One For The Book If Baltimore Forfeits, Ripken’s Streak May Be Saved

Cal Ripken has survived two sprained ankles and a baseball brawl that left him with a painfully twisted knee. In the past 13 seasons he has been hit by 43 pitches and bruised in dozens of collisions at the plate.

Through it all, the Baltimore Orioles shortstop played in 2,009 consecutive games - just 121 short of Lou Gehrig’s major-league record.

Now comes Ripken’s biggest challenge: Can The Streak survive The Strike?

The answer appears to be yes, thanks in no small part to Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who has refused to use substitute players while negotiations continue between the union and management. Baltimore is the only one of 28 major league franchises that does not have a replacement team preparing for opening day on April 2.

American League president Gene Budig, who once spoke of fining the Orioles and even seizing the franchise from Angelos, instead will likely force Baltimore to forfeit regular-season games in which it does not field a replacement team.

While that could prove disastrous for the Orioles in the standings, it will preserve Ripken’s pursuit of Gehrig’s record. Quite simply, if Baltimore doesn’t play, then Ripken will not miss any of his team’s games.

“If they forfeit those games, I’m under the impression that the streak will continue,” said Seymour Siwoff, general manager of the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of the major leagues.

“This is a decision to be made by Major League Baseball. They might discuss it with us, but we will ultimately do whatever they recommend,” Siwoff said.

The odds are favorable that Budig will rule in Ripken’s favor. After all, the cover of the league’s official media guide is a testament to Ripken’s pursuit of Gehrig’s record.

On the left side of the “Red Book” is a picture of Ripken peering from underneath a batting helmet. Facing him is a photo of a wistful Gehrig on the day he bade farewell to baseball. Inside is an explanation: “American League iron men face off … “

When Angelos decided against fielding a replacement team, much of his motivation came out a desire to preserve Ripken’s streak, which started on May 29, 1982.

“The Ripken streak is something that concerns me. That streak is something that will be part of baseball for decades to come,” Angelos said. “I don’t think you sacrifice that if you can possibly avoid it, and it can be avoided here.”

Angelos, a Baltimore native, knows what Ripken has had to endure to keep the streak alive. The shortstop played through a sprained left ankle in April 1985 and rebounded from an ankle sprain he received while running out a double in September 1992. The biggest scare came in 1993, when Ripken twisted his right knee when his spikes got caught in the infield grass during a melee between Baltimore and Seattle.

“It was the closest I’ve come to not playing,” he said later that season.

Ripken hasn’t asked for a day off in the past 12 years. He figures if he’s going to the ballpark, he might as well play the game. That’s one reason why Ripken has missed only 148 innings over those 2,009 games.

Long ago, it became apparent that the streak would end only if Ripken was in too much pain to drag himself onto the field. No one could even imagine that his celebrated quest might be shot down by a labor dispute.

“People talk about Hank Aaron’s 750 homers, but for someone to go out there every day and play every inning for all those years, that’s more amazing to me,” said Jeff Huson, a former major league shortstop who is now in Baltimore’s minor league camp.

“What Cal has done is astonishing, and to have the streak end would be one of the biggest tragedies of this strike,” Huson said. “If there’s a replacement season or whatever you want to call that joke, they have to put an asterisk by Cal’s record.”

Ripken’s situation remains an issue that is very much a part of the ongoing contract negotiations.

“I cannot imagine a settlement in which replacement games would count for anything, so I’m not worried about it,” union head Donald Fehr said.

If this were a normal spring, Ripken would be training this weekend with the Orioles in Florida, counting down the days until opening day. Instead, he threw a few items in a suitcase and left his Baltimore home with his wife and two kids on a mini-vacation.

“He’s training hard and working out consistently, but wanted to take a couple of days off with his family,” said Ira Rainess, one of Ripken’s representatives.

Ripken, who has repeatedly said he won’t ever cross a picket line, hasn’t granted any interviews in more than a month. According to Rainess, the shortstop just doesn’t have anything new to say.