Powell, Ripken Are Two Of A Kind

Last week unfolded with a symmetry that is as rare as it is wonderful. It began with Labor Day, the workers’ holiday, the last touch of summer fun before the return to occupational routine. It peaked at midweek with the celebration of Cal Ripken Jr.’s breaking Lou Gehrig’s “Iron Man” record by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game. And now it ends with the publication of retired Gen. Colin L. Powell’s autobiography, “My American Life.”

Talk about sweet serendipity!

The reason that Ripken’s record touched so many people, even those who have been soured by the sordid commercialism of too many of today’s baseball owners and players, is that it came from qualities we can all understand, perhaps even emulate.

Ripken is a great athlete. But the record he set to such acclaim last week was achieved, not by his mechanical perfection, or by some sudden burst of brilliance, but by the more pedestrian practice of keeping himself so mentally and physically tuned - so well-prepared and well-disciplined - that he was ready to start every single game, without exception, for more than 13 years.

His workmanlike habits were instilled by his parents, and Ripken was surrounded by three generations of his family on his record-breaking night. When he stripped off his No. 8 jersey to reveal the T-shirt with the legend, “2130-plus. Hugs and Kisses for Daddy,” and scooped up his two children in his arms, America cheered and wept with him.

Hundreds of politicians talk about family values. This guy lives them - and embodies them.

The final thing that made Ripken so appealing was that he did all this with no braggadocio, no striving for effect. His work ethic was instilled in him long before he had any idea of the stardom he might achieve.

These qualities - doing the job to the best of your ability, every day, out of respect for yourself and your occupation, and respect for the parents who taught you that work is a value in itself - are so precious to Americans and so rare that they took Ripken to their hearts.

As they are now about to do with Colin Powell. It was more than lucky - it was right - that just after Ripken set his record last week, Powell was ready to begin a book tour that may become a political campaign that could, if successful, break any number of precedents.

The retired former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is another blue-collar achiever. He too showed up for work every day for 35 years of his military career, for much of which he was as anonymous as anyone could be.

Like Ripken, his splendid character was formed by hard-working parents. The senior Powells were Jamaican immigrants in the Bronx - the mother sewing dresses in the apartment, the father working six days a week as a garment district shipping clerk, determined that their children get an education and get ahead.

Like Ripken, Powell did not display overwhelming talent in the early stages of his life. He was a C-student at City College who changed majors to find a set of courses he could handle. An ROTC lieutenant, he had been in uniform for a dozen years before the Army recognized his leadership potential and put him on the fast track to advancement.

Like Ripken, Powell conveys a powerful sense that he is responding to his inner directives, not trying to impress the watching world. In a time when so many public figures are caught up in manufacturing their images and manipulating the media, the exceptions seem even more remarkable. Whether they like it or not, they become role models. As Ripken has been hailed as the savior of the tarnished game of baseball, so Powell is seen as a potential rescuer of the tarnished world of politics.

Both of them live and articulate a message that Americans are desperately eager to have their children hear. A year ago, in a memorable commencement address at Howard University, Powell told the graduates, “You have been given citizenship in a country like none other on earth, with opportunities available to you like nowhere else on earth.

“What will be asked of you is hard work. Nothing will be handed to you. You are entering a life of continuous study and struggle to achieve your goals.”

Ripken has lived that life as fully as anyone. And in his moment of triumph, he expressed his gratitude that baseball is a game that “challenges you to do your very best, day in and day out. That’s all that I’ve ever tried to do.”

Do that in the way that Ripken and Powell have done, and Americans will enshrine you in their hearts.