RIPKEN STREAKS FORWARD : ORIOLES STAR GOES FOR ANOTHER MARK.Byline: David Ginsburg David Ginsburg (18 March 1921 – 18 March 1994) was a British politician. Ginsburg was educated at University College School, Hampstead, and Balliol College, Oxford. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The celebration is just a memory now. Cal Ripken still hasn't looked at the videotape of his march into the record book, simply because he still wants to remember the magnificent night from the inside looking out. Last Sept. 6, the Baltimore Orioles This article is about the contemporary American major league baseball team. For other uses, see Baltimore Oriole (disambiguation). The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. shortstop formally became baseball's iron man. At least that's what the major-league record book would lead one to believe. A few million Japanese know differently. So does Ripken. Sachio Kinugasa Sachio Kinugasa (衣笠 祥雄, born January 18, 1947 in Kyoto, Japan) is a former Japanese baseball player. He passed Lou Gehrig's world record for consecutive games played in 1987. This record was later broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1996. played in 2,215 consecutive games at third base for Japan's Hiroshima Carp from 1970 to 1987. That's 85 more games than Lou Gehrig's previous major-league record of 2,130, and 62 more than Ripken's ongoing mark of 2,153. Asked earlier this week if he knew the name of the Japanese record-holder and how many games he played, Ripken drew a blank. But he certainly didn't dismiss the validity of the mark; rather, he endorsed it. ``Who am I to say his streak is any less than any streak done in the big leagues? They play a very good brand of baseball over there. I know, because I made some trips to play there,'' Ripken said. ``It's a shorter season, too - just 130 games - so that makes his record even more remarkable because you have to put more seasons together to get the number he got to. ``Having the persistence to be out there every day like he did, it's a huge accomplishment. I would recognize his record as the world record.'' Ripken, 35, is on pace to tie Kinugasa's record on June 12 at Detroit and break it June 13 at Kansas City Kansas City, two adjacent cities of the same name, one (1990 pop. 149,767), seat of Wyandotte co., NE Kansas (inc. 1859), the other (1990 pop. 435,146), Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties, NW Mo. (inc. 1850). . He hasn't exactly circled those dates on his calendar - he's got other things to think about this season, most notably helping the Orioles get back into the playoffs for the first time since they won the World Series in 1983. ``I'm excited about this team's chances to win,'' Ripken said. ``Last year was one of the most unbelievable experiences of my life in professional baseball. I don't think anything could duplicate that. ``But this year, I'd like to see the focus drop squarely on winning the pennant Pennant A continuation pattern in technical analysis formed when there is a large movement in a stock, the flagpole, followed by a consolidation period with converging trendlines, the pennant, followed by a breakout movement in the same direction as the initial large movement, the race. With all the changes we've made, it's definitely added optimism and excitement for me and everyone else in this organization.'' Last year, Ripken hoped the Orioles' presence in a pennant race would deflect de·flect intr. & tr.v. de·flect·ed, de·flect·ing, de·flects To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate. [Latin d some of the attention away from the streak. But Baltimore lost 11 of its first 17 and never made an impact in the AL East. Kinugasa's streak aside, Ripken is thrilled that he no longer has to shoulder the burden of chasing down a record that most baseball experts figured would never be eclipsed. ``There's a sense of relief that it's over,'' he said. ``I was a little uncomfortable, because you want attention for the things you do on the field, baseball-wise. You want to get attention for contributing to your team's success. Last year it became a little embarrassing, because the focus was on me.'' The hoopla hoop·la n. Informal 1. a. Boisterous, jovial commotion or excitement. b. Extravagant publicity: The new sedan was introduced to the public with much hoopla. 2. reached a crescendo cres·cen·do n. pl. cres·cen·dos or cres·cen·di 1. Abbr. cr. Music a. A gradual increase, especially in the volume or intensity of sound in a passage. b. on Sept. 6 when Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive game. With a national television audience looking on, Ripken was congratulated by his teammates and family before taking an impromptu A Windows query and reporting tool from Cognos with support for a large variety of databases. It is capable of generating cross tabs for spreadsheets such as Excel, Lotus for Windows and Quattro Pro for Windows. victory lap around Camden Yards. Ripken has replayed the scenario in his mind time and time again, but he has yet to watch a videotape of the glorious event. ``I thought I wanted to look at it right away because the experience was so great that you wanted to take it in from all angles,'' he said. ``But the longer I didn't watch it, the more I felt the need to just to preserve the memory that was in my mind. I have this special perception of it and I'd like to keep it as long as I can.'' He'd also like to keep playing every day, as usual. Ever since the streak began on May 30, 1982, and regardless of whether the Orioles are struggling or streaking, Ripken shows up at the ballpark ready to go to work. ``I always knew his work ethic work ethic n. A set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence. work ethic Noun a belief in the moral value of work was among the best, and he's showed that to me already,'' Baltimore manager Davey Johnson Ripken knows there will come a time when the streak must end. He accepts this notion without the least bit of remorse. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Cal Ripken of the Orioles has played in a major-leag ue record 2,153 straight games. Daily News File Photo |
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