The Associated Press

Type	Not-for-profit cooperative
Founded	May 1846 (1846-05)[1]
Headquarters	New York City, New York, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Tom Curley, President and CEO
Industry	News media
Products	Wire service
Revenue	US$631 million (2010)[2]
Operating income	US$14.7 million (2010)[2]
Net income	US$8.8 million (2010)[2]
Employees	3,700
Website	www.ap.org

AP headquarters at 450 West 33rd Street, New York City

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative.

As of 2005^[update], the news collected by the AP is published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,001 television and radio broadcasters. The photograph library of the AP consists of over 10 million images. The Associated Press operates 243 news bureaus, and it serves at least 120 countries, with an international staff located all over the world.

Associated Press also operates The Associated Press Radio Network, which provides newscasts twice hourly for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. The AP Radio also offers news and public affairs features, feeds of news sound bites, and long form coverage of major events.

As part of their cooperative agreement with The Associated Press, most member news organizations grant automatic permission for the AP to distribute their local news reports. For example, on page two of every edition of The Washington Post, the newspaper's masthead includes the statement, "The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to use for re-publication of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and all local news of spontaneous origin published herein."

The AP employs the "inverted pyramid formula" for writing that enables the news outlets to edit a story to fit its available publication area without losing the story's essential meaning and news information.

Cutbacks at longtime U.S. rival United Press International, most significantly in 1993, left the AP as the primary nationally oriented news service based in the United States, although UPI still produces and distributes news stories and photos daily. Other English-language news services, such as Reuters and the English-language service of Agence France-Presse, are based outside the United States. More recently launched internet news services, such as All Headline News (AHN) are becoming competitive to the traditional wire services like the AP.

History[link]

Logo on the former AP Building in New York City

Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative formed in the spring of 1845 by five daily newspapers in New York City to share the cost of transmitting news of the Mexican-American War by boat, horse express, and telegraph. The venture was organized by Moses Yale Beach (1800–68), second publisher of the New York Sun, and agreed to by the Herald, Courier and Enquirer, Journal of Commerce, and the Express. Some historians believe that the Tribune joined at this time; documents show it was a member in 1849. The New York Times became a member in 1851. Initially known as the New York Associated Press (NYAP), the organization faced competition from the Western Associated Press (1862), which criticized it for monopolistic practices in gathering news and setting prices. An investigation completed in 1892 by Victor Lawson, editor and publisher of the Chicago Daily News, revealed that several principals of the NYAP had entered into a secret agreement with United Press, a rival organization, to share NYAP news and the profits of reselling it. The revelations led to the demise of the NYAP and in December 1892, the Western Associated Press was incorporated in Illinois as the Associated Press. An Illinois Supreme Court decision (Inter Ocean Publishing Co. v. Associated Press) in 1900—that the AP was a public utility and operating in restraint of trade—resulted in AP's move from Chicago to New York City, where corporation laws were more favorable to cooperatives.^{[citation needed]}

When the Associated Press was founded, news became a salable commodity. The creation of the rotary press followed shortly after which led to the New York 'Tribune installing high-speed press in the 1870s allowing them to publish 18,000 papers per hour. During the Civil War and Spanish-American War, there was a new incentive to write vivid, on-the-spot reporting leading to the Graphic Revolution. This occurred making man's ability to make, preserve and transmit images, and print of these events much more fesible. Due to the fact that printing speed had been dramatically increased, this movement was legendary and has the Associated Press to thank for this achievements.

Melville Stone, who had founded the Chicago Daily News in 1875, served as AP General Manager from 1893 to 1921. He embraced the standards of accuracy, impartiality, and integrity for which AP is still known. The cooperative grew rapidly under the leadership of Kent Cooper (served 1925-48), who built up bureau staff in South America, Europe, and (after World War II), the Middle East. He introduced the “telegraph typewriter” or teletypewriter into newsrooms in 1914. In 1935, AP launched the Wirephoto network, which allowed transmission of news photographs over leased private telephone lines on the day they were taken. This gave AP a major advantage over other news media outlets. While the first network was only between New York, Chicago and San Francisco, eventually AP had its network across the whole United States.^[3] In 1945, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Associated Press v. United States that AP had been violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by prohibiting member newspapers from selling or providing news to nonmember organizations as well as making it very difficult for nonmember newspapers to join the AP. In 1982, satellites began transmitting news photography. AP entered the broadcast field in 1941 when it began distributing news to radio stations; it created its own radio network in 1974. In 1994, it established APTV, a global video newsgathering agency. APTV merged with WorldWide Television News in 1998 to form APTN, which provides video to international broadcasters and websites. In 2009, AP had more than 240 bureaus globally. Its mission —“to gather with economy and efficiency an accurate and impartial report of the news”—has not changed since its founding, but digital technology has made the distribution of the AP news report an interactive endeavor between AP and its 1,400 U.S. newspaper members as well as broadcasters, international subscribers, and online customers. AP headquarters are at 450 W. 33rd Street in Manhattan.

The Associated Press began diversifying its news gathering capabilities, and by 2007 AP was generating only about 30% of its revenue from United States newspapers. 37% came from the global broadcast customers, 15% from online ventures, and 18% came from international newspapers and from photography.^[4]

Key dates[link]

• 1849: the Harbor News Association opened the first news bureau outside the United States in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to meet ships sailing from Europe before they reached dock in New York.
• 1876: Mark Kellogg, a stringer, is the first AP news correspondent to be killed while reporting the news, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His final dispatch: "I go with (Commander George Armstrong) Custer and will be at the death."
• 1893: Melville E. Stone becomes the general manager of the reorganized AP, a post he holds until 1921. Under his leadership, the AP grows to be one of the world's most prominent news agencies.
• 1899: AP uses Guglielmo Marconi's wireless telegraph to cover the America's Cup yacht race off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the first news test of the new technology.
• 1914: AP introduces the teleprinter, which transmitted directly to printers over telegraph wires. Eventually a worldwide network of 60-word-per-minute teleprinter machines is built.
• 1935: AP initiates WirePhoto, the world's first wire service for photographs. The first photograph to transfer over the network depicted an airplane crash in Morehouse, New York, on New Year's Day, 1935.
• 1938: AP expands to new offices at 50 Rockefeller Plaza (known as "50 Rock") in the newly built Rockefeller Center in New York City, which would remain its headquarters for 66 years.^[5]
• 1941: AP expands from print to radio broadcast news.
• 1945: AP Paris bureau chief Edward Kennedy defies an Allied headquarters news blackout to report Nazi Germany's surrender, touching off a bitter episode that leads to his eventual dismissal by the AP. Kennedy maintains that he reported only what German radio already had broadcast.
• 1951: AP Prague bureau chief William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. He is not released until 1953.
• 1994: AP launches APTV, a global video news gathering agency, headquartered in London.
• 2004: The AP moves its headquarters from 50 Rock to 450 W. 33rd Street, New York City.^[5]
• 2006: AP joined YouTube.
• 2008: The AP launches AP Mobile (initially known as the AP Mobile News Network), a multimedia news portal that gives users news they can choose and provides anytime access to international, national and local news. AP was the first to debut a dedicated iPhone news application in June 2008, offering AP’s own worldwide coverage of breaking news, sports, entertainment, politics and business as well as content from more than 1,000 AP members and third-party sources.^[6]
• 2010: AP earnings fall 65% from 2008 to just $8.8 million. The AP also announced that it would have posted a loss of $4.4 million had it not liquidated its German language news service for $13.2 million.^[7]
• 2011: AP lost $14.7 million in 2010 as revenue plummeted for a second consecutive year. 2010 revenue totaled $631 million, a decline of 7% from the previous year. This is despite sweeping price cuts designed to bolster revenues and help newspapers and broadcasters cope with declining revenue.

AP sports polls[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The AP is known for its polls on numerous college sports in the United States. The AP polls ranking the top 25 NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision) college football and NCAA Division I men's and women's college basketball teams are the most well known. The AP composes the polls by collecting and compiling the top-25 votes of numerous designated sports journalists. The AP poll of college football was particularly notable for many years because it helped determine the ranking of teams at the end of the regular season for the collegiate Bowl Championship Series until the AP, citing conflict of interest, asked for the poll to be removed from the bowl series. Beginning in the 2005 season, the Harris Interactive College Football Poll took the AP's place in the bowl series formula. Despite the invention of the BCS, the AP has maintained its status and is viewed as an equal to the BCS (USC's AP title in 2003). The AP poll is the longest serving national poll in college football, having begun in 1936.

AP sports awards[link]

Baseball[link]

The AP began its Manager of the Year Award in 1959, for a manager in each league of Major League Baseball.^[8] From 1984 to 2000, the award was given to one manager in all of MLB.^[9] The winners were chosen by a national panel of AP baseball writers and radio men. The award was discontinued in 2001.^[8]

Basketball[link]

Every year on March 31, the AP releases the names of the winners of its AP College Basketball Player of the Year and AP College Basketball Coach of the Year awards.

American football[link]

• AP NFL Coach of the Year (1957)

Associated Press Television News[link]

The APTN Building in London

In 1994, London-based Associated Press Television (APTV) was founded to provide agency news material to television broadcasters. Other existing providers of such material at the time were Reuters Television and Worldwide Television News (WTN).

In 1998, AP purchased WTN, and APTV left the Associated Press building in the Central London and merged with WTN to create Associated Press Television News (APTN) in the WTN building, now the APTN building in Camden Town.

