Iron streak: cast iron memorabilia honors Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s streak.

That the cast iron Cal Ripken Jr. memento be a number makes sense. Ripken's career is defined by numbers. Two thousand, six hundred and thirty two, for example, is the number of consecutive games he played in Major League Baseball. He played in 19 All-Star games. Forty-six thousand, two hundred and seventy-two fans were at Camden Yards Sept. 6, 1995, when Ripken surpassed Lou Gehrig's record 2,130 consecutive games played. The Streak, which began May 30, 1982, eventually ended Sept. 20, 1998, and earned Ripken a reputation as baseball's Iron Man.

Baltimore residents and Ripken fans George and Cathy Lips found themselves contemplating the Hall of Famer's feat a few years ago. Why hadn't anyone linked his Iron Man status with an iron collectible? Convinced they were on to a winning idea, the couple, both of whom had careers in publishing, decided to make a go at cast iron.

"Iron just is a natural material for the Iron Man," George Lips said. "If he were nicknamed the Oak Man, we'd make it out of oak."

And why not symbolize Ripken's career with the uniform number he wore for 20 years as a Baltimore Oriole?

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"Originally we thought of doing a statue, but after visiting some local baseball museums, we were disappointed in how other statues looked--more like GI Joe dolls," Lips said. "Ripken's number 8 is everywhere, and it made sense as a good introductory product."

The introductory product turned into the main item after the idea was presented to Ripken's licensing company, IronClad Authentics, and met with an enthusiastic response. The Lips' venture culminated on July 21, when Ripken appeared on QVC, shortstop turned pitchman, selling the limited edition IronEight collectibles.

The Lips began shipping the product to fans around the country a few days later, with great relief. Two months prior, they were staring at high quality packaging and approval from Major League Baseball but had no castings--and no metalcaster.

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The Game Plan

When the Lips received the go ahead from Ripken's representatives to produce and sell the IronEight collectibles a couple of years ago, it was time to go metalcaster-shopping. George Lips hit the phone and fax machine, cold calling metalcasting facilities he came across via online searches. The going was rough.

"I didn't get very far due to my lack of familiarity with the industry," he said. "I didn't know what to look for or what to ask."

Eventually he hooked up with the John Wright Co., Wrightsville, Pa. Lips and his wife worked with the facility to come up with patterns for the 8s, and in the meantime, the Lips waited for licensing approval from the MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame and IronClad Authentics.

"As the approvals were dragging on, we were running out of time," Lips said. The approvals finally came, but it was bad timing for John Wright Co. The metalcaster wouldn't have enough time. "By this time, we had all the packaging, approval, marketing--everything but the product."

Lips was in the bottom of the ninth and needed a run. He called up Cumberland Foundry, a small ferrous job shop in Cumberland, R.I., that might be able to accommodate extra work with a short time frame.

Cumberland Foundry's jobs tend to fall within the pump, machine tool and pulp paper making industries, but at times it works on ornamental projects, such as decorative air conditioning grates, ornamental fence posts and sculptures.

"When we called them up, they immediately grasped the situation," Lips said.

"I told him we weren't going to be the cheapest, but his main issue was timeliness, and we could get it to him on time," said Al Lucchetti, president of Cumberland Foundry.

It was early June, six weeks to a product launch to be held in conjunction with Ripken's induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame July 29. Using patterns produced by Bay State Cast Products, Springfield, Mass., Cumberland Foundry quickly got to work.

"We were close to the line, but they are done," Lips said. The first shipment of finished products were shipped to QVC Aug. 7 for customer orders.

The Windup

The IronEight series of collectibles consists of six products. The 8s are replicas of the home and away uniform numbers on Ripken's Orioles jerseys. Two sizes of 8s, which match the numbers on the front and back of the uniform, are sold. The larger one, measuring a little more than 8 in. tall, comes as a plaque and replicates the uniform number on the back of the jersey. The smaller, 4-in. 8 can stand on its own and matches the 8 on the front of the jersey. The castings are powder-coated and then silk-screened for a two-dimensional look, like what you'd see on a letterman's jacket. Ripken's signature is laser-etched on the back, along with the MLB hologram. Raw cast iron 8s are also available for those who prefer the look of the metal.

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The castings are made of Class-25 gray iron and feature stitching marks along the sides. Although the casting itself was fairly simple, because it was an ornamental piece, special attention had to be given to the surface finish.

"We spend a lot of time on surface finish here," Luccetti said. "We use a 100-grain sand, and we riddle facing sand over the pattern for every mold. The surface finish was one thing that concerned George about making them in green sand. But he was happy with the result."

The job brought schoolboy enthusiasm into the small shop of Cumberland Foundry. "There are some diehard baseball fans here who were excited about the project," Luccetti said. "It really created a rush in the shop."

The Pitch

After the success of the IronEights venture, the Lips are eager to continue with new lines of cast iron memorabilia for various sectors of American life. Future plans include NASCAR mementos made with scrap metal from racecars put out to pasture and cast iron numbers commemorating different fire companies throughout the U.S. They plan to continue using domestic metalcasting facilities.

"We've wanted a domestic casting supplier all along. We named our company American Cast Iron Co. It's not because we're xenophobic, but because we thought it would be necessary to be hands on with this," Lips said.

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"We're celebrating American heroes here," added Cathy Lips.

Rather than try to compete on generic castings with offshore companies, the Lips have formulated a plan to produce products that must be licensed by a governing body, where there is an established barrier that requires extra effort for approval. "Plus, people are willing to pay a premium for an affinity-based item," George Lips said.

Lips has made the American Cast Iron Co. his main focus now, using his publishing and graphic arts background to promote and market his company, while Cathy Lips continues to do some freelance writing and editing. Two years ago, George Lips was cold calling metalcasters, trying to get a grasp on an industry he had no experience in. Now he's ready to base his career on it.

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"We really are into cast iron," he said. "We wrote a business plan surrounding that, and it has been really well-received."

For More Information

Visit www.americancastiron.com or www.ironeight. com for more information on the collectibles.

Shannon Wetzel, Senior Editor

Cal Ripken's Numbers:

     1   times named American League Rookie of the Year
     2   times named American League MVP
     2   times named MLB All-Star Game MVP
     2   Gold Glove awards
     8   Silver Slugger awards
    15   MLB All-Star Games at shortstop
    16   MLB All-Star Game starts
   431   home runs
 1,682   double plays
 1,695   runs
 2,632   consecutive games played
 3,881   games played
 3,184   hits
 5,168   total bases
 8,212   assists
98.53%   percentage of Hall of Fame votes

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