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Erin: Welcome to T2A webchat. We’re meeting Cal Ripken, Jr., U.S. Baseball Legend and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Cal retired from baseball following the 2001 season after 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. Cal is a U.S. Special Sports Envoy of the State Department. He travels to China October 28th as part of his mission to teach baseball to young people around the world. Cal leads Ripken Baseball, Inc., establishing modern minor league and youth baseball facilities in his hometown in Maryland.
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Cal Ripken, Jr.
& Erin Brummett |
Wondwossen, Ethiopia (email): What makes baseball so interesting? How is it that baseball is so popular in China but not very popular in India, China’s neighboring country?
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Cal: I'm not so sure I know the full history of baseball. It has been in China for a long time...and it's a fun game but you have to be exposed to the game itself before you start to derive the fun. I'm certain that if you start to play it in India that it might catch on pretty quickly.
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Mark banning: Other than family, who inspired you to be a ball player?
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Cal: Of course my Dad was the most inspirational. Brooks Robinson was my hero growing up. He was very exciting to watch but he was a really good guy and my parents directed me his way for the reason that he is a good guy more than being a good player.
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| Cal Ripken, Jr. |
A.C. Rathinavel, India (email): Baseball is a very fast, active and interesting game, but why has it not made as much of a world impact as cricket?
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Cal: There are many similarities between baseball and cricket. In the history of American baseball, to try to spread the game, players traveled to England and tried cricket and the skills translated pretty well. The guy in charge of our company is from England and knows a lot about cricket and rugby, so I'm trying to teach him about baseball and he's trying to teach me about cricket.
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Gabriel: Mr. Ripken -- Do you have any intention of scouting for new talent while on your diplomatic missions? Also, how's Billy?
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Cal: No, no desire. It's not the intent of the trip. It's simply to try to help spread some of my experiences with the sport and hope other people can enjoy the sport the way I did.
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Jonathan (email): Judging from the number of consecutive games you played, you must know a secret to staying injury free or minimizing down time from injuries. Do you have any advice for other athletes to get back on their feet faster?
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Cal: I was blessed with a good set of genes, was resilient and had good healing power. Thank you mom and dad. But if you play all out and hard, that protects you from injuries because you are prepared for any situation you get into. Many are hurt because they let their guard down. Say you run slow to first base and don't pay attention to cutting, and then you could twist your ankle. Many injuries occur in sort of a weird sort of way and many guys in hindsight always regret the fact that if they had been really into it, they would not have put themselves into that situation.
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| Cal Ripken, Jr. signs a baseball for his fans |
Dalu, Shanghai (email): I am not a baseball fan. I am a jazz enthusiast and promoter. I believe that baseball, just like jazz, embodies the American culture and spirit as well. The Chinese people seem to lack deep understanding of the culture and spirit of baseball or are not interested. During your visit to China, how will you guide or coach China's young baseball players to appreciate the culture and spirit of the sport, instead of just relying on baseball to make a living?
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Cal: What I hope to do is show a love and passion for sport in general, specifically my life has been around baseball but there's magic to sport and baseball, just like there is for music and I hope to share that with the Chinese people.
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Nancy: Mr. Ripkin, you have become a great role model for kids and grownups alike. My son chose you as his favorite role model in a paper he wrote for school last year. He spoke of your integrity, generosity and your passion for the game. My question - What is the greatest challenge to you as a role model? Nancy
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Cal: I think the biggest challenge is to always maintain perspective. There's a tendency to put one up on a pedestal but that doesn't mean you're better. We all make mistakes. There are few positions in the community that are more high profile. Kids love sports and in a position of influence, one should ask, should it be positive or negative and I want it to be positive.
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Payton Dunbar: I am 7 years old and home schooled. I am just learning to play t-ball and one-day want to be a baseball player. What should I do to become a better ball player? Thank you. Payton
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Cal: Nothing replaces practice. Most things in order to be good at them require preparation, whether it's at school. Athletics is no different. That doesn't mean you have to practice 12 hours a day. Work on the things you like to do over and over again and that repetitive process will make you better. Practice on your terms.
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Erin: What is the State Department’s Special Sports Envoy and how did you get involved?
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Cal: I see it as a wonderful opportunity to share baseball by using sport as a bridge to other cultures, in this case to China. The State Department had a program and came to me with the idea and I thought was a wonderful chance to share a pretty positive experience through baseball. The process started five years ago when I was in my last year of playing. Then in the transition from playing to business was not right. Now it is.
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| Baseballs signed by Cal Ripken, Jr. |
Erin: Is the exchange with China the only part of the Special Sports Envoy you’re involved with or is there more?
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Cal: I hope this is the first of many trips to China, to wherever. I look forward to sharing my experience with baseball with the rest of the world. Back to other cultural experiences like music, we can all have a special feeling with sports and baseball too.
