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Cal Ripken Jr.


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#1 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 07 April 2020 - 07:49 PM

ESPN: Untold tales of Cal Ripken Jr., the Iron Man who saved baseball

https://www.espn.com...n-man-saved-mlb



#2 BSLChrisStoner

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Posted 07 April 2020 - 08:07 PM

Cal Ripken Jr. played in a record 2,632 consecutive games. Let's say we wanted to add up active streaks to get in the range of that number... You'd have to add up the top *61* active such streaks thru 2019 -- those totaled 2,636. Longest: Whit Merrifield, 247 h/t


#3 SportsGuy

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 06:23 AM

I have been going through a lot of baseball memorabilia lately, including my vast Ripken collection.

So many great memories of that night. Pretty fitting that the game came on last night after I was going through everything.

Still my favorite night ever for sports.
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#4 Mike B

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 06:57 AM

I have been going through a lot of baseball memorabilia lately, including my vast Ripken collection.

So many great memories of that night. Pretty fitting that the game came on last night after I was going through everything.

Still my favorite night ever for sports.

Went to both of those games and it was a magical atmosphere I remember getting home around 2 AM after the record setter.   I had to be in Richmond at 9 AM the next day.    Wow did work suck that day.


@mikeghg

#5 russsnyder

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:32 PM

Congrats to Cal, but I think the consecutive games played record is the least sexy record in sports. 2131 has to be the most boring game ever televised. There's a twenty minute break where he takes a victory lap around the field. Yawn
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<p>"F IT!, Let's hit." Ted Williams

#6 SportsGuy

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:37 PM

Congrats to Cal, but I think the consecutive games played record is the least sexy record in sports. 2131 has to be the most boring game ever televised. There's a twenty minute break where he takes a victory lap around the field. Yawn


Ban this man.
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#7 russsnyder

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:43 PM


Ban this man.


I watched the replay last night and fell asleep during the victory lap. ( I can't believe how poor the broadcast quality is.) Great cure for insomnia. Lol
<p>"F IT!, Let's hit." Ted Williams

#8 Mackus

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:47 PM

Heartless :)
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#9 russsnyder

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:48 PM

Heartless :)


I am.
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#10 Russ

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:52 PM

I’m with Snyder. He had 1 historically great year, 2 excellent ones and a bunch of mediocrity. Underrated defensively, but overrated in every other aspect.
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#11 Mackus

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:54 PM

T-35 in career WAR.

Either impressively good sarcasm or an impressively bad take :)
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#12 SportsGuy

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 01:54 PM

I’m with Snyder. He had 1 historically great year, 2 excellent ones and a bunch of mediocrity. Underrated defensively, but overrated in every other aspect.


Lol...this is a pretty awful take.

#13 russsnyder

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 02:02 PM


I’m with Snyder. He had 1 historically great year, 2 excellent ones and a bunch of mediocrity. Underrated defensively, but overrated in every other aspect.


I think Cal belongs in the HOF. He won two MVPs and was arguably the best all around shortstop of his generation. While I am not going to fault the man for playing every day, I don't find the record that exciting. Further, the game was in September between two also rans in an otherwise meaningless game. But hey, not too many guys named Russ in Baltimore that dont adore Cal. Nice to know that someone who shares my cool ass name has something else in common with me!
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#14 Russ

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 02:15 PM

I think Cal belongs in the HOF. He won two MVPs and was arguably the best all around shortstop of his generation. While I am not going to fault the man for playing every day, I don't find the record that exciting. Further, the game was in September between two also rans in an otherwise meaningless game. But hey, not too many guys named Russ in Baltimore that dont adore Cal. Nice to know that someone who shares my cool ass name has something else in common with me!

 

I like your name, too.

 

My opinion on Cal really comes down to 2 things: 1) He was an offensively average for half of his career, and 2) My lack of confidence that defensive value is accounted for accurately, especially historically.  A lot of his value is defensive and a lot of that is positional.  How much better was he than an average defensive shortstop or a replacement level defensive shortstop?  Better, no doubt but +36 or so dWAR over his career?  I don't know, but I doubt it.

