Cal Ripken Jr. is known for being one of the last of his kind, both as an ironworker and as a guy who committed to one team after playing an MLB-record 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles over 16 years.
In a recent media appearance, he recently revealed that there was almost a time when he wasn’t the Orioles’ shortstop when an American League rival tried to pry him away from Baltimore.
Ripken recently appeared on The Road to Cooperstown, the official podcast of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and said the New York Yankees ran on him at one point, and Ripken said Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield came to all of them. – All-Star game one year to convince Ripken how great it was to play in New York.
Cal Ripken Jr., Yankees Shortstop? 🤔 They tried.
The Iron Man on The Road to Cooperstown, The Official Podcast @BaseballHall@Orioles: |: @CalRipkenJr |: @jonmorosi:
DOWNLOAD 🔗 https://t.co/FyiKpdnmd4 pic.twitter.com/fLLGSLfSj3
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) August 6, 2024
Ripken joked that it couldn’t have worked out too well because an article was published shortly after the All-Star break detailing Yankees owner George Steinbrenner criticizing Mattingly and Winfield.
The two Yankees stars may never have come close to neutralizing one of their biggest rivals and luring Ripken to New York, but it worked out very well for New York, as Derek Jeter found himself at shortstop nearly two decades later.
Playing an entire career with one team is becoming a lost art, and while Ripken could have left and perhaps chased a world title elsewhere, he will forever be revered as baseball’s last true Iron Man.
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