“It was a totally different experience. I missed Frank’s, and then I’ve come to every one since. They are a little bit nerve-racking, a little bit emotional. Many of the ones mention my Dad. Jim mentioned him, Eddie mentioned him. It starts to get you thinking. So today, I thought by preparing a speech and practicing it a hundred times that I could get some of the emotions out of the speech. But sure enough, it’s the moment of truth that hits you, which I guess is a really good thing. And my comments are, right before the game, that it was really cool, it is really cool. And I think it’s really symbolic of the connection to the Oriole history and the Oriole past. It’s very appropriate that, this team right here this year, is playing so well. This is a huge series, so there’s a lot of great excitement out there.”
Transcript of Cal Ripken Jr.'s speech Thursday night
On the importance of September 6:
“The irony to me is that September 6, 1995, I wanted so desperately for us to be in the race and playing for a pennant, playing for a playoff position. We were a little bit further out at that time and then the focus became a little bit more on the game streak. It was important for us to play well as a team during that time and it was important for me to perform well during that time. It’s not OK to just show up, it’s important to do well. So coming in September 6, it feels really good to walk into that stadium and see the excitement, to see such a big series in September against the Yankees and only one game that separates the two teams. Certainly it adds to it when you play the Yankees, but this is an exciting time for this team.”
On the current Orioles team:
“I’m really happy that J.J. Hardy caught my lame first pitch. It was a ball, but normally you don’t have to throw over a statue to get it to home plate. J.J., I saw him play with Milwaukee, I always admired him, I always admired the intangibles that he brings, the leadership he brings, the stability that he brings. I thought that was a big factor in bringing him here as a shortstop and him performing in the middle of the field. If you look around, they have All-Star caliber players at many different positions. The question always is, for every team, is the pitching going to keep you in the ball game? The pitching, although it’s changed a little bit, we found some surprises in the second half, the pitching is keeping them in there. The Orioles are playing really well. I don’t think anybody could have projected. I think everyone was hoping that they would continue to develop and that they would be challenging for the Wild Card, but this is exciting. It’s been a while since you’re watching, you’re checking up, you’re listening everywhere you are to what’s happening in the game, so it’s exciting for me.”
On Billy’s words:
“Billy’s a fantastic speaker. He really communicates well. Sometimes he gets up on his soapbox in some ways. We laugh and kid when we do our radio show together. He knows the game really well. He has great timing and a great sense of humor. I asked both Brady and him a little bit late. I let this sneak up on me a little bit. Both of them are very meaningful to me and I’m very appreciative that they took the time out to make a few remarks.”
On the sculpture:
“The whole thing is to capture the essence of the player. Yes, I got a chance to see it early. Yes, I got the chance to have input if I wanted to. But the creative process was already there and was already going, and I trusted the process. Certainly, the backhand kind-of stretch play in the hole, I made that many times. I was longer, I was rangier, I was bigger and that signified, or symbolized, a bigger person playing the position of shortstop. I was very proud of the success I had there. I was very proud of the time that I played there. I think maybe in a small way I changed the dialogue that says, ‘Maybe a bigger guy can play in the shortstop position’. So I was very proud of that. I’m very proud of the pose. It looks like me and I think it captures who I was as a shortstop.”
On being remembered:
