When I first began following major league baseball in the mid 1980s, Cal Ripken quickly became one of my favorites — even though he didn’t have a cannon for an arm like Shawon Dunston.
The Orioles’ long-time shortstop was a great all-around player, we happened to play the same position, and I had a few of his first produced baseball cards in my once superb collection. However, it wasn’t until many years later that I grew a whole new appreciation for him as a ballplayer: he never took a day off.
Ripken played in 2,632 consecutive games stretching over 16 years.