European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 07, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday september 1995 sports the stars and stripes Page 33 ing is Streaky about Ripken by Thomas Boswell before the balloons Rose or the ovations began Long before Cal Ripken hit his instant legend of a Home run in his first at Bat after officially tying Lou Gehrig s consecutive games record Earl Weaver brought game no. 2,130 into Sharp focus tuesday night in Baltimore. To Start the evening Weaver threw out the ceremonial first pitch with Ripken As his Catcher. The great sex Oriole manager then walked to Home plate where every soul in the packed House at Oriole Park at Cam Den Yards could clearly see his symbolic gesture. The i l Genius took  out of his pocket like some knot Hole gang Ragamuffin and asked Cal to autograph the Ball  had to stand in Public embarrassed head Down unwilling to upstage his first manager and concede that he was now Connie Mary almost beyond question the Central figure in baseball and the most enduring hero in his generation of Ball players. -. ,. ,. As Ripken headed to the Baltimore dugout awash in yet another tumultuous standing ovation Weaver underlined his Point the Earl of Baltimore held up one Finger then pointed it at Ripken. He s number one. Sometimes the stage is set for drama yet the performance exceeds All reasonable expectations. This was such a night few will forget the ovations and the cur Tain Calls at least 10 before the night was done for Baltimore s Joyful labourer the Blue Collar yet regal shortstop who in this town is always simply Cal absolutely nobody however will forget Ripken s sixth inning Home run off the Angels Mark Holzemer. Just one inning earlier after the game became official Ripken had pointed to his family in the stands and wiped a tear from his Eye. After he d been called from the dugout a third time to wave to the crowd he put his hand Over his heart and patted his Chest showing the crowd How his heart was beating. Surely he was too full of emotion to do much hitting. In real life you can t just slug pm when Ever you want. Well maybe Ted Williams could in the last at Bat of his career. And Ripken did this night. Sometimes you re so close to the Forest that you Overlook the largest tree. For those in this Are who have had the pleasure of watching Ripken play hundreds of games it s easy to Overlook How dramatically his stature has grown. As the crowd s affection and Ripken s performance demonstrated again this night Junior has become one of the people in this country too few of whom inhabit professional sports who have built lives that stand for something and ring True year after year. As first base coach Al Bumbry said it s hard to be Lieve a that s come to pass. The first time i met Cal he was a boy. His father managed us at Asheville . Cal shined my shoes.". Ripken grew up dreaming that someday if he was Good enough he might become a minor league Ball player like his dad. Now in a twist of Fate that is beyond his ambitions or even his still modest sense of himself the former clubhouse boy has become bigger than Earl Weaver. Bigger than Jim Palmer. Bigger than Frank Robinson. Bigger even than his childhood idol and adult role Model Brooks Robinson. Reggie Jackson May have had a Candy bar named after him and Pete Rose might remain the hit King forever but will they be remembered far in the future in a Light As Cal Ripken signs first pitch Ball thrown out by sex Oriole manager Earl Weaver left before tuesday night s game. Friendly As Ripken few athletes grow with time. We can now be fairly certain that Ripken will for company in the last Quarter Century in baseball Ripken now has to look to Hank Aaron and perhaps Nolan  tying Gehrig s record Ripken has forced the sports world to re evaluate his whole career his character and his place in the game. The attention that others in the 1990s try to attract to themselves with Pink hair and tattoos Ripken has gotten by Merit. And without seeking it. Unlike Gehrig who even Cut a few Corners to keep his Streak alive Ripken has set himself the higher Stan Dard of insisting that if he was t healthy enough to Start a game he would t maintain the Streak with a Token appearance. 7 ". I read All 21 pages on Cal in the orioles Media guide this afternoon said former big league manager Jeff Torborg. I was stunned at what he s accomplished. When you put it All together it s enormous. I had no idea of All the Fielding records he d set the number of Home runs the consistency every  it in t just Gehrig that Ripken has passed. How Many people Ever expected a player to hit 300 Home runs As a shortstop someday he May have 100 More homers than anybody else who Ever played his spot. Who believed that a shortstop could make just three errors in an entire season for that matter who would have dreamed that a Gold Glove Quality shortstop would Over a 13-pus-Seasori Span have More extra base hits than any player in baseball just As important Ripken has grown up before our eyes especially this season. Grown in maturity. Grown in Public bearing and private  he has re invested words like responsibility arid dedication with their appropriate weight. By serving As i constant contrast he s also made those whose performance is i Slipshod or whose behaviour is selfish seem lightweight. Liri Sumi Ripken has been measured against Lou Geh Rig in the Scales of popular culture and has been found adequate. That s doubly incredible considering Geli v Rig s legendary Yankee status and tragic do Ith. For some a Small sidelight on this night had a gentle poignancy. As Ripken stood in a Semi Crouch behind Nome plate waiting for Weaver s ceremonial pitch he looked a great Deal like another familiar Oriole figure. Calvin s posture his gestures his  Atti tude of focused yet relaxed anticipation evoked Aneth. Or Ripken who warmed up Oriole pitchers for decades. Junior looked so much like an enlarged version of senior that the year might have been 1965 or 1975. This was a night of pomp for Ripken. But it was not a Celebration of celebrity. Like the 2,129 games that preceded it Ripken s work this evening was a Testa. Ment to the kind of Strong simple unashamed Ameri can values that would have been familiar and self Evi Dent to the red stockings of 1869. _ _. " the Washington Post the game Cal Ripken hugs Emma Nelson born on May 30, 1982, the r Ken said a Ripken began Bis record Streak. A Ripken from Page 36 Jett a Maryland native. I Don t know How everyone else feels but i m exhausted. I m even considering taking a few weeks off Ripken told the fans after the game drawing laughs. You know i la be Here  the whole event meanwhile was merely a prelude to what was Corning wednesday night. Ripken was set to pass Gehrig s Mark when the orioles again played California. A flood of Black and Orange balloons was unleashed As soon As the Angels were retired in the top of the fifth inning tuesday making the game official. It was a very powerful moment. It got to me a Little bit More in the dugout in. _ a cartoon of  and Gehrig was shown on the Center Field scoreboard accompanying the dozens of hand written signs fans brought and Ripken acknowledged the prolonged cheers by waving to All parts of the Park. He  another standing ovation when he trotted out to shortstop to Start the sixth and Shook hands with Sec Ond base Umpire Greg  was rare to see Cal not in total control said former teammate and current Angels infielder Rene Gonzales who took part in the ceremonies. I was watching him during the unveiling of the numerals on the warehouse and he was kind of shaken  Ripken hit his second Homer in two games in the sixth inning a drive to left off Mark Holzemer. He is 12-for-33 .364 during the Home stand. That has been dubbed Streak  Brady Anderson homered twice and doubled for the orioles who were 1-6 on the Home stand. Baltimore had six Hom ers one Short of the team record. The orioles got All the runs they needed in the second inning when they hit four Solo homers off Brian Anderson 6-8. Chris Hoiles started it off with a Lead off Homer. After Harold Baines flied out Jeff. Manto Mark Smith and Anderson connected to make it 4-0 and Start the Angels reeling toward their 13th loss in 15 games. Scott Erickson 10-10 pitched a three hitter in his fourth Complete game of the season tying Mike Mussina for the club Lead. Brian Anderson meanwhile is q-6 with a 10.86 Era in his last seven starts while Ripken contends the Streak that started May 30, 1982, is merely a product of showing up every Day to work and some Luck others clearly recognized its significance. President Clinton and vice president Gore were set to see the record breaker never before have the nation s top two executives attended the same game out Side Washington