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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ripken Endures As Fine Role Model

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. had looked forward to Wednesday all summer.

He was eager to drive daughter Rachel to school on her first day of first grade. Baseball fathers often miss such precious moments as they’re off chasing pennants in such far-flung places as New York, Detroit and Seattle.

When he’s home, Ripken has breakfast with his family and drives the kids to school - no matter how late he gets home from the previous night’s game. Growing up as the son of a ballplayer, coach and manager, Ripken knows how important it is to spend quality time with his family.

Later in the day, of course, Ripken played a baseball game - for the 2,131st consecutive time. In doing so, he broke the incredible record of the New York Yankees’ “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig. To put the record into perspective, Chicago’s Frank Thomas, with the second-longest current streak at 234 consecutive games, would have to play each game between now and the year 2007 to match Ripken.

In an era of spoilsport pro athletes and labor strife, Ripken’s record testifies to one man’s perseverance, dedication, stamina, good fortune and unabashed love for a game once called “America’s pastime.” It also challenges Leo Durocher’s notion that “nice guys finish last.”

The record couldn’t have been broken by a nicer guy.

A recent Sports Illustrated cover story tells of Ripken entering the Baltimore clubhouse after midnight following a July 25 night game, missing his cap and sweating profusely. Only one teammate was left. Typically, Ripken had signed about 500 autographs in sweltering heat, shaken hands all around and given his baseball cap to a young fan.

Possibly no other major-leaguer signs as many free autographs as Ripken does. In this summer of his greatest triumph, he has signed more autographs than ever, hoping to blunt the damage from last year’s baseball strike.

Prior to the record-tying game Tuesday, he was signing autographs when he noticed a 7-year-old girl, pressed by the crowd against a metal bar, crying. Ripken stopped signing, kneeled down into the crowd and protected her with his body. Then, he and a policeman pushed the crowd back.

Afterward, Ripken tried to console the frightened girl and, of course, signed her batting-practice baseball.

Every baseball player knows that little things often decide a ballgame - such as hitting the cutoff man, moving runners into scoring position, throwing strikes and working the balls-and-strikes count to your favor. Cal Ripken Jr. has been doing the little things right for a long, long time - both on and off the field.

May his kind increase.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board