Litigation and controversies[link]

Breach of contract and unfair competition[link]

In November 2010 the Associated Press was sued by iCopyright. iCopyright's lawsuit asserts breach of contract and unfair competition in that the Associated Press launched a copyright-tracking registry, built upon information and business intelligence that the AP misappropriated from iCopyright.^[10]

Christopher Newton[link]

Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Christopher Newton, an Associated Press reporter since 1994, was fired by AP in September 2002 after he was accused of fabricating sources since 2000, including at least 40 people and organizations. Prior to his firing, Newton had been focused on writing about federal law-enforcement while based at the Justice Department. Some of the nonexistent agencies quoted in his stories included "Education Alliance," the "Institute for Crime and Punishment in Chicago," "Voice for the Disabled" and "People for Civil Rights."^[11]

Fair-use controversies[link]

In June 2008, the AP sent numerous DMCA take down demands and threatened legal action against several blogs. The AP contended that the internet blogs were violating AP's copyright by linking to AP material and using headlines and short summaries in those links. Many bloggers and experts noted that the use of the AP news fell squarely under commonly accepted internet practices and within fair use standards.^[12] Others noted and demonstrated that AP routinely takes similar excerpts from other sources, often without attribution or licenses. AP responded that it was defining standards regarding citations of AP news.^[13]

Copyright and intellectual property[link]

In August 2005, Ken Knight, a Louisiana photographer sued^[14] the Associated Press claiming that the AP had willfully and negligently violated Knight's copyright by distributing a photograph of celebrity Britney Spears to various media outlets including, but not limited to: truTV (formerly CourtTV), America Online and Fox News. According to court documents the AP did not have a license to publish, display or relicense the photographs. The case was settled by the parties in November 2006.

In a case filed February 2005, McClatchey v. The Associated Press, a Pennsylvania photographer sued the Associated Press claiming that the AP had cropped a picture to remove the plaintiff's embedded title and copyright notice and later distributed it to news organizations without the plaintiff's permission or credit. According to court documents the parties settled the lawsuit.^[15]

In April 2011, Patricia Ann Lopez, a New Mexico courtroom sketch artist, sued the Associated Press claiming that the AP had violated her copyrights by reselling her images without a license and had deceptively, fraudulently and wrongfully passed off the artist's work as its own.^[16] According to court documents the AP did not have a license to resell or relicense the images.

Shepard Fairey[link]

In March 2009, the Associated Press counter-sued artist Shepard Fairey over his famous image of Barack Obama, saying the uncredited, uncompensated use of an AP photo violated copyright laws and signaled a threat to journalism. Fairey had sued the Associated Press the previous month over his artwork, titled "Obama Hope" and "Obama Progress," arguing that he did not violate copyright law because he dramatically changed the image. The artwork, based on an April 2006 picture taken for the AP by Mannie Garcia, was a popular image during the presidential campaign and now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. According to the AP lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, Fairey knowingly "misappropriated The AP's rights in that image." The suit, which also names Fairey's companies, asks the court to award AP profits made off the image and damages. "While (Fairey and the companies) have attempted to cloak their actions in the guise of politics and art, there is no doubt that they are profiting handsomely from their misappropriation," the lawsuit says. Fairey said he looked forward to "upholding the free expression rights at stake here" and disproving the AP's accusations.^{[citation needed]}

Hot News[link]

In January 2008, the Associated Press sued competitor All Headline News (AHN) claiming that AHN allegedly infringed on its copyrights and a contentious 'quasi-property' right to facts.^[17][18] The AP complaint asserted that AHN reporters had copied facts from AP news reports without permission and without paying a syndication fee. After AHN moved to dismiss all but the copyright claims set forth by AP, a majority of the lawsuit was dismissed.^[19] According to court documents, the case has been dismissed and both parties have settled the lawsuit.^[20]

In June 2010 the Associated Press was accused^[21] of having unfair and hypocritical policies after it was demonstrated that AP reporters had copied Hot News, original reporting and facts from the "Search Engine Land" website without permission, attribution or credit.^[22]

Governance[link]

The Associated Press is governed by an elected board of directors.^[23]

Web resource[link]

The AP's multi-topic structure has lent itself well to web portals, such as Yahoo! and MSN, all of which have news sites that constantly need to be updated. Often, such portals will rely on AP and other news services as their first source for news coverage of breaking news items. Yahoo!'s "Top News" page gives the AP top visibility out of any news outlet. This has been of major impact to the AP's public image and role, as it gives new credence to the AP's continual mission of having staff for covering every area of news fully and promptly. The AP is also the news service used on the Nintendo Wii's News Channel.^[24] In 2007 Google announced it was paying for Associated Press content displayed in Google News, but the articles are not permanently archived.^[25] On December 24, 2009, Google stopped displaying or hosting Associated Press news content on the Google News website.^[26]

See also[link]

Journalism portal

• Journalism scandals

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Associated Press (June 17, 2007). Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 1-56898-689-0. 
• Fenby, Jonathan (February 12, 1986). The International News Services. Schocken Books. ASIN B000LD4XUO. ISBN 0-8052-3995-2, ISBN 0-8052-3995-9. 
• Schwarzlose, Richard (January 1, 1989). Nation's Newsbrokers Volume 1: The Formative Years: From Pretelegraph to 1865. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-0818-6. 
• Schwarzlose, Richard (February 1, 1990). Nation's Newsbrokers Volume 2: The Rush to Institution: From 1865 to 1920. Northwestern University Press. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/0-8101-0819-6|0-8101-0819-6]]. 
• Schwarzlose, Richard (June 1979). The American Wire Services. Ayer Co Pub. ISBN 0-405-11774-4. 

