Cal Ripken Jr. is one of the most famous athletes that ever graced American sports. He was a baseball player. He was a short stop and third baseman, to be more precise. Cal Ripken Jr. played for the Baltimore Orioles, a very famous and successful Major League Baseball team. He has the record for playing the most consecutive baseball games ever. He broke a long standing record that was held by Lou Gehrig who played for the New York Yankees. Everyone thought that there was no way this record could be beaten.Confused? Here ‘s a little help . After all, it has lasted for 56 years and it was for an amazing 2,130 consecutive games. That means that Cal Ripken Jr. was the modicum of consistency. He did not miss a single game for so many seasons and he never took a rest or got injured. He passed his 2,131st consecutive appearance for the Baltimore Orioles in September 6, 1995. He played that game against the California Angels and it was a sold out crowd. He hit a home run in both the games that tied him to Oriole’s record and the game that beat Oriole’s record. This showed that he was not just a man on the wane, he was still an important and crucial member of his team for so many games.
When he reached this milestone, people could not believe it. There were so many great baseball players out there, but none had his dedication. He was never caught in scandal, did not do anything bad and did not take performance enhancing drugs. He was the ultimate pro. All he had ever wanted to do was play baseball and he managed to do that for more consecutive games than anyone probably ever will. He actually made it all the way to 2,632 games before he eventually decided to drop out of the team for the last game of the 1998 season. He retired the following year. His record was for 17 years of consecutive play.