15 Years Ago Today, Cal Ripken Got His 3000th Hit; My Special Piece From That Game

[ironmanfan]

Entering the 2000 season, Cal Ripken Jr. was nine hits shy of reaching the 3000 hit milestone and I really wanted to be there, no matter where it happened. It wasn't quite like the 2131 quest in that he actually needed hits, not just playing in a game. Anyways, my off season research showed that for his career, on average he got his 9th hit of the season in his 9th game which would put the Orioles in Kansas City. Well, Cal started slow that season and it was getting obvious that it wasn't going to happen in KC, but perhaps on their next stop in Minnesota. I had to eat the expense of airline tickets to KC, but I fortunately had a buddy whose brother worked for USAir and when I was telling him this, he got his brother to get me on an USAir flight using a "buddy pass" to Minneapolis.

I arrive in Minneapolis with Cal needing four hits in the weekend series. On Friday he got one hit....On Saturday night he made an out his first time up and fortunately for me, he got a hit the next three times up for #3000! As it turned out, with the streak being over he had no intention of playing Sunday (which he didn't) and that the Orioles would have preferred to have him get #3000 in Baltimore (which I couldn't go to due to a work commitment). So in other words, if it wasn't for those three hits that Saturday night I would have missed seeing it in person...

OK Flash Forward like 5-6 years and I tell Cal this story of my trip (taking days off to fly to Minnesota in April, etc.). Shortly after that, he was cleaning out his office and came across a grocery bag (yes, a grocery bag) of memorabilia that the Twins had given him from that night, which included 8-10 game used baseballs from that game.

Cal, being the kind of guy he is, remembered me telling him this story and gifted me one of these balls with a special inscription. I have a lot of neat things in my collection, but I'm not sure I have anything that means as much to me as this:

[swainer]

Thanks for sharing! That is such a great story. Cal is one stand up guy. Congrats!

Peace,

John

[Juan Gris]

Stories like this are what keeps me loving the hobby. Kudos for sharing!

[esigs]

That's a great story and your relationship with Cal is awesome!

[ChrisCavalier]

Thanks for sharing Bill. That is awesome!!

-Chris

[punter96]

That is an awesome story and ball - super cool!!

[tigerdale]

Great story! The story makes the ball priceless!!

[Nnunnari]

Very cool piece Bill!

[Wrigley2010]

Bill, thank you for sharing. Kudos to Cal for being such a stand up guy. It's hard to believe it's already been 15 years!

[ksfarmboy]

Incredible item Bill!