External links[link]

• Official website
• AP photo archive
• AP news
• Civil Rights Greensboro

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Cal Ripken, Jr.
Shortstop / Third baseman
Born: (1960-08-24) August 24, 1960 (age 51) Havre de Grace, Maryland
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 10, 1981 for the Baltimore Orioles
Last MLB appearance
October 6, 2001 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics
Batting average	.276
Hits	3,184
Home runs	431
Runs batted in	1,695
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001)
Career highlights and awards
19× All-Star (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) World Series champion (1983) 2× Gold Glove Award winner (1991, 1992) 8× Silver Slugger Award winner (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994) 2× AL MVP (1983, 1991) 1982 AL Rookie of the Year 2× MLB All-Star Game MVP (1991, 2001) 1992 Roberto Clemente Award 1992 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award 1991 Home Run Derby winner Baltimore Orioles #8 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team Other awards and records
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2007
Vote	98.53% (first ballot)

Calvin Edwin "Cal" Ripken, Jr. (born August 8, 1960), nicknamed "Iron Man",^[1] is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001).

Ripken is perhaps best known for breaking New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played, a record many deemed unbreakable. He surpassed the 56-year-old record when he played in his 2,131st consecutive game on September 6, 1995, against the California Angels in front of a sold-out crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.^[2] To make the feat even more memorable, Ripken hit a home run in the previous night's game that tied Gehrig's record and another home run in his 2,131st game. Fans later voted his 2,131st game as Major League Baseball's "Most Memorable Moment" in MLB history.^[3] Ripken played in an additional 501 straight games over the next three years, and his streak ended at 2,632 games when he voluntarily removed his name from the lineup for the final Orioles home game of the 1998 season.^[4] His record 2,632 straight games spanned over seventeen seasons, from May 30, 1982, to September 20, 1998.

A 19-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game and member of the 3000 hit club, Ripken is considered one of the best shortstops and third basemen to ever play the game. At 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 225 lb. (102.27 kg), he pioneered the way for taller, larger shortstops to be successful in that position.^[5][6][7] When inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, he was a first ballot inductee with the third highest voting percentage (98.53%) in Hall of Fame history, behind Tom Seaver (98.84%) and Nolan Ryan (98.79%).^[8]

He is a best-selling author and the President and CEO of Ripken Baseball, Inc.,^[9] whose goal is to grow the love of baseball from a more grassroots level. Established in 2001, Ripken Baseball represents Cal and his brother Bill's business and philanthropy dealings^[10] and focuses on several subsidiaries: Ripken Management and Design, Youth Camps and Clinics, Cal Ripken, Sr. foundation, Ripken Professional Baseball, with three minor-league teams—the Aberdeen IronBirds (affiliated with the Orioles);^[11] the Augusta GreenJackets (affiliated with the San Francisco Giants);^[12] and the Charlotte Stone Crabs (affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays).He is also one of the Board of Directors at ZeniMax Media.[3]^[10]

Personal life[link]

Ripken was born to Cal Sr. and Violet "Vi" Ripken in Havre de Grace and was raised in Aberdeen, Maryland, in a baseball family. His father, Cal Sr., was a long-time coach in baseball who managed the Orioles in the late 1980s. Ripken attended Aberdeen High School as did his brother Billy, who later played second base for various teams, including the Orioles. He has two other siblings, Ellen and Fred. Ripken married the former Kelly Geer at Towson United Methodist Church on Friday, November 13, 1987. They have a daughter, Rachel,^[13] and a son, Ryan, who will play college baseball at the University of South Carolina.^[14]

Playing career[link]

Ripken was drafted by the Orioles in the second round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft.

1981–82[link]

Ripken, as a member of the Rochester Red Wings (the Orioles Triple-A farm club at the time), played in the longest professional baseball game. Ripken started at third base and played all 33 innings against the Pawtucket Red Sox (which featured another future Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs) in a game that took parts of three days to complete.^[15] He made his big-league debut in a strike year. Ripken split time between shortstop and third base in 1981 and 1982, but he started to achieve prominence right away. Ripken homered in his very first at bat of the first game of the Orioles 1982 season against Kansas City and he hit 28 home runs that year en route to the American League's Rookie of the Year Award. Ripken would eventually win the shortstop job from veteran Mark Belanger, an eight-time Gold Glover. Ripken began his consecutive-games-played streak on May 30, 1982, and broke Lou Gehrig's "unbreakable" record 14 years later in what would be seen by many as a bright spot following the devastating 1994 strike. For example, the writeup in the 1996 Sporting News Baseball Guide called it "what almost everyone considered the high point of the major league season."^[16]

1983[link]

Ripken took an even bigger step forward in 1983, when he earned the first of his 19 All-Star berths and was named the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1983, hitting .318 with 27 home runs and 102 RBI. His fielding percentage that year was .970. He would go on to hit at least 20 home runs in each of the next eight seasons, for a total of ten consecutive years (1982–1991).

The Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox in the ALCS before beating the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one in the 1983 World Series. In the series Ripken hit just .167 with no homers and only one RBI.^[17] Although not contributing significantly in the World Series with his bat, he made a number of key plays defensively at shortstop, including the final out of the series on a Garry Maddox lineout in Game 5.

1987[link]

1987 was a family affair year for Ripken as his father, Cal Ripken, Sr., became manager of the Orioles. That year, he became the first manager to write two of his sons into the lineup card when both Ripken Jr and his brother and fellow Oriole, Billy Ripken, played in the same game.^[6] Later in the season, Ripken Sr. decided to take Ripken out of the game on September 14, in a blow out loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium. Replacing him in the eighth inning was current Rangers Manager Ron Washington, thus ending Ripken's streak of 8,243 consecutive innings.

1991[link]

While Ripken narrowly missed out on a Gold Glove in 1990—when he made just three errors in 162 games—he had a career year in 1991. Ripken led the American League with 211 hits and a .348 batting average at the All-Star Break. He finished the season by hitting .323/.374/.566 over 650 plate appearances, with 34 HR and 114 RBI. In addition to that, Ripken hit 46 doubles, stole a career-high 6 bases and was caught once, and hit 5 triples, while posting his career lowest strikeout rate and lowest number of strikeouts in a season with 600 or more plate appearances. His 1991 season is the fourth-greatest in baseball history (second among non-pitchers) as measured by WARP3 at 17.0 wins, bested only by Walter Johnson's 1913 (18.1 wins), Babe Ruth's 1923 (18 wins), and Amos Rusie's 1894 season (17.6 wins).^[18]

Ripken won his second AL MVP award, the Gold Glove Award, 1991 All Star Game MVP award (going 2 for 3 including a 3-run home run off Dennis Martínez), the Gatorade Home Run Derby contest (hitting a then record 12 home runs in 22 swings, including 7 consecutive homers to start the contest), Louisville Slugger "Silver Slugger Award", AP Player of the Year Award, and The Sporting News Player of the Year Award. The only other player in MLB history to win all those awards in the same season, excluding the Home Run Derby, was Maury Wills in 1962.

Ripken became the first player ever to win the Home Run Derby and be named All Star Game MVP in the same year.^{[citation needed]} The only other player that has accomplished this feat is Garret Anderson of the Anaheim Angels in 2003. He was the first AL MVP in MLB history to win the award while playing with a sub .500 club. The Orioles finished in 6th place that year with a 67–95 record.

At the end of the 1991 season, Memorial Stadium, the Orioles' home since 1954, saw its last MLB game against the Detroit Tigers. Ripken was the last Oriole to bat at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, hitting into a double play against Detroit's Frank Tanana on Oct. 6, 1991.^[19]

1993[link]

Ripken preparing for a game in 1993

Ripken achieved a personal milestone on July 10, 1993, when he collected his 2,000th career hit, during a game at Oriole Park against the Chicago White Sox.^[20] This came on the Saturday of "All-Star Weekend", just prior to the All-Star Game played at Camden Yards on July 13.

1995[link]

The numbers on the Orioles' warehouse changed from 2130 to 2131 on Sept. 6, 1995 to celebrate Cal Ripken, Jr. passing Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak.

On September 6, 1995, many baseball fans within and out of the United States tuned in to cable TV network ESPN to watch Ripken surpass Lou Gehrig's 56-year-old record for consecutive games played (2,130 games). The game, between the Orioles and the California Angels, still ranks as one of the network's most watched baseball games (Baseball's most-watched game was Game 7 of the 1986 World Series). Cal's children, Rachel and Ryan, threw out the ceremonial first balls. Both President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were at the game. Clinton was in the WBAL local radio broadcast booth when Ripken hit a home run^[21] in the fourth inning, and called the home run over the air. When the game became official after the Angels' half of the fifth inning, the numerical banners that displayed Ripken's streak on the wall of the B&O Warehouse outside the stadium's right field wall changed from 2130 to 2131.

Everyone attending (including the opposing Angels and all four umpires) erupted with a standing ovation lasting more than 22 minutes, one of the longest standing ovations for any athlete; ESPN did not go to a commercial break during the entire ovation. During the ovation, Ripken did a lap around the entire Camden Yards warning track to shake hands and give high-fives to the fans.

