Cal Countdown Resumes: Record Date Set For Sept. 6

The photographers clicked their shutters in rapid-fire fashion, the TV cameras whirred and autograph seekers scrambled to get their pens ready.

Cal Ripken had just emerged from the Baltimore Orioles’ clubhouse, back in uniform for the first time in nearly eight months and eager to sharpen his skills before resuming his assault on Lou Gehrig’s record streak of 2,130 consecutive games.

Ripken’s outdoor workout Thursday lasted only 30 minutes before a rainshower forced the team indoors. But the media blitz continued a few hours later, when the durable shortstop sat down for the first of the inevitable dozens of news conferences he will participate in during this record-breaking season.

If all goes as planned, Ripken will pass Gehrig’s mark on Sept. 6 in Baltimore. Before then, he will be required to talk about The Streak until he no doubt becomes absolutely sick of the subject.

“I wish I knew how to handle it, but I’m going to try to do the best I can at retaining my focus on baseball and trying to approach this season just like I’ve done every other season,” he said.

“I might handle it terribly, I might handle it OK. I don’t know. I hope our team will win, and the whole focus will turn toward our team’s chances of winning the pennant.”

Regardless of how the Orioles fare in the A.L. East this season, the focus will be on Ripken, who has played in 2,009 consecutive games since May 30, 1982. The streak was threatened by the baseball strike and the possibility of replacement games, but that is no longer a factor, so Ripken is now free to pursue a baseball record that once seemed unreachable.

“It was a record I thought would never be broken,” Orioles manager Phil Regan said. “For a guy to go that long without being sick, pulling a hamstring or breaking a finger - it’s unbelievable.”

Ripken once felt compelled to learn more about Gehrig, but quickly abandoned the idea.

“I was afraid by knowing about him, it would spark an obsession that would change my approach,” Ripken said. “So, although I’m curious, I have decided not to know so much about Lou. At some point, maybe when it’s all over, I’ll sit down and learn a little bit about him.”