The day Cal Ripken Jr. came close to having his streak of back-to-back games interrupted was June 7, 1993, more than two years before he surpassed Lou Gehrig as the Iron Man of baseball.
The day started early with a call the Orioles athletic coach received.
Richie Bancells, who had gone to sleep the night before thinking he wouldn’t wake up so early.
“This was at the time when we only had land lines,” Bancells recalled. “It wasn’t unusual for him to call me, but at eight in the morning he was. My wife took the phone and handed it to me in bed saying ‘Cal wants to talk to you’ and I thought it was weird. “
“He told me he had a knee problem. It was swollen and I couldn’t move it ”.
The day before, Ripken had been in the middle of a brawl between the Orioles and Mariners, which began with Mike Mussina hitting Bill Haselman, who immediately went to the mound. The benches and bullpens were emptied. Ripken ran from shortstop, but his shoes caught in the grass, and he was suddenly caught in a pile of bodies.
He played the last three innings of the game, completing his 1,790 straight game. But the next morning he was in considerable pain and his knee felt stiff.
“It was probably the closest I got to missing a game,” Ripken said. “Some of the players can convince themselves to play hurt. I always had a good tolerance for pain. Somehow, I managed ”.
Bancells said: “During the streak, that was the only time I thought, ‘I don’t think so.”
It had already been a difficult season for Ripken. He was 32, coming off a tough season and hitting just .218 with five home runs in his first 56 games. The Orioles were in fifth position 7½ games behind the top of the AL East. In the meantime, the conversation had already begun about the negative effect the streak was having on his performance. Giants star Bobby Bonds said he was something of an “idiot” while others said he was being selfish.
“There were intense moments where I felt like I was being criticized for wanting to play. I found it strange, ”Ripken said. “Although it made me scream, I thought the least selfish thing was to give yourself to a team wanting to play every day.”
He played the last three innings of the game, completing his 1,790 straight game. But the next morning he was in considerable pain and his knee felt stiff.
“It was probably the closest I got to missing a game,” Ripken said. “Some of the players can convince themselves to play hurt. I always had a good tolerance for pain. Somehow, I managed ”.
Bancells said: “During the streak, that was the only time I thought, ‘I don’t think so.”
It had already been a difficult season for Ripken. He was 32, coming off a tough season and hitting just .218 with five home runs in his first 56 games. The Orioles were in fifth position 7½ games behind the top of the AL East. In the meantime, the conversation had already begun about the negative effect the streak was having on his performance. Giants star Bobby Bonds said he was something of an “idiot” while others said he was being selfish.
“There were intense moments where I felt like I was being criticized for wanting to play. I found it strange, ”Ripken said. “Although it made me scream, I thought the least selfish thing was to give yourself to a team wanting to play every day.” (GG) (Taken MLB: COM)