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Cal Ripken

Cal Ripken Jr.

Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr.
Born:  August 24, 1960 in Havre De Grace, Md.
Debut: 1981 | Pos: SS/3B
H: 6'4" | W: 225 | B: R | T: R

Yr G AB H HR RBI SB BA
21 3001 1151 3184 431 1695 36 .276

>> Visit the Cal Ripken Jr. biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Cal Ripken's career as an active baseball player came to an end on Oct. 6, 2001 in an emotional ceremony at Camden Yards. His legacy, however, will long be remembered by Major League Baseball and Orioles fans. As part of the retirement ceremonies, Commissioner Bud Selig announced that MLB will award the Cal Ripken Jr. Award to any player who participates in all of his team's games in a season.

ALL-STAR: 1983-2000 All-Star MVP: 1991 and 2000
AWARDS: AL Rookie of the Year (1982), AL MVP (1983, 1991), AL Gold Glove (SS) in 1991 and 1992

Cal Ripken, Jr, born August 24, 1960,. lived out the dream of playing for his hometown team, the Baltimore Orioles. From 1981-2001, he wore an Orioles uniform for at  least part of the season. He will be remembered for his longevitiy and dedication -- and his record of most consecutive games played.

Ripken holds the Baltimore franchise records in games played, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, total bases, runs batted in and extra-base hits.

   Here's a breakdown of Cal Ripken's career, year by year.
 

  • 1981 - Ripken sees limited action with the Orioles following the conclusion of a players' strike. Ripken, however, was named the International League (AAA) Rookie of the Year despite the fact he was called up to the Orioles before the end of the AAA season.
  • 1982 - After just 18 games in the 1982 season, rookie shortstop Cal Ripken was batting .117 for the Orioles. However, he improved that total beginining at the first of May and finished the season with a .281 average. He holds the Orioles record for home runs by a rookie with 18. His efforts earned him the American League Rookie of the Year honor. Ripken's famed consecutive games streak and consecutive innings played streaks began on May 30.
  • 1983 - As a followup to his impressive rookie season, Ripken earned American League MVP honors and was named Player of the Year by the Sporting News. He also earned his first invivation to an All-Star game.Ripken set the Orioles record for hits in a season with 211 and batted .273 in the pots season as Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies in 5 games to capture the World Series. Ripken and teammate Eddie Murray combined to hit more than .300, more than 60 home runs and to drive in more than 200 runs. The teammates finished 1-2 in the voting for MVP.
  • 1984 - Ripken batted .300 again and set an American League for assists by a shortstop with 583.
  • 1985 - For the third straight year, Ripken collected more than 100 runs scored and finished second in the American League to Rickey Henderson. Ripken also broke Buck Freeman's record of consecutive innings played (5,342).
  • 1986 - For the seventh straight year, Ripken leads American League shortstops in home runs, runs batted in, runs scored and slugging percentage. For the first time since his arrival in Baltimore, Ripken leads the team in home runs and breaks Eddie Murray's string of leading the team.
  • 1987 - Ripken leads the Orioles in runs batted in, but ownership forces the end of his consecutive innings played streak. His brother, Billy, joined the Orioles lineup and the Ripkens become the first 2B-SS in baseball. Their father, Cal Ripken Sr., served as the team's manager.
  • 1988 - Ripken finished third in the league with 102 walks. Early in the season, Ripken had an 0-29 hitless streak. Beginning in Mid-April, however, he hit safely in 16 of 17 games (.571 average) and by May 8, he had raised his average from .047 to .316.
  • 1989 - On August 2, Cal and Billy Ripken combined for 7 hits in a game. The feat is second only to the Waner brothers who had 8 in a game. 
  • 1990 - Ripken committed only 3 errors in 161 games including an errorless streak of 95 games. On June 12, Ripken moved past Everett Scott and into second place behind Lou Gehrig when he played in his 1308th consecutive game.
  • 1991 - Cal Ripken became the only shortstop to that point, other than Ernie Banks, to hit more than .300 and have at least 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in. He earned the American League MVP and top honors from The Sporting New, Associated Press and Baseball Digest. His stellar season also included being named  All-Star Game MVP and earning a Gold Glove. He became only the 10th player in the history of the game to hit more than 30 home runs in a season and have less than 50 strikeouts.
  • 1992 - Following the stellar performance in 1991, Ripken had one of the least productive seasons of his career. His performance ended his chance to become the 6th person in major league history to hit at least 20 home runs in his first 11 seasons. Ripken was named the league's best defensive shortstop in a poll of Major League managers and he won his second Gold Glove.
  • 1993 - For the ninth time in his career, Ripken lead all major league shortstops in home runs. He also won his seventh  Silver Slugger award.
  • 1994 - Ripken rebounded to have his most productive season since 1991. He also hit .300 for the fourth time of his career.
  • 1995 - On September 5 and 6, Ripken tied and broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak. He also marked the occasion with a three-game home run streak on Sept. 4-6. For the first time ever, Major League Baseball used a special marked baseball in games to honor "Streak Week." At the end of the season, Ripken was named Male Athlete of the Year by both the AP and UPI. Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News both named his Sportsman of the Year and he made the list of People Magazine's 25 most intriguing people of 1995.
  • 1996 - Ripken played in 163 games and collected his 2,500th career hit on Sept. 9. On May 28 at Seattle, Ripken has his first 3 home run game. On June 14, he broke the world baseball record of consecutive games played when he broke Japan's Sachio Kinugasa's record of 2,216.
  • 1997 - Ripken moved to third base and was elected to his 15th consecutive All-Star Game.
  • 1998 - The streak officially came to an end on September 20 when Ripken asked Orioles Manager Ray Miller to remove him from the starting lineup. Ripken was elected to his 16th consecutive All-Star Game and his 15th consecutive start.
  • 1999 - For the first time in his career, Cal Ripken went on the disabled list. He played in 86 games that season and collected his 400th career home run. Ripken was also honored with selection to baseball's "All-Century Team."
  • 2000 -  On April 15, Ripken collected his 3000th career hit. He missed 59 games by going on the disabled list. He was elected to start the All-Star Game, but was unable to play due to injury.
  • 2001 - Ripken announced his retirement from the game. He started the All-Star Game and connected on a home run to win his second All-Star MVP honor.