Cal Ripken, Jr.

Cal Ripken Jr. is a National Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop and third baseman who played all 21 seasons of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles. He speaks on perseverance, consistency, and leadership for corporate, sports, and youth-development audiences.

Ripken is best known for breaking Lou Gehrig’s Major League record for consecutive games played, extending the streak to 2,632 games before voluntarily ending it on September 20, 1998. A 19-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP, he is one of only a handful of players in MLB history to record over 400 home runs and 3,000 hits, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 with the second-highest vote total ever recorded by the BBWAA.

Since retiring in 2001, Ripken has built Ripken Baseball and the youth-focused Ripken Experience complexes in Aberdeen, Maryland, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He has authored nearly 30 books, including the New York Times bestselling autobiography “The Only Way I Know,” and in 2024 joined the ownership group, led by David Rubenstein, that acquired the Baltimore Orioles.

Ripken and his family established the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation in 2001 in memory of his father and longtime coach; the Foundation has since impacted more than 11 million kids in underserved communities through youth development parks and STEM programs across the country.

Categories: Sports