Durable Ripken Ranks As Top Story Death Of Mantle, Jordan Also Rate High In Ap Poll
In a year when baseball needed all the healing it could get, Cal Ripken provided plenty simply by doing what he has always done.
He went out and played.
Every day.
Every game.
And in early September, he reached one of the sport’s most cherished records, playing in his 2,130th consecutive game, matching the mark set by Lou Gehrig. To mark the occasion, he hit a home run.
The next night, Ripken was back again for the record-breaker, No. 2,131. And he hit a home run that night, too.
When the record was official, recorded on a huge banner on the B&O Warehouse that sits just outside Baltimore’s Camden Yards, the fans interrupted the game with a 22-minute standing ovation, a tribute to what the Orioles ironman shortstop had accomplished.
“I’d like to think that outpouring was for the game, not me,” Ripken said.
And then he went out and played again, and again, and again, pushing the record by season’s end to 2,153 games. He is the probable starter at shortstop for the Orioles on Opening Day, 1996.
Ripken’s relentless pursuit of Gehrig’s record was voted Associated Press Story of the Year on Tuesday, receiving 155 of 252 first-place votes cast by sports editors, broadcasters and writers. The Ripken story finished with 2,221 points, almost a full thousand points ahead of the death of Mickey Mantle, which was second with 1,280.
Third place went to Michael Jordan’s return to pro basketball after his baseball adventure (1,213), followed by Northwestern’s sudden football success and Rose Bowl bid (1,024). NFL franchise moves, including the midseason announcement that the Cleveland Browns would relocate in Baltimore next season, finished fifth (1,019).
The top five were followed by the end of the baseball strike (986), San Francisco’s fifth Super Bowl championship (604), the Cleveland Indians season (542), Greg Maddux’s fourth straight Cy Young Award (521) and the return to tennis of Monica Seles (505).
The two labor-related baseball stories - the end of the strike and the use of replacement players in spring training - received a combined 1,432 points, enough for second place if they were combined.
In the NFL, franchise moves received 14 first-place votes while the 49ers’ Super Bowl victory got none.
The top basketball story was Jordan’s return at No. 3, but the next highest was UCLA’s NCAA tournament championship at No. 15, followed by the Houston Rockets’ second straight NBA title at No. 16.
The top hockey story was the return of Mario Lemieux to the Pittsburgh Penguins at No. 19.
In boxing, Mike Tyson’s release from prison finished No. 14. The top golf finisher was Ben Crenshaw’s victory at the Masters at No. 17. Ernie Irvan’s return to auto racing from near-fatal injuries was No. 20. The top horse racing story was Cigar’s undefeated streak.