Cal Ripken Jr. - The Road To Baltimore

The youth had set his sights modestly, however, revealing in his high-school yearbook that his goal was to become "a minor league baseball player." On graduation in 1978, Ripken appeared destined to achieve that goal. He was selected as a second-round draft choice by his beloved Baltimore, and assigned to a farm team in Blue-field, West Virginia. It was here that the young man was inaugurated as a shortstop (Ripken was also a pitcher in high school). Though he had talent, Ripken also had some maturing to do, as evidenced by his less-than-stellar first year batting average of .264; he also led the league in errors that season. With his move to the Orioles' Florida Instructional League, Ripken was able to strengthen his hitting until he reached a .303 average.

By 1979 Ripken had improved enough to be placed on an Orioles AA team in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over the next two seasons he was given increasingly more innings; by 1980 Ripken had a .276 batting average and had hit twenty-five home runs, nearly three times the number of homers from the year before. After being named the Southern League's all-star, he was promoted to a AAA team in Rochester, New York, in 1981. Finally, in August 1981, Ripken got the call to join the Orioles. He stepped up to the plate in his first Major League game on Opening Day 1982.

If the early 1982 season were any indicator, Ripken may well have moved back to the minors. In his first game he impressed with a home run, but then slipped, finishing with a 7-for-60 hitting record over the next seventeen games. By May 1, Ripken's batting average had dropped to a dismal .117, leading to a serious crisis of confidence. The young batter sought help from a master, in this case California Angels star Reggie Jackson. It was Jackson who provided these words of advice, as quoted from Baseball Digest: "The Orioles traded away a fine player [third baseman Doug Decinces] so they could bring you up. They know you're going to be great. So just do what you know you can do, not what everybody else tells you to do." Ripken rallied and ended the season with an average of .264.

The Orioles' fortunes rose in 1983, as the team became favorites to win the World Series. Ripken had grown into his game and had become a formidable hitter. He led the majors with 211 hits and forty-seven doubles, and led the American League with 121 hits, including twenty-seven home runs and a .318 batting average. With Ripken's bat leading the way, the Orioles bested the Chicago White Sox in the American League Championship Series. Within the hoopla over the Pennant win, it was also noted that Ripken had played every inning of every game in the 1983 season; it was the quiet beginning of a streak that would help make him a household name. As the Orioles faced the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1983 World Series, Ripken fell into an uncharacteristic slump, batting only.167; still, his team took the crown four games to one.