"It was very spontaneous. I was feeling a sense of anxiety that it was unfair to stop the game in the middle of the game. You felt for the pitchers—it's almost like a rain delay. I just kept saying to myself, 'okay, let's get the game started. Thank you very much. I'll celebrate it as much as you want after it's over, but let's stay with the game.'

"Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro pushed me out of the dugout and said, 'Hey, if you don't do a lap around this thing, we'll never get the game started.' I thought it was a ridiculous sort of thing... but as I started to do it, the celebration of 50,000 started to be very one-on-one and very personal. I started seeing people I knew... Those were the people that had been around the ballpark all those years, and it was really a wonderful human experience."^[6]

1996[link]

Ripken in 1996 at Yankee Stadium

On June 14 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City against the Royals, Ripken broke the world record of consecutive games played of 2,216. The record had been held by Sachio Kinugasa of Japan. Kinugasa was at the game to watch Ripken break his record.^{[citation needed]} On July 15, Ripken was moved to third base as an experiment, with Manny Alexander taking the shortstop position.^[22] In the first inning, Ripken dove for a grounder down the line and threw from his knees to get the runner out at first. This was the first time someone other than Cal Ripken had started a game at shortstop for the Orioles since his streak began on May 30, 1982.

Following the 1996 season, Cal Ripken released an autobiography, titled The Only Way I Know.^[23]

1997–98[link]

The Orioles signed free agent shortstop Mike Bordick from Oakland and moved Ripken back to third base permanently.^{[citation needed]}

On September 20, 1998, before the final home game of the season against the New York Yankees, Ripken decided to end his streak at 2,632 games, having surpassed Gehrig's previous record by 502 games. Rookie third baseman Ryan Minor started in his place (at first he thought it was a rookie prank). Realizing that the streak was coming to an end, the fans, his teammates, and the visiting Yankees (with David Wells being the first to notice that Ripken was not playing during batting practice) gave Ripken an ovation after the game's first out was recorded. Ripken later stated that he decided to end the streak at the end of the season to avoid any off-season controversy about his playing status, and to end the streak entirely on his own terms while he still could.

1999–2000[link]

Ripken in the latter part of his career

In 1999, Ripken had his statistically best season since 1991. Although he was injured at both the beginning and the end of the 1999 season; and, also mourned the loss of his father and former coach Cal Ripken, Sr. only a few days before 1999's opening game, he managed to hit 18 homers in only 332 at-bats (one HR every 18.4 AB's) while hitting a career high .340. He had the best individual game of his career, going 6 for 6 with 2 homers off John Smoltz and tying a club record with 13 total bases against the Atlanta Braves on June 13, 1999.

Ripken's 1999 season ended early due to injury when he was only 9 hits away from joining the 3000 hit club. He finally achieved the milestone early in the 2000 season when he singled off reliever Héctor Carrasco in a game against the Minnesota Twins on April 15, 2000, in the Metrodome. Ripken had a good night at the plate, getting three hits, the third of which was the milestone.^[24] The Twins distributed a commemorative certificate to the fans as they left the Metrodome after the game.

2001[link]

In June 2001, Ripken announced he would retire at the end of the season. He was voted the starting third baseman in the All-Star game at Safeco Field on July 10, 2001, in Seattle. In a tribute to Ripken's achievements and stature in the game, shortstop Alex Rodriguez (unknowingly foreshadowing his own future) insisted on exchanging positions with third baseman Ripken for the first inning, so that Ripken could play shortstop as he had for most of his career. In the third inning, Ripken made his first plate appearance and was greeted with a standing ovation. Ripken then homered off the first pitch from Chan Ho Park. Ripken ended up with All Star MVP honors. He is one of four players in MLB history with multiple All Star Game MVP Awards (1991 and 2001) and is the only player to win All Star Game MVP in two different decades.

The Orioles planned to retire Ripken's #8 in a ceremony before the final home game of the 2001 season, in late September. Ripken's final game was originally set to be played at Yankee Stadium; however, the September 11, 2001 attacks led to the postponement of a week's worth of games. The games missed were added on to the end of the season's schedule. Since all the games the Orioles missed were at home, this changed the location of Ripken's final game to Oriole Park, much to the delight of Orioles fans. On October 6, Cal Ripken ended his career in the on deck circle in the bottom of the ninth inning. Long-time teammate Brady Anderson, also playing in his last game for the Orioles, swung and missed a fastball high and tight on a 3–2 count to end the game. After the game, Ripken gave a speech thanking the fans for their support over 20 seasons.

Post-baseball life[link]

2001–2005[link]

Cal Ripken's number 8 was retired by the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.

