Bill Ripken

JUPITER, Fla. -- Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken left the club yesterday to be with his father, who is gravely ill.Cal Ripken Sr., who was associated with the Orioles for 36 years as a player, manager and coach, was found to have lung cancer in October. He recently was sent home from Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Ripken Jr. has stayed in close contact with the family since coming to Florida."Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with the Ripken family," said club spokesman John Maroon.Ripken Jr. made the trip to Jupiter and was in the starting lineup for yesterday's game against the Montreal Expos.

EMMITSBURG -- Circumstances have brought former Orioles second baseman Bill Ripken to Mount St. Mary's College. The end of his playing career, the passing of his father, the name. It's as if he has no choice.Who else has the wisdom to continue the teachings of Cal Ripken Sr., who ran a baseball camp here for the past 16 years? Who else has the time?The latter element isn't available to his more famous brother, who yesterday was voted into his 17th All-Star Game. Not yet, anyway. No, this camp and the Cal Sr. legacy are in the hands of someone who earned a reputation as one of the major leagues' most dependable fielders.

1982May 30: Cal Ripken's consecutive-games streak begins when Orioles manager Earl Weaver starts him at third base at Memorial Stadium against the Blue Jays. Floyd Rayford played third base the night before in the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto.June 5: Ripken's innings streak begins in Minnesota. The night before, Jim Dwyer hit for Ripken in the ninth inning.June 30: Ripken's last start at third base until July 15, 1996.Nov. 10: General Secretary Leonid I. Brezhnev dies and is succeeded as leader of Soviet Union by Yuri Andropov two days later.

BaseballAngels: Signed P Erik Hanson to minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Vancouver.Brewers: Signed P J. M. Gold, first-round draft pick.Cardinals: Placed SS Royce Clayton (strained right side) on 15-day DL.Cubs: Optioned IF Jason Hardtke to Triple-A Iowa.Red Sox: Assigned IF Keith Johns to Triple-A Pawtucket.Rockies: Claimed P Fred Rath off waivers from Twins and assigned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Transferred P Kevin Ritz (right shoulder) from 15- to 60-day DL.Tigers: Placed former Orioles IF Bill Ripken (back strain)

BaseballBraves: Optioned P Chris Brock to Triple-A Richmond. Recalled P Brad Clontz from Richmond.Brewers: Called up P Mike Misuraca from Triple-A Tucson.Expos: Announced that P Salomon Torres has cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Ottawa. 1B David Segui withdrew appeal of one-game suspension for charging mound and sat out last night.Giants: Placed P Pat Rapp (strained left oblique muscle) on 15-day DL, retroactive to July 20. Recalled P Doug Creek from Triple-A Phoenix.Rangers: Recalled 3B Fernando Tatis from Double-A Tulsa.

Orioles manager Davey Johnson gave Jeff Reboulet a day off Saturday, then raised the possibility of resting him again last night at Camden Yards.Reboulet, who has a slightly strained muscle below his rib cage, chewed on Johnson's suggestion, looked his manager in the eye and said, "Are you crazy?"OK, he didn't put it quite like that. But he made his point."He said, 'I waited seven years for the chance to play, I can play through this little thing,' " Johnson recalled.Reboulet remembered the conversation somewhat differently.

On the field: The sun rose over Milwaukee, shining through clear skies, but that didn't improve the playing conditions. A cold wind blew from left to right, making the 48-degree temperature seem even colder. Left-hander Jesse Orosco, who played in Milwaukee before joining the Orioles, said that Brady Anderson's long fly in the ninth inning would have been a homer if not for the wind. Orosco said that a double he allowed to Dave Nilsson in the seventh would have been a homer, too.In the dugout: Orioles manager Davey Johnson eschewed the bunt Saturday because of the inability of the Milwaukee pitchers throw strikes.

You'd be a moron to pass up the chance to replace Cal Ripken in the lineup the day The Streak ends, Bill Ripken said the other day. Should his big brother's run of consecutive games end in the near future, Bill Ripken just may get that opportunity, as a utility man for the Orioles.Bill Ripken, 31, is going to spring training with the Orioles this year under a minor-league contract, in the hopes of making the major-league team as a utility man and rejoining the club that let him go after the 1992 season.

The Orioles' Manny Alexander suggested this week that one reason he isn't playing is because he's from the Dominican Republic, an unconscionable, irresponsible remark made out of frustration. Orioles general manager Pat Gillick, assistant general manager Kevin Malone and manager Davey Johnson have established themselves as men dedicated to winning, not promoting non-Latin players.Gillick, after all, built the Toronto franchise with Latin players such as Tony Fernandez, George Bell and Juan Guzman, and turned the team into a championship-caliber club with his acquisition of Roberto Alomar, who is from Puerto Rico.

ATLANTA -- The agent for Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray and Bill Ripken will meet with Orioles officials tomorrow to begin contract discussions for those three players.Ron Shapiro, the Baltimore-based agent, said he ran into general manager Pat Gillick yesterday and set up the meeting. Cal Ripken wants to extend his current contract, which runs out after next season, so his impending free agency won't be a distraction in 1997.The Orioles likely will offer a contract to Bill Ripken -- possibly a minor-league deal -- with the tacit understanding he'll make the team at the end of spring training.

