Tag Archives: Cal Ripken

June 18, 2024

Best Living

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With the passing of Willie Mays, it’s a tough decision on who takes the mantle of greatest living ballplayer. When Joe DiMaggio died, Mays was pretty much a lock to take over. It may very well be Barry Bonds, which would be fitting since Mays was a second father to him. I don’t think people would go for that due to the steroid issue, however. It might also be Pete Rose, who has his own scandals weighing on him.

A friend and I are spit-balling names, and our list includes, in no particular order:

Griffey would fit the mold of the great centerfielder. Ryan pitched extremely well into his 40s. Ripken transformed the position of shortstop. Brett and Schmidt were great hitters and great defenders at the hot corner. Henderson was known for his speed, but hit for plenty of power. Pujols and Trout simply put runs on the board. Maddux may be the best pitcher I’ve ever seen. Cabrera led the Marlins to a World Series title his rookie year and went on to win a triple crown.

I’m sure you can think of others, please leave names in the comments. I think this is a much tougher choice than we faced in the late 1990s.

Update: Should have included Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter.

July 6, 2021

Best Batter Today

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Washington’s 7-5 win over the Padres produced two top five players in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Fernando Tatis Jr.of the Padres homered in five trips to the plate to stay on top of the leaderboard. Trea Turner of the Nationals went two for four with a walk and a home run to move into the fifth slot. With Carlos Correa still fourth after a night off for Houston, three shortstops are among the best hitters in the game.

Sunday at a Shiva I ran into a friend of a friend, and we started talking baseball. He had not been to a game for a while, but recently went to a major league stadium. The thing that stood out to him was how much bigger the players looked than he remembered. When I was young, it was thought that tall players did not make good shortstops, as the height took away from defense. Ed Brinkman, who was six feet tall and a good shortstop moved the needle a little bit away from that, then Cal Ripken Jr. at six feet four inches blew that out of the water. Today, shortstops can be big, powerful, and good defensively. Tatis stands six feet three inches, Turner six feet two inches, and Correa six feet four inches.

Vladimir Guerrero remains second as the Blue Jays took the day off. Max Muncy of the Dodgers sits in third place as he did not start in a 5-4 Miami victory.

The best game score of the day goes to Ben Gamel of the Pirates, an 82. Gamel hit the Braves for a three for five night with a double and two home runs, driving in six. The Pirates take the game 11-1. Gamel is not having a great year overall, but his slugging picked up since joining the Pirates with an isolated power of .225.

October 8, 2013

Another Ripken to Manage?

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Cal Ripken sounds very open to managing the Nationals. Ripken literally grew up in the organization, with his dad as a coach, and then Cal as a lifetime player. That was when the Orioles were a model club. They did everything the same from the major league team down to rookie league. When an Orioles player came to the majors, he already knew how the team executed cutoffs, pick-offs, double plays, grounders to the first baseman, every fundamental skill the player needed. When the Orioles hired a manager from outside the organization (I think it was Phil Regan), he tried to change the way the team did cut-offs. Ripken over-ruled him and made the team go back to the way they had been trained since the minors. (That’s probably why Regan only lasted a year.)

Ripken reputation will certainly command respect in the clubhouse. Like Don Mattingly, his work ethic and dedication to the game in unquestionable. None of that will necessarily make him a great manager, but it gives him a leg up.

July 25, 2012 June 6, 2012 April 24, 2012

Ripken on Jeter

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Cal Ripken believes Derek Jeter will get close to 4000 hits:

“When it’s all said and done, he’ll be pushing close to 4,000 hits,” said Ripken, who amassed 3,194 hits, 66 more than Jeter. “I don’t know if he’ll get to Pete (Rose)’s record (4,256), but he’s sure going to be passing a lot of people.”

Of course, it’s easy to predict these things when Jeter is hot. He’ll need to continue to play well until the end of his current contract to get a chance at reaching that number.

January 17, 2011

Selling the Orioles?

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Via Inside Charm City, the Orioles may be working on a sale to Cal Ripken that would take place in about two years:

According to celeb-O’s fan, Roy Firestone, he received some possible inside information that indicated Peter Angelos might be readying the Orioles for a sale to local investors. Better yet, the group is supposedly headed by Cal Ripken.

Thanks to Jeff Quinton for the link.

On Saturday night, Firestone attended an event with Orioles greats, such as Brooks and Frank Robinson. The event provided Firestone with his information on the possible upcoming sale of the ballclub.

Firestone has been quick to point out his “source” is confidential. However, he has also identified this same source as one of credibility in past dealings – and, one who has the connections to know such information.

Like Nolan Ryan, Ripken stayed in the game with ownership in minor leagues. I like this trend of former players moving into ownership positions. It’s one more reason to believe in long term labor peace.

The first half of Angelos’s reign was highly successful, with the building of the new ball park and perennial winning teams. Poor baseball decisions during the last decade hurt attendance, and the team has not recovered. Ripken might be getting the team at the right time as Buck Showalter and a group of talented youngsters could be a recipe for success.

Correction: I’m sorry Angelos did not buy the Orioles until 1993. I thought the bankruptcy happened in the late 1980s. That’s what I get for depending on my memory rather than looking up facts.

January 5, 2011 September 20, 2010

Iron on Maple

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Cal Ripken, Jr. does not want to see maple bats banned:

“I’ve been close enough as a third baseman that when the barrel comes flying at you and the ball is coming at you, you’re trying to make a choice of which one you want to go after,” Ripken said. “There are certain dangers on the field. I don’t think the dangers have gotten to the point where we need to overreact to them.”

Of course, being made of iron, Cal didn’t really need to worry about being impaled. He’d just rub some dirt on it and keep playing. 🙂