Ripken has made donations to many charity causes, including donations supporting research on Lou Gehrig's disease. Along with his brother Billy, he formed the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation to give underprivileged children the opportunity to attend baseball camps around the country and learn the game. The Foundation is a branch of Ripken Baseball. In addition to controlling these camps and Ripken's minor league teams, Ripken Baseball operates for-profit camps and designs ballfields for youth, college, and professional teams. Cal Ripken youth leagues compete with Little League and are growing in importance while Little League shrinks. He gives speeches about his time in baseball and some of the lessons he has learned. Between 2001 and 2004, inclusive, Ripken served as commissioner of the White House Tee Ball Initiative of President George W. Bush, in which capacity he worked to promote the value of teamwork amongst players and volunteership amongst the public and helped to teach tee ball fundamentals to teams of children at the White House.

Ripken retired on October 6, 2001. He is a part owner of the New York-Penn League's Aberdeen IronBirds, the Short-season Class A affiliate Minor League Baseball team within the Orioles' system. The team plays at Ripken Stadium in Cal's hometown of Aberdeen, Maryland.

On June 28, 2005, he announced that he was purchasing the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League, a Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

In 2005, the Orioles honored Ripken on the 10th anniversary of his 2,131st consecutive game. After the top of the 5th inning, the numbers 2130 on the warehouse behind the stadium changed to 2131, just as they did on September 6, 1995.

2007[link]

Ripken (left) is honored by the Orioles in 2007

In 2007, Ripken, along with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Warrick Dunn, Mia Hamm, Jeff Gordon, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, and Alonzo Mourning founded Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and inspires millions of non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.^[25]

On January 9, 2007, Ripken was elected to the Hall of Fame, appearing on 537 out of 545 of the ballots cast (98.53%), eight votes short of a unanimous selection. His percentage is the third highest in history, behind Tom Seaver who received 98.84 percent of the vote and Nolan Ryan who received 98.79 percent, and the highest ever for a regular position player. Tony Gwynn, who appeared on his first ballot, was chosen alongside Ripken. Both Hall of Fame-Elects were formally inducted on July 29, 2007.^[26] The induction ceremony was attended by a record 75,000 people including special guests of Ripken: Ernie Tyler, John Travolta, Richard Gere and Brett Herman.^{[citation needed]}

On January 10, 2007, Ripken expressed interest in purchasing the Baltimore Orioles if current owner Peter Angelos were to sell the team. He has yet to be approached about the potential purchase of the team. At a National Press Club speech in Washington D.C. on April 13, 2007, he denied having an interest in purchasing the Orioles due to lack of sufficient funds.

Ripken is still a popular figure in Baltimore and Washington, DC area advertising, and frequently appears in regional commercials for Comcast cable and internet service. His appearance at a Washington Capitals game on February 10, 2007, prompted a standing ovation from the crowd.^[27]

In April 2007, he released two books, Get in the Game, described as a motivational guide to success, and The Longest Season, a children's book about the Orioles' 1988 season. He writes a weekly youth sports advice newspaper column in the Baltimore Sun which is syndicated nationwide and has produced a line of baseball training videos.

On April 9, 2007, Ripken announced a partnership with the recently formed "Reviving Baseball in the Inner City" program, with the donation of US$1 million in cash and equipment from the Cal Ripken Sr Foundation.^[28]

On August 13, 2007, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that Ripken has been named Special Sports Envoy for the US State Department and that he will be going to China in October: "...we're just delighted that somebody of Cal Ripken's stature is going to be someone who will go out and represent America so well and represent what we consider to be American values, but universal values; that hard work and diligence and the willingness to really put it all on the line every day is something that kids need to learn," said Rice.^[29]

In October 2007, Ripken began working as a studio analyst for TBS Sports during the 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs.^[30]

2008[link]

On February 28, 2008, Ripken announced his venture into the massively multiplayer online sports game market with "Cal Ripken's Real Baseball".^[31][32]

On March 30, 2008, I-395 Eastern's Branch in Baltimore, from I-95 to Conway Street, was named Cal Ripken Way.^[33]

On May 31, 2008, Ripken received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Delaware and served as the university's commencement speaker.^[34]

Ripken added to his baseball business portfolio in August 2008, purchasing the Vero Beach Devil Rays of the Florida State League with plans to move the team to the Gulf Coast city of Port Charlotte. The team debuted in its new city in 2009 as the Charlotte Stone Crabs.^[35]

2009[link]

On May 2, 2009, Ripken, his wife, and several friends attended the Kentucky Derby, as they do every year. In this race he placed a bet on the race horse Mine That Bird claiming that the horse's name appealed to him given his career with the Orioles along with the jockey's name, Calvin Borel. The gelding also wearing saddle cloth number "8" post position, with odds set at 50 to 1, went on to win the race. This is the second time since 1913 that a horse won the Kentucky Derby after being given such odds. Ripken has not disclosed his winnings.^[36]

On May 8, 2009, "A Shortstop in China" premiered on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. The hour-long special chronicles Ripken's October 2008 trip to China to share the game of baseball with youth and coaches while nurturing American-Chinese diplomacy.^[37][38]

Return to the Orioles[link]

In the summer of 2010, reports started to come alive that Ripken would be rejoining the Orioles organization. Ripken was quoted in a July 17 Associated Press article as saying he would consider rejoining the Orioles part time as an advisor, and full time after his son graduates from high school in 2012.^[39]

Legacy[link]

At 6 ft 4 in, 225 lb (1.93 m, 102 kg), Ripken was a departure from the prototypical shortstop of the time—small, fleet-of-foot players who played a defensively difficult position but often did not post the home run and batting average totals that an outfielder might. Power hitting shortstops such as Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Miguel Tejada are often seen by fans, to be part of Ripken's legacy.