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Erin: What do you believe will be the most gratifying part of working as a Special Sports Envoy?
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Cal: My expectations are a lot of smiles and a lot of fun. Through baseball, talking about it and sharing experiences, you are able to communicate. We have our World Series, 5-6 international teams and sometimes language is a barrier but on the field, everyone can communicate. When we mix international and domestic players on all-star teams it's fun to see everyone play together and have fun.
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Erin: What is the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and what does it do to help underprivileged children?
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Cal: We use baseball as a hook to kids to get in front of kids and appeal to them and then we try to teach them values and principles about life.
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Erin: What is “The Oriole Way?” And how did it affect your life and career?
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Cal: It was a lot of baseball-minded people coming together and figuring out what worked and what didn't and they developed a system, a way of running a baseball organization and it was a tribute to all the players in the organization at that time. Over time new groups of people come in and brought different ways of doing things. My dad was a part of The Oriole Way, with good scouting, developing and winning, truly an organizational team effort. I was exposed to that and many of the sound values and principles of baseball from my dad and I've tried to carry on those ways.
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| Cal Ripken, Jr. reviews quesions for T2A live chat |
Erin: You’re known as an extremely modest ballplayer and a goodwill ambassador to the game. What life mottos do you follow, if any?
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Cal: My life motto came from my parents find something you love to do and go for it. That's the secret of happiness.
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Erin: Throughout your impressive career, you received numerous awards and set many records ranging from the Rookie of the Year in 1982 to Most Consecutive Games Played. What award or record means the most to you? And. . . . how much does it mean to you to be in the Hall of Fame? How proud would your father have been were he alive?
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Cal: I never play for awards. They are nice because they affirm your success in many ways. The most meaningful thing that's happened to me was catching the last out of the World Series, giving me a sense of fulfillment and joy that all the other rewards did not come close to, and to be remembered in the Hall of Fame for your life contributions to baseball. It's very warming and special and my dad was not physically there but he was there every step of the way.
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Erin: It’s been over six years since you retired from Major League Baseball. What do you miss about the game and what do you enjoy about being retired?
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Cal: I laugh when people refer to me as retired because I don't see it as retirement in the sense you worked your whole life and you're enjoying the benefits of your work in your later years. I was lucky to retire from baseball at 41, but still I'm young relative to my life so there are many other things I'd like to try and accomplish so it's changing from one occupation to another. I've discovered a lot I can apply from my baseball days to my business days and it's a whole new world and it's very exciting to me but retired, no. It's very true that when you think about your baseball days you miss being around your team, but not the ‘at bats’ against Clements or Johnson, but I miss being part of a team. All the complaints about travel and long hours at the ballpark I miss because that's the people side of it.
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| Cal Ripken, Jr. with T2A Chat host, Erin Brummett |
Erin: What’s your 2008 World Series prediction?
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Cal: Generally I think predictions are kind of foolhardy, because you have two very accomplished teams playing and either one could win. That's why you play the game to find out who executes better. With the first game under the belt I'll say that because Josh Beckett pitching better than anyone, he can have a big impact on the series. So I'll take the Red Sox in a close series. Not to diminish the accomplishments of the Rockies, a young team and very entertaining team. I look for a competitive series but I think the Red Sox might edge them out in the end.
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Erin: Your former team the Orioles has fallen on hard times, would you consider buying it?
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Cal: That's a high compliment I hear a lot. My first reaction is I did pretty well from a financial standpoint but not that well. If the O's were ever for sale, it would be interesting to look at that sort of opportunity. I do have a passion for the Orioles and a grounded background in understanding things like development, scouting, etc. so it would be fun to have a chance like that.
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Erin: Steroids have become such a huge issue in baseball in recent years. How much were you aware of other players using steroids, or illegal substances when you were playing, whether or not they were prescribed?
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Cal: I'm glad I was naive to that process and only the benefit of hindsight and maybe with a little thought did you realize it was there. It's something people didn't do in the open. It was secret and I'm glad I did not know about the secret.
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Erin: That wraps T2A webchat. Our thanks to Cal and to you for joining us. We hope you can be with us on Wednesday, October 31st at 1800 UTC, when we meet Physicist Paul Steinhardt. Dr. Steinhardt and Neil Turok of Cambridge University recently published a new book, Endless Universe, in which they propose the ``cyclic model' of the early universe. This is a radical alternative to big bang/inflationary cosmology in which the evolution of the universe is periodic and the key events shaping the large-scale structure of the universe occur before the big bang. That is Wednesday, October 31st at 1800 UTC on voanews.com See you then!
Back to Past Chats
On Thursday, 25 October 07 we met US Baseball Legend and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Cal Ripken, Jr.