Sports
‘I was just so, so honored to be out there’: Remembering Ripken’s record-setting streak
At 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 7, 1995, Orioles nonstop shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. headed through the tunnel from the Camden Yards clubhouse to the parking lot. He high-fived two stadium cleanup workers, then hopped into the back of a Lincoln Town Car, leaving Oriole Park as the greatest Iron Man in major league history. Three policemen on motorcycles escorted him out of the lot, roaring past a cluster of screaming fans and one older gentleman holding a sign that read:
Thirty years ago, Ripken did precisely that, reinvigorating a game severely damaged by a work stoppage that cancelled the 1994 World Series. That stirring night in Baltimore was among the most powerful, inspirational and important nights in the game’s history, an unforgettable night that left men — including Ripken — women and children in tears. It was more than a baseball story: It was a story of discipline, commitment, loyalty, perseverance, toughness and greatness, attributes that also defined the amazing Lou Gehrig, whose record of 2,130 consecutive games played had stood for 56 years.
“That whole night was surreal, those moments were so glossy and good, it was like you were watching yourself, it felt like an out-of-body experience,” Ripken said this week, days ahead of the game’s 30th anniversary. “Thirty years later, it’s really interesting that — maybe it’s because I’m 65 — I’ve always been someone who didn’t see the value in looking back, living in the past, like going to your high school reunion. Focus on now. Move forward. Looking back, I learned it’s not so much the events, it’s the experiences you go through, and the people you go through them with.”
Ripken’s unfathomable record, the most unbreakable in baseball, is even more impressive given the way the game is played today, where healthy scratches are common and players are rested just to try to keep them off the injured list. Since Ripken’s streak ended voluntarily — “It was time to change the subject,” Ripken said at the time — at 2,632 in 1998, the longest consecutive game streak was 1,152 by shortstop Miguel Tejada from 2000 to 2007.
The longest active streak, through Wednesday, is 761 by Braves first baseman Matt Olson. He would have to play every game for the next 11½ seasons to equal Ripken’s record, which would require him to play every day at age 43.
Ripken’s 1995 season, in which he broke Gehrig’s record, began with a road series in Kansas City. The night before Opening Day, many of the Orioles went to a party at the home of former Orioles pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who had a house in the area. Sutcliffe had a basketball hoop in the yard. Ripken, the most competitive man on the planet, took part in several 2-on-2 games, dunking several times. Ripken craved playing the game — any game — playing it properly and, of course, winning.
The ’95 season included a stop in every road city to talk about The Streak, something that initially made Ripken tremendously uncomfortable. He eventually realized, though, that in the aftermath of the strike, the game needed something to feel good about. That season, Ripken made it his mission to sign as many autographs for the fans as possible. There were nights in which he signed for 90 minutes after games.
“I remember the strike and the cancellation of the World Series, I remember the lockout in spring training that shortened that [1995] season, I remember the feeling of the ugly side of baseball, and the fans always get hurt by that,” Ripken said. “Coming into spring training, the first thing you think of is, ‘How do you repair that?’ How do you say you’re sorry?’ Many times, it is through the autograph. That’s how I communicated with it. The idea of staying afterwards to sign, that turned out to be a really cool thing. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert. All of a sudden, you get a chance to talk to people. That became a thing.”
The march to 2,131 was a seasonlong thing, but momentum gathered in earnest on Sunday, Sept. 3, during a game against the Seattle Mariners at Camden Yards. When the number draped on the side of the warehouse beyond the right field wall at Oriole Park changed from 2,127 and 2,128 after the game became official in the fifth inning, every Mariners player stood on the top step of the visiting dugout and joined the sellout crowd cheering for Ripken. The next night, against the then-California Angels, Ripken had three hits, and he had two more the night after that, including a home run each night. It was the first time in more than four years that he had homered in three straight games.
“I was in the on-deck circle when that banner came down in the fifth inning,” said Angels second baseman Rex Hudler after the game No. 2,129 on Monday. “I almost started to weep. I had to grab myself and say, ‘Hud, not now, man. The next two days are for crying.’ I can’t imagine playing a week straight let alone 13 years straight.”