Nonetheless, Ripken demonstrated the ability to play excellent defense at shortstop, and as a result remained a fixture there for well over a decade, leading the league in assists several times, winning the Gold Glove twice, and, in 1990, setting the MLB record for best fielding percentage in a season at his position. Though not a flashy fielder, Ripken displayed excellent fundamentals, and studied batters and even his own pitching staff so he could position himself to compensate for his lack of physical speed, even calling pitches at times. Ripken's legacy as a fielder is reflected by his place near the top of almost every defensive statistical category—he holds at least one all-time record (for either season, career, or most seasons leading the league) in assists, putouts, fielding percentage, double plays, and fewest errors. Ripken's career range factor was 4.73 (and as high as 5.50 for a single season), a mark few shortstops have reached.

Ripken's power, which led to records like the most home runs by shortstop and 13th for career doubles, had consequences. His propensity to drive the ball often led to his grounders getting to fielders quickly for tailor-made double-play balls. In 1999, Ripken passed Hank Aaron as the player who had grounded into the most double plays in his career. Ripken is second on the fielding side for double plays by a shortstop.

Billy and Cal Ripken are one of only four two-brother combinations in major league history to play second base/shortstop on the same club, Baltimore Orioles, during the 1980s. The others are Garvin and Granny Hamner, for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945; the twins Eddie and Johnny O'Brien, with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the mid-1950s, and Frank and Milt Bolling, for the Detroit Tigers in 1958.^[40]

On September 23, 2001, the NASCAR Winston Cup series and MBNA renamed the fall race at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, naming the race the MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400. The race paid tribute to the legacy of Ripken, who was in attendance greeting the competing drivers as they crossed the stage during driver introductions. Driver Bobby Labonte had a special paint scheme on his #18 Interstate Batteries car featuring Baltimore Orioles colors along with Ripken's retirement seal. The race was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was then driving the #8 car (coincidentally matching Ripken's jersey number).

Awards and records[link]

Awards[link]

Cal Ripken Jr. exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Records and honors[link]

• 1999: Ranked Number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players
• 1999: Elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
• Beat Lou Gehrig's Consecutive Games Streak
• 2001: Ranked third greatest shortstop all-time in the The New Bill James Historical Abstract.
• 2001: Uniform number (8) retired by the Baltimore Orioles
• 2007: Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by 98.53 percent of voters. The highest percentage of votes ever for a position player, as well as third highest overall.
• 2007: Inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29 with the San Diego Padres' great Tony Gwynn in front of a record crowd of 75,000 people
• Most consecutive games played at 2,632
• Most consecutive innings played at 8,243 (World record until 2005, current MLB record)
• Most grounded into double plays at 350
• Most home runs by a shortstop at 345
• Most double plays by a shortstop, American League, at 1,682
• All-time leader in MLB All-Star fan balloting (36,123,483)^[41]
• Most American League, MLB All-Star team selections (19) – 1983–2001^[42]
• Most MLB All-Star Game appearances at shortstop (15) – 1983–1996, 2001
• Most consecutive MLB All-Star Game starts (17)^[43]
• Most plate appearances by one player in one game at 15 (Triple-A game tied with Tom Eaton and Dallas Williams).^{[dubious – discuss][44]}

Team records[link]

• Games Played: 3,001
• Consecutive games: 2,632
• At bats: 11,551
• Hits: 3,184
• Runs: 1,647
• RBI: 1,695
• Extra Base Hits: 1,078
• Doubles: 603
• Home runs: 431 (Baltimore has had five members of the 500 home run club on its roster, but none have hit more with the Orioles than Ripken)
• Total Bases: 5,168
• Walks: 1,129
• Strikeouts: 1,305
• Assists: 8,212
• Double Plays: 1,682

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cal Ripken, Jr.

• MLB consecutive games played streaks
• DHL Hometown Heroes
• List of MLB individual streaks
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball doubles records
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
• 3,000 hit club
• Hitting for the cycle
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
• List of second-generation Major League Baseball players

References[link]

• http://www.zenimax.com/bod.htm

External links[link]

• Baltimore Sun Gallery and archive – Cal Ripken Jr.
• Cal Ripken, Jr. at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Ripken Baseball
• "The most powerful-hitting middle infielders of all time" from The Hardball Times