 

That's not to say he wasn't a great player and a Hall of Famer.  He is, but he's not inner circle.


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#15 russsnyder

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 02:31 PM

I like your name, too.

My opinion on Cal really comes down to 2 things: 1) He was an offensively average for half of his career, and 2) My lack of confidence that defensive value is accounted for accurately, especially historically. A lot of his value is defensive and a lot of that is positional. How much better was he than an average defensive shortstop or a replacement level defensive shortstop? Better, no doubt but +36 or so dWAR over his career? I don't know, but I doubt it.

That's not to say he wasn't a great player and a Hall of Famer. He is, but he's not inner circle.

I think Cal gets a lot of credit for redefining the shortstop position. Before Cal, it was primarily a defensive position. He was a steady shortstop who had some pop. Before Cal came along, you had a few guys who were good offensive shortstops, but they were moved. ( Banks and Yount come to mind.) You are also correct that Cal gets a lot of credit for his positioning. That's a knock on his range. He did have one of the best throwing arms I have ever seen on a shortstop. He threw extremely well from a variety of angles. That's not easy and it takes a lot of ability to do that.

I am a bit biased, but I think that Belanger ( whom is my all time favorite Oriole) was a better defender than Cal.

I think Cal is in the discussion for best all round shortstop. However, I think ARod would gave surpassed him had he stayed at short and not gotten mixed up in the PED scandal.
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#16 mweb08

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 02:32 PM

I like your name, too.

My opinion on Cal really comes down to 2 things: 1) He was an offensively average for half of his career, and 2) My lack of confidence that defensive value is accounted for accurately, especially historically. A lot of his value is defensive and a lot of that is positional. How much better was he than an average defensive shortstop or a replacement level defensive shortstop? Better, no doubt but +36 or so dWAR over his career? I don't know, but I doubt it.

That's not to say he wasn't a great player and a Hall of Famer. He is, but he's not inner circle.


Good post. Cal was obviously great, but I share the skepticism regarding his defense being as valuable as dWAR has it.

As for his offense, his bat was obviously inferior to most Hall of Famers without context of position. You do have to consider his position, though, which of course made him a standout offensive player for the first half of his career.

I will say though that while I do think you have to compare players offensive game to their peers within their era and position, Cal gets an extra, perhaps not totally warranted boost when doing that simply because plenty of teams were willing to minimize offense so much at shortstop.
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#17 TwentyThirtyFive

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 02:40 PM

I used to think Cal was overrated. Especially by Os fans. Hes not though. He was an excellent offensive player through his 20s. Yes, he dropped off offensively in his 30s and much of his value after 30 was defensive. But its value nonetheless. A drop in value after 30 isnt uncommon, even for inner circle guys. Value is value and I respect the thought that defensive value isnt necessarily as accurately accounted for as offensive value. That said, look at a guy like Griffey Jr. I think no one really disputes hes inner circle because of his offensive value but he got hurt a lot after 30 and became a subpar defender and finished as a less valuable player than Cal.

#18 mweb08

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 03:19 PM

Good post. Cal was obviously great, but I share the skepticism regarding his defense being as valuable as dWAR has it.

As for his offense, his bat was obviously inferior to most Hall of Famers without context of position. You do have to consider his position, though, which of course made him a standout offensive player for the first half of his career.

I will say though that while I do think you have to compare players offensive game to their peers within their era and position, Cal gets an extra, perhaps not totally warranted boost when doing that simply because plenty of teams were willing to minimize offense so much at shortstop.


Thinking about this in a different way, Cal wouldn't be quite as desirable if you were doing a draft while imagining the players playing right now, because you wouldn't get the benefit of as many opposing teams sacrificing offense at the position.

#19 mweb08

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 03:20 PM

Btw, Cal is turning 60 this year! Makes me feel so old!

#20 Russ

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Posted 08 April 2020 - 03:23 PM

Cal made his debut when I was 5 and retired when I was 24. He was just always there.




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