Thirty years later, Ripken said, “The reaction of Rex [a former teammate] was really good. He always joked that he was drafted before me. I sent him over an [autographed bat] that said that. That was the coolest.”
Angels infielder Rene Gonzales said that night, “I was here [as an Oriole] when he had the consecutive innings streak (8,243, which ended in 1987). I knew he’d get this record. This was nothing for him. He’s an alien.”
The next night, when the number of the warehouse changed from 2,129 to 2,130 — matching the record set by Gehrig — the fans cut loose with an ovation that stopped play for 5 minutes, 20 seconds. Ripken waved his cap to the crowd, looked at his sobbing family, and patted his heart to signify how hard it was pounding.
“There were several moments,” Ripken said after the game, “that I had to hold back tears.”
After 2,130, there was a 30-minute postgame ceremony on the field. Among others, actor Tom Selleck, then-San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson and local legend quarterback Johnny Unitas presented gifts to Ripken and his wife, Kelly. The most moving presentation was made by Pirates pitcher Jim Gott, who, as a rookie, was the starting pitcher for the Blue Jays against the Orioles on May 30, 1982 — the day Ripken’s streak began. Gott had given up one hit in six innings for his first major league victory that day, and he had kept the game ball. But when he walked onto the field that Tuesday night, he gave the ball to Ripken, who was floored by the gesture.
“You don’t have to do this,”‘ Ripken said.
“I want to,” Gott said.
Three hours after the game, Ripken undressed at his locker, two attendants tagging and bagging every piece of clothing he peeled off, preparing them for delivery to trophy cases at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, and elsewhere. “I’m keeping this,” Ripken said, flipping his protective cup into his locker.
He left the clubhouse at 1:48 a.m. It was then that he started to feel overwhelmed by the experience, he said, and he barely slept the night before 2,131. “I was sweating so much, the sheets and comforter were soaking wet,” Ripken said. He said he thought he might have a virus but decided that it was just a case of “nerves.”
At 8:05 on the morning of 2,131, Ripken took his 5-year-old daughter, Rachel, to her first day of kindergarten, then he took a nap. The drama mounted when he arrived at the ballpark to learn that among those in attendance that night would be President Clinton and Vice President Gore, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson.
Orioles journeyman infielder Jeff Huson, who was platooning at third base with Jeff Manto, was thrilled about starting that night. Huson had been tracking the Angels’ rotation for three weeks trying to figure out if a right-hander might be starting against Baltimore on Sept. 6.
“I thought I had no chance because the Angels had four left-handers in their rotation,” he said. “Then I saw that Shawn Boskie [a right-hander] came off the disabled list. Then I saw on ‘SportsCenter’ last Friday night that he would be starting on Sept. 6. I jumped up in the air and said, “Yes!”
In the stands behind the plate was Cal’s younger brother, Billy, a former Oriole who spent the 1995 season with the Cleveland Indians’ Triple-A team in Buffalo. Billy was given permission to leave his team even though it meant missing Buffalo’s opening postseason game. After sitting in the family’s private box high above the field, Billy moved to the front row of seats for the historic occasion because, he said, “I wanted to sit down near the field. Tonight, I was more in amazement.”
The score was 1-1 when Cal came to bat in the fourth inning. Billy called to him and shook his brother’s hand. Ripken crushed a 3-0 pitch from Boskie deep into the left-field seats, prompting the iconic call from ESPN’s Chris Berman: “Oh my goodness, he did it again!”
“I will never forget that,” Billy said. “I shook his hand before he hit that homer.”
No one who was at the game, or even watched it on TV, will ever forget what happened a short time later, following the top of the fifth, when the game became official. At 9:20 p.m., play was stopped. The song “Day One” poured through the P.A, black and orange balloons were released, and everyone in the Orioles bullpen raced in to stand at the dugout with Ripken and the rest of the team as the number on the warehouse turned from 2,130 to 2,131. The cheer that went up was perhaps the loudest in the history of Baltimore sports. A fan raised his sign to the sky:
“Today, I Consider Myself The Luckiest Man On The Face Of The Earth.”
With several Orioles players wielding their video cameras, Ripken emerged from the dugout, took off his cap and waved to the fans. Then he walked over to the front row of seats behind the plate and hugged his wife, Kelly and children, Rachel and her 2-year-old brother, Ryan. He took off his jersey and cap and presented them to his kids.