The day began 20 years ago with overcast skies and wisps of fog, a Friday. Despite the fact that the weekend is not expected to brighten, Baltimore baseball fans bask in a warm glow that has been building since April. Their team, the American League cellar-dweller just a year earlier, has a chance to win the pennant. Just one game back of the Toronto Blue Jays with three to play, the Orioles need a sweep at SkyDome to make everyone forget about the previous season, the one that began with 21 losses and ended with 107. "From the beginning, everybody figured they didn't have a chance," recalls Peter Angelos, still nearly four years away from becoming the owner.

OK, it's not real baseball. That's a couple of weeks away. But for the time being, for that part of us that likes living in the moment, the World Baseball Classic is better than nothing. Better than, say, MASN's endless repeats of classic Orioles games, which serve only to remind us of what we don't have anymore. What a treat last weekend to sit in the family room, windows open, cold beverage close by, and watch somebody play someone else for nine innings - live. To watch Team USA manager Davey Johnson fidget as the Canadian squad chipped away at his team's lead in front of a rabid Toronto crowd.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- More than 600 miles from Camden Yards, baseball fans in this Savannah River city are wearing Orioles jerseys in malls where country music plays and in restaurants where the iced tea is served sugary sweet. The proliferation of Orioles garb in a distinctly Southern city is testament to the ever-expanding reach of Cal Ripken Jr., who bought a Single-A team here before the season and has been adopted as a local hero. Ripken and his business partners say the purchase of the Augusta GreenJackets last year and the Aberdeen IronBirds in 2002 is only the beginning.

For a young Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother Bill, baseball was more than a game and a business. It was a language - a medium - that helped them communicate with their father. Longtime Orioles coach Cal Ripken Sr. was the epitome of "old school," a devotee of the sport, with a raspy, smoker's voice who liked to talk baseball over beer. His family members say he demonstrated his affection not in emotional bursts but by being there for them in the long term. The family's life wasn't perfect.

At the end, Cal Ripken Jr. didn't know where to start. Benched in mid-game for the first time in five years, he sat at attention in the Orioles' dugout, like a nervous rookie up from Triple-A. Glove in hand, Ripken stared out at shortstop - his haunt for 8,243 consecutive innings - and wondered: What am I supposed to do? He hadn't a clue. Seventeen years later, Ripken recalls the disorientation he felt in being yanked from the lineup, for all of 20 minutes. On Sept. 14, 1987, Ripken was lifted in the eighth inning of an 18-3 loss in Toronto.

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. -- Opening Day, like summer, comes late to this small city in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. And like summer, the annual love affair between the townspeople and the Bluefield Orioles is intense and short, just 10 weeks from hello to goodbye. But the here-and-gone nature of the seasons and players, who are either beginning their careers or proving they chose the wrong one, often overshadows something deeper: an unconditional commitment between Bluefield and Baltimore that goes back 46 years -- almost to the beginning of the Baltimore Orioles themselves.

Baseball's Iron Man came to City Hall yesterday bearing gifts for a school system too poor to buy baseball shoes for its players. Former Oriole Cal Ripken announced the donation of more than $140,000 in equipment, to be shared by the Baltimore City school system's 20 baseball and softball programs. "We're overjoyed that this equipment can be used and we can celebrate baseball and get the lessons out of baseball that dad taught us," said Ripken, who was there with his brother, former infielder Bill Ripken.

The book on Cal Ripken's playing career has been written, and it's chock-full of unforgettable memories. Now Ripken and his brother Bill are writing a new book of memories to perpetuate the legacy of their late father, Cal Ripken Sr. The virtual Hall of Fame lock and Bill, who is the executive vice president of Ripken Baseball, are the main organizers of the Babe Ruth League-affiliated 12-and-under Cal Ripken World Series in their hometown of Aberdeen....

JUPITER, Fla. -- Jim Palmer huddled with his newest Orioles TV broadcast partner yesterday. With the clock ticking toward opening day, Buck Martinez leaned over and listened closely. "Good thing I'm used to being a quick study," said Martinez, who showed up for the Orioles' 8-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Marlins. The former catcher, whose long career with the Toronto Blue Jays was capped by a two-year stint as manager, has indeed developed a knack for getting up to speed -- fast. All those ESPN games have turned him into one of baseball's most high-profile broadcasters ... which is either terrific for Baltimore or not, depending on which Internet chat room you visit.

A brief thunderstorm drenched Aberdeen late yesterday afternoon, providing a measure of suspense as hometown hero Cal Ripken prepared to unveil his new ballpark. Happily, the showers subsided in time for the poignant pregame festivities that christened Ripken Stadium and the debut of the half-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, the Orioles' newest minor-league affiliate. Not even the Almighty would rain on Ripken's homecoming parade. The Ripken family welcomed a few thousand friends and neighbors to the $18 million iron-and-brick facility, which sits a five-minute drive from the Ripken homestead and serves as the cornerstone for a baseball complex that will include a youth baseball academy and fields modeled after famous major-league parks.