.223 at Comiskey Park
.243 at Tropicana Field
.248 at Oakland Coliseum
AGAINST THE SOX
ALL TIME AT COMISKEY
Average .258 .223
At-bats 761 197
Hits 196 44
Home runs 32 5
RBIs 112 19
– Lee Gordon.
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