“That’s when I lost it,” Huson said. “Every father knew what that meant.”
There were four more curtain calls before Bobby Bonilla pulled Ripken out of the dugout and made him circle the field along the warning track. As he ran along the track, Ripken slapped hands with fans who were leaning over the railing. When he got to center field, he jumped, balancing on his stomach at the top of the fence, and high-fived a few fans who leaped from their seats in the bleachers. Along the way, he waved and pointed at fans he recognized. When he got to the third-base coaching box, he was intercepted by umpires Larry Barnett and Al Clark, both of whom shook his hand. Then he ran to the top step of the visitors dugout where all the Angels players were standing and clapping. He hugged hitting coach Rod Carew.
“It was awesome. In the end, the players are all in this together,” Ripken said. “And I really love Rod Carew.”
Angels catcher Jorge Fabregas, who was behind the plate, went over to shake Ripken’s hand.
“I was just so, so honored to be out there,” Fabregas said.
Play was stopped for 22 minutes. If there has been a more joyful, emotional 22 minutes in baseball, no one could remember it.
“I kept coming out of the dugout, and it was like, ‘We won’t get this game started until you take a lap around the ballpark,”’ Ripken said. “The funny part was, Bobby Bo with his big baritone voice, his size, he was an intimidating influence. He pushed me out [of the dugout]. It was something that I really didn’t want to do, but I reluctantly went out there and it turned out to be one of the best human moments on the field.
“What surprised me, when you play, you focus on what is happening around you in the dugout and on the field, but you really don’t look in the stands too often. All of a sudden I was recognizing people who had been there for a while. People I knew by name. It just made it super personal. This wonderful celebration of the whole stadium.”
After the fifth inning, after the 22-minute tour, my writer friend Bob Elliott came to me with tears in his eyes.
“OK,” he said, “I get it.”
The Orioles won the game 4-2 — Ripken added a single in the eighth inning to his earlier home run — and speeches followed.
“I’ve never witnessed anything like that,” said Cal Ripken Sr., his beloved father. “He had a tremendous burden, and he handled it so well. I just marveled at how he was able to do everything that he did [during the fifth-inning celebration] and could still go out and do what he did in the game.”
Ripken wrote his own speech, and miraculously got through it without crying. Most people that night did not.
Surely there will be tears from Ripken and many others Saturday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards when the 30-year anniversary of 2,131 is celebrated. Ripken hasn’t changed much after all these years: He is still wildly competitive about everything, relentlessly prepared, adamant about doing things properly and always winning, no matter the task. Predictably, he took no credit for The Streak bringing baseball back from the strike of 1994, but 30 years has given him added perspective. When asked what he remembered most about that amazing night in 1995, he chuckled.
“My daughter called me the other day and said, ‘Happy Anniversary! You and I have that anniversary in common,'” Ripken said. “I momentarily forgot that her first day of school was the day of 2,131. It was pretty cool taking her to her first day of school on the same day. The whole night was pretty cool.”
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning credited the first goalie fight in an NHL outdoor game for helping to spark their historic Stadium Series comeback win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
With 8:59 left in the second period and the Bruins leading 5-2, Lightning forward Brandon Hagel tried to poke the puck from under Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman after a save. Swayman then jumped on top of Hagel next to his crease, leading to a melee between the teams while the Lightning were on a power play. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy skated from his crease to the opposite blue line during the chaos.
“I just saw Sway was swinging the blocker on [Hagel] a bit, so it was just a reflex to go to the red line and challenge him. He accepted,” Vasilevskiy said.
Swayman spotted the Tampa Bay goalie, dropped his stick and skated out to meet Vasilevskiy as the two engaged near center ice. Swayman took off his gloves and mask and signaled to Vasilevskiy to remember to remove his mask before the fists flew.
“I don’t want to hit his helmet, so I’m glad we didn’t do that,” Swayman said.
The Lightning goalie nicknamed “The Big Cat” grabbed Swayman’s collar and started throwing left hands. The Boston goalie wasn’t able to get much offense in before Vasilevskiy wrestled him to the ice.
Did Swayman know that Vasilevskiy was a lefty before their fight