Cal Ripken, Jr. is a native son of Havre de Grace, Maryland, in Harford County, about 35 miles northeast of Baltimore. Cal Ripken, also known as ``Iron Man,'' is best known for his record-shattering streak of playing 2,632 straight games for the American League's Baltimore Orioles over 17 years, from May 1982, through September 1998. An unbelievable record. He retired from Major League Baseball in October 2001, after playing 21 straight years for the Orioles, between 1981 and 2001.
On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken, Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 consecutive games played, a record that had stood for 57 years. On that historic night at Camden Yards, Ripken not only broke the record but also hit a home run in the fourth inning of that game.
His father, Cal Ripken, Sr., was a former baseball player, coach, and scout for the Orioles. In 1987 and 1988, Cal Ripken, Sr. managed the Orioles, and both Cal Ripken, Jr. and his brother Billy played for the team that year, a first in baseball history.
Since leaving the game in 2001, Cal Ripken has dedicated his life and his work to youth. He established the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, which uses baseball- and softball-themed programs to help instill leadership qualities, a strong work ethic, sportsmanship, and healthy habits. He also built the Ripken Youth Baseball Academy, the largest baseball academy in the United States, where thousands of young people learn the finer points of baseball and deepen their love for playing it.
He served as the first commissioner of the White House T-Ball initiative for President George Bush from 2001 to 2004. And on July 29, 2007, Cal Ripken was fittingly inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.
When I was growing up, Madam Speaker, I served 5 1/2 years as a batboy for the Knoxville Smokies baseball team. I served other seasons as ball chaser, scoreboard operator, clubhouse boy. In my freshman year at the University of Tennessee, I served as a public address announcer. I grew up in minor league baseball. My father gave Earl Weaver his first managerial job in Knoxville, managing the Knoxville Smokies in 1956, and we became a farm club of the Baltimore Orioles. People who later played with Cal Ripken or who he knew through the Orioles like Milt Pappas, Jerry Walker, Ron Hansen, Willie Tasby, Mike Cuellar, Dave Nicholson, and many other players who later played for the Orioles played in Knoxville.
Baseball has meant a lot to me and my family through the years, and it is a real honor and privilege for me to stand here before you today and announce my support for this very appropriate legislation to honor a truly great American, Cal Ripken, Jr.
