Ripken Passes Gerhig

California Angels v Baltimore Orioles, September 6, 1995

Camden Yards, Seat Sec 308?

The 2131 game. Possibly in my Top 5 of all events ever attended. I don't have my seat location as the deal I struck for a ticket required me to hand over my ticket to the seller after we entered the gate. It was that or nothing.

There certainly was a buzz nationally for this evening. The buzz was kicked up even more in Baltimore. The president was to attend. The game was being broadcast nationally on ESPN. Tickets were impossible to get. It was truly a historic evening. A hometown boy surpassing a legend for a record that was called unbreakable. Ripken played in every Orioles game from May 30, 1982 to this day.

My seat was in deep right field upstairs. The section overlooking the warehouse where the banners with "2030" hung.

With all the the excitement this evening, the ball was jumping off the bat. The Angels Tim Salmon tagged Mike Mussina early for an home run. Rafael Palmerio did the same for the O's in the bottom half of the 1st with a shot over the right center fence.

Then in the 4th the Orioles Bobby Bonilla hit a lead off HR off of Shawn Boskie. Ripken already hit a home run in the much heralded record tying game the previous evening. It would only be fitting if he could repeat. With flashbulbs popping and and entire stadium, if not nation, on the edge of their seats, Ripken stepped up to the plate in the 4th. With a 3-0 count Boskie threw a predictable strike which Cal sent deep over the left field wall. It was a magical moment in sports.

Somewhere early on in the game the jumbotron showed a shot of President Clinton and Vice President Gore from their press box seats. To my surprise the majority of the 46,272 booed loudly. The image was immedialty removed from the screen and that was the last mention of the President of the United States being in the house.

Major League Baseball rule 4.10 state: (2) If the home team has scored more runs in four or four and a fraction half-innings than the visiting team has scored in five completed half-innings; the game can be called complete if the game becomes shortened due to weather and cannot be resumed. So after 5 1/2 innings, it became official. Cal Ripken played in his 2131st consecutive game, surpassing Lou Gehrig.

The game stopped. The crowd stood. The Orioles had to push Ripken out of the dugout to acknowlege the moment. Finally his teammate convinced him to circle the stadium and shake hands with the crowd. Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time" played.

It was only fitting that after the game resumed long ball hitting would continue. Palmeiro hit another shot in the 7th. The only scoring not a result of a home run came in the 8th when California's Tim Salmon hit a double scoring Jim Edmonds.

1996 was a year after the players union went on strike and ruined the season, and the World Series. Fans revolted against the players and stayed away from the game that year. This single game may have been the event that drew fans back to the game.