Cal Ripken Jr. sat in the passenger seat of a red Corvette convertible and rode around the Camden Yards warning track to a standing ovation, 30 years to the day after he did the same when he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak.
“If I can do it, certainly somebody else can,” Ripken said in his speech to the Orioles, the Dodgers and the entire baseball world on Sept. 6, 2025.
Ripken is likely the only person around the game who feels that way.
Baseball statistics like pitcher wins, strikeouts and home runs have been affected by how the game has changed throughout the years. However, Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said ballplayers from different generations can agree on Ripken’s record of 2,632 consecutive games played.
“This is the only one where if you ask the players from the ’50s and the players from the 2020s, there’ll be a consensus that it is incredibly difficult to do and it will probably never be broken,” Mansolino said.
Jackson Holliday grew up around the sport. He was in major league ballparks while his father, Matt, was an MVP candidate for the Rockies in the late 2000s, and carved his own journey to become a full-time starter for the Orioles at 21 years old.
That gave Holliday a greater appreciation for Ripken’s record. Before playing in the majors, he understood the grind of the season and the physical and mental toll it takes on a player.
Holliday said that playing for that long is something every player strives to do. He referred to the streak as “impressive,” “remarkable” and “incredible.”
“I don’t think that’ll ever be touched,” Holliday said.
Dylan Carlson and Coby Mayo both agree with that feeling. Neither of them experienced the big leagues as a kid like Holliday did, so the feat came into perspective once they started playing baseball at this level every day.
Like Holliday, Carlson referred to it as “remarkable.” Mayo made sure to mention how the streak didn’t end Sept. 6, 1995, but instead lasted three more seasons.
That didn’t come without uncertainty.
Ripken said the biggest scare came June 6, 1993, when a brawl ensued between the Orioles and the Mariners after Mike Mussina plunked Bill Haselman with a pitch. Ripken’s foot slipped on the grass during the commotion. He got hit, in his own words, “by about 2,000 pounds of people,” and ended up on the bottom of a pile.
Ripken said he heard something pop in his right knee. When he woke up the next morning, he couldn’t put his foot on the ground. Ripken called his parents and told his mom how he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to play that night.
At Camden Yards later that day, he went under the tunnel where nobody could see him jumping around and tested his knee. He felt he could play, and so he did. And he kept playing after that.
“I never ever thought that there was an end game, that there was a goal or I was going to break the record,” Ripken told the local media. “I thought whatever happens, happens. Just keep playing.”
Ripken said there was a sense of relief on the day of 2131. External expectations and pressure rose as the feat got closer to becoming reality, he said.
“When everyone started planning for the celebration, then it put a finish line [in place]. I kept thinking, ‘I didn’t like that,'” Ripken said. “I started thinking all these things, which I had to put out of my mind and just play. I think the streak happened because I could physically do it. Mentally I was able to overcome things and push forward.”
Three decades after Ripken surpassed Gehrig, the memories of that day are “crystal clear.” Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro pushed him out of the dugout in the fifth inning, starting a delay of 22-plus minutes as everyone in Camden Yards celebrated the “Iron Man.”
While the delay was not nearly as long, the Orioles re-created the moment 30 years later between the Orioles and Dodgers. Bonilla and Palmeiro pushed Ripken from the dugout to the field, triggering an ovation from the crowd.
That moment was the last of the celebrations. A number of Baltimore legends were on hand, including Orioles Hall of Famers Mussina, Eddie Murray, Brady Anderson, Harold Baines, B.J. Surhoff and Al Bumbry.
“Being a part of a franchise with such history and tradition, it’s really special when you get to see moments like that,” Carlson said. “You look up in the stands and you see the way it affects people. And how passionate people are 30 years to still remember a moment like that, it’s pretty remarkable and it shows the type of impact this game has.”
Ripken’s impact in Baltimore is unmatched. His impact on the sport may be just as profound.
Though most believe his record will never be broken, Ripken hopes that isn’t the case.
“I still think somebody else can do it, I would welcome that, because I think there’s a principle of going out and playing, and I think that would be bringing tribute to the game,” Ripken said.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles