The Ironman goes to Cooperstown
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Before you read this article, check out this picture (I tried to post it but it's way too big): http://www.wnst.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryID/2903/Default.aspx
That's none other than "Nasty" Nestor Aparicio with the Oriole Bird. From his blog at http://www.wnst.net : "A picture is worth a thousand words...or 10 lousy years of baseball..." I couldn't agree more. How ironic is it that the Oriole Bird himself willingly posed for this great picture? And I'm not just hyping this because he owns the radio staiton at which I work (ok, maybe a little bit), but because this perfectly represents the current Baltimore baseball situation.
But, if not for one day, the orange and black army will be able to forget about all of the problems down at the Warehouse and honor arguably Baltimore's biggest and most beloved sports icon:
In 1982, Earl Weaver took a chance...a big chance. And took a lot of scrutiny for it. He put a 6'3" 195 lbs. athlete at shortstop, a concept unheard of at the time. Up until Cal came into the game, shortstops were small, wirey guys usually slated for the 9th position in the batting order. If a guy could field his position with the best, but batted .250, guess what? He started.
Ripken revolutionized the position and opened doors for bigger guys like A-Rod. He made it ok to be a power hitter and still have the athleticism to field shortstop...and field the position he did. When asked how he learned to play shortstop, Cal stated that it started in high school. He was pretty small as a freshman, and began to learn how to field the position with small stature. Like most of us, he hit his growth spurt in high school, gained some power in his bat but didn't lose his athleticism. By the time he was a senior, he was named by the Baltimore Sun to the All-County team. I remember this well, because my dad, who also played shortstop, was elected All-County by the Sun as well (my dad representing Baltimore County and Cal representing Harford county). Cal was always a true student of the game.
Although he only won 2 gold gloves, he should have won more. The snub that sticks out the most to me is in 1990 when Ozzie Guillen got the nod over Cal for the gold glove at shortstop.
Aside from amassing over 3,000 hits and 400 HR, Cal's call to the hall was sealed because he holds a record that, in my mind, will never be broken. Yes, the famous consecutive games streak at 2,632.
So tomorrow afternoon, it will be nice to bring back those GOOD feelings of Oriole's magic and Baltimore baseball. Peter Angelos wasn't at Cal's celebration at Camden Yards on Thursday...anyone think he'll actually show up to Cooperstown tomorrow?
