The Orioles recently won the AL East for the first time since 2014, and to Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., the key to winning the World Series is to not change a thing.
The Orioles had a regular-season mark of 101-61, the best record in the American League and the second best in all of baseball behind the Atlanta Braves. The Orioles had a losing record every season from 2017 to 2021, but they began to turn the page in 2022 with an 83-win campaign.
Now, the club is preparing to play in the postseason for the first time since 2016. Ripken has some words of wisdom for his former team as it enters its American League Division Series matchup against the Texas Rangers.
“My advice would be don’t do anything different,” Ripken said on Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 3. “Approach the game the same way that you have.”
Ripken won the World Series with the Orioles in 1983, still the club’s last appearance in the Fall Classic, and believes this team has what it takes to do something special.
“This team right here focuses on every pitch,” Ripken said. “They have good at-bats. They execute really well in the field. They run the bases aggressively. There’s a lot that they’re doing on a daily basis.”
However, the news surrounding the Orioles organization hasn’t been all good in recent days.
The death of Orioles legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson on Sept. 26 was hard on the baseball world. Robinson played for the Orioles for 23 years and earned 18 All-Star nods and 16 Gold Gloves. He became the first Oriole to win American League MVP honors in 1964.
Robinson’s career and charisma left a mark on millions of people, including Ripken.
“He was my boyhood idol,” Ripken said. “I think I was attracted toward him at first because of the exciting way he played the game.”
Later, Ripken figured out that with Robinson, it wasn’t all about how he played the game, but rather how he lived his life.
“My parents pointed him out to me for all of the other reasons, about how he represented the city, how he handled himself [and] how he treated people,” Ripken said.
While the Orioles continue to honor Robinson, they also need to keep their focus on the playoffs.
News of star closer Félix Bautista needing Tommy John surgery struck the MLB world just days ago. This injury is likely to keep him from a major league mound until 2025.
Like other Orioles fans, Ripken was devastated by this news.
“I would’ve liked to have still seen Bautista in the back of the bullpen,” Ripken said. “He helps solidify and make everybody else better.”
However, the Orioles’ other pitchers have stepped up in Bautista’s absence, particularly starters Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, John Means, Kyle Gibson and Dean Kremer.
On the offensive side, infielder Gunnar Henderson and outfielder Anthony Santander have made a huge impact, each with 28 home runs and more than 80 RBIs. Ripken got a chance to talk to Henderson during the 1983 World Series reunion in August and had some great things to say about Henderson following it.
“I see a great, talented player that’s in the early part of his development,” Ripken said. “He’s going to get better, and sometimes that’s hard to believe. He has a high ceiling.”
For the rest of the team, Ripken thinks it’s not necessarily their collective stats that have brought them to where they are, but rather something that isn’t seen clearly on the stat sheet.
“There is an intangible called chemistry,” Ripken said. “This team really likes each other. … Everyone contributes, everyone is open-minded to different roles they have played [and] the focus is right where it should be.”
Another factor that is more evident on the stat sheet is the sheer number of one-run games the Orioles have played in (46). From Ripken’s perspective, the team has appeared calm in these games.
“I don’t know why they’re so calm,” Ripken said. “I think that they’ve played a number of one-run games, and you learn that when you win those one-run games and things turn out all right, there’s a confidence that develops.”
Going forward, Ripken thinks this team can continue to compete in close games.
“I have no doubt that this team right here has learned as the season has gone on that not only can they play in these one-run games, but they can hold on and they can win them,” Ripken said. “That’s a really good trait for a team going to the playoffs.”
The ALDS is set to begin on Oct. 7. Though Brooks Robinson won’t be in the building for any of these games, the Orioles will have him in their hearts and minds as they try to do what he did twice for the organization — win a World Series.
However, another man who has accomplished the difficult feat of winning the World Series will be in attendance.
“I’m planning on going to many playoff games,” Ripken said.
For more from Ripken, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credits: Colin Murphy/PressBox