THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509050124
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The circus starts tonight at Camden Yards when the national media arrive in force to witness Cal Ripken tying Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak.
Compared with what the next two days will be like, Monday's game was routine.
Tonight, the auxiliary press section in leftfield will overflow. Monday, there were as many pigeons as sports writers taking up space. Remarkably, their eating habits are strikingly similar.
If there is any special significance attached to Ripken's latest game - No. 2,129 - it has to do with the fact that it took place on Labor Day.
There is something very fitting about that.
On the holiday for working men and women, Ripken moved one step closer to acquiring the baseball record for most consecutive days punching the clock.
This is an accomplishment a blue-collar town can appreciate.
Leaving no angle of Streak Week uncovered, the Orioles on Labor Day cited local citizens for their dedication to the job.
A teacher with 41 years experience. A medical technician of 23 years. A man from the research department of Westinghouse who has not missed a day at the office in 15 years. They were just some of the Maryland workforce introduced to the Oriole Park crowd.
Like Ripken, these everyday workers are dependable, dedicated and, most of all, durable.
Now before you can portray Ripken as a lunch pail hero, you must overlook his salary ($6 million), as well as his occupation (baseball beats coal mining).
Comparisons between a millionaire shortstop and an hourly laborer fall far short of perfection. Even so, this does not diminish the nobility of Ripken's efforts.
It takes a little luck to play 14 years without serious injury. But more than anything, dedication is what Ripken represents. That, at least, is something all of us should be able to appreciate.
Ripken's will not be a sexy record. Like Hank Aaron and Pete Rose before him, he is chasing a dead icon.
But to pass Babe Ruth, Aaron had to do more than find his way to the park each night. Rose's pursuit of Ty Cobb amounted to much more than his answering roll call every day.
It's strange to make such a fuss over a player whose claim to baseball immortality is perfect attendance.
To his credit, Ripken seems to share this sentiment. Lately, he has done everything he can to refocus some of the attention on his ability to play this game. After slumping most of August, he was hitting .357 in his last seven games prior to Monday.
Still, the Orioles continue to lose at Camden Yards. Not even a Ripken home run on Labor Day could keep Baltimore from laboring through another loss, this time to the stumbling California Angels.
Once again, the sixth inning began with a celebration of Ripken's streak. The fans rose as one, cheering. The Angels players stood on the top step of their dugout and applauded.
It is a scene that will be repeated again tonight and, presumably, Wednesday.
``There is a lot of power in that moment,'' Ripken says. ``It's hard to explain.''
Maybe, too, some unexplained inspiration can be found in a simple man who simply wants to be on the job each and every day.
If it is Ripken's work ethic with which people wish to identify, this should be encouraged and celebrated.
For the next two nights, it will be. by CNB