Cal Ripken

Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. announced a nationwide education challenge Tuesday that is geared toward helping students knock their math skills out of the park. Through his organization, Ripken Baseball, the Baltimore "Iron Man" launched a Grand Slam Math Challenge, which will ask students in grades kindergarten through 12 in every state to play the online and board game TiViTz to improve their math skills. Ripken said Tuesday that he was inspired to launch the challenge — which uses math skills on a video baseball field — by the youths in his Ripken Baseball program.

John Maroon is uniquely positioned to offer an opinion on the superstar athlete turned businessman. His firm, Maroon PR, represents Cal Ripken Jr. He's worked with the former Orioles star on and off since 1995, in the process ushering perhaps the most endearing sports character of the last two decades through a transformation from relentless ball player to business owner, baseball advocate, television personality and book author. But even Maroon, who like any Baltimorean has watched Michael Phelps grow from awkward kid to one of the most accomplished athletes of all time, wonders what the future holds for the Charm City's swimming virtuoso.

Cal Ripken Jr. , baseball's Mr. Clean, aired a little dirty laundry on a radio quiz show. Appearing on NPR's "Wait Wait … Don't Tell Me!" last weekend, Ripken was asked about the infamous 1989 baseball card bearing the image of teammate-brother Billy Ripken holding a bat with an obscenity scrawled on the end. The Ironman went on to reveal that Billy isn't the only Ripken who knows how to curse. Peter Sagal , host of the show, asked Ripken if he ever gets tired of living up to his good-boy image.

Cal Ripken Jr. was at Ed Smith Stadium to promote his new children's book, “Wild Pitch,” and he stopped by and talked to the local media. (By the way, they brought 400 books to be signed and all were sold. The Iron Man can still hold the attention of baseball fans.) Ripken was asked about what he's eyeing now that his youngest child, son Ryan, is off to college at the University of South Carolina -- and whether a long-discussed, long-rumored return to the Orioles in some type of front-office role is still on the radar.

It's hard to believe, but the fresh-faced kid who burst into the Orioles lineup in 1982, caught the final out of the World Series in 1983 and broke Lou Gehrig's supposedly unbreakable consecutive games record in 1995 has reached the half-century mark. Cal Ripken Jr. turns 50 on Tuesday, so we thought it was a perfect time to sit down with him and talk about his great career, his reaction to the Big 5-0 and his plans for the future. This is the first in an occasional series of one-on-one interviews conducted by Peter Schmuck with some of Maryland's most talked-about sports figures.

The Marriott Waterfront mezzanine was a mob scene. About 800 folks filled the floor for the cocktail hour of the fifth annual Aspire Gala benefiting the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. "It warms my heart that, in an economy like this, we still sell out," said foundation executive director Steve Salem. "That's not an easy thing to do." Among the guests were almost 50 current and former pro baseball players and coaches, including the evening's honorees, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer and former University of Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter passed Cal Ripken Jr. for sole possession of 13th on the all-time hits list with 3,185 with a first-inning double Friday night against the Chicago White Sox. Ripken released a statement saying: “Congratulations to Derek on passing me on the all-time hits list. Derek has been such a special player for such a long time and I am happy to see him continue to play at a high level. He represents the game and the Yankees wonderfully and I hope that he continues to play and continues to give all of us baseball fans great memories.”

The Orioles released a little teaser of what the Cal Ripken Jr. sculpture is going to look like, but good luck guessing the pose. The O's posted the above photo on their Facebook page today, no doubt to help drum up anticipation for Thursday night's unveiling at Camden Yards. There's been plenty of speculation about what pose Cal has been bronzed in -- perhaps more so than any of the other legends. Will he be tipping his cap, as he did on the night he broke Lou Gehrig's streak?

Cal Ripken Jr. will be in the broadcast booth for TBS during the wild-card and division series rounds. The Hall of Fame former Oriole has previously served as a studio analyst for TBS's postseason coverage, but he made his in-booth debut during an Orioles-Yankees game at Camden Yards earlier this month. Ripken will join play-by-play voice Ernie Johnson and John Smoltz for wild-card and division round coverage. It has not yet been determined which games and series that crew will work.

Thirty years ago today, Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. made his first major-league appearance and played a key role in an extra-innings win over the Kansas City Royals without stepping into the batter's box. With the game tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the 12th inning, manager Earl Weaver called on the 20-year-old rookie to pinch run for slugger Ken Singleton, who had just smacked a double to left field. Two batters later, John Lowenstein singled to right field and Ripken charged home from second for the game-winning run. "I certainly felt like I had helped us win," Ripken said of his Orioles debut years later when The Baltimore Sun asked him about it. "I scored the winning run, which probably anybody could have done at that point.