Baltimore Orioles star Cal Ripkin Jr. has made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame:
The 21-year playing career of former Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., along with all its blue-collar symbolism and enduring resonance, was validated today as one of the most admired in baseball history, while that of former slugger Mark McGwire was emphatically repudiated, with the announcement of results from balloting for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2007.
Ripken, whose record streak of 2,632 consecutive games played stands as one of the landmark sports achievements of his generation, was named on 537 of the 545 ballots (or 98.53 percent), the highest vote total ever for an inductee and the third-highest percentage. He will be joined at induction ceremonies at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 29 by former San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn, who was named on 532 ballots (97.6 percent). Tom Seaver holds the record for highest percentage of votes, gaining election in 1992 by being named on 98.84 percent of ballots.
The symbolism of the Ripken-Gwynn pairing, and the exclusion of McGwire and all other candidates this year, was clear: The two were bound not only by their great, overlapping careers, but also by the fact they spent the entirety of those careers with their hometown teams and were admired as much for their comportment and willingness to be ambassadors for the game as for their on-field achievements
In addition to being a great player, Ripkin was, and remains, a great ambassador for the game of baseball and stands as a powerful counter-example to offset the antics of the men like Bonds and McGwire who had done much to tarnish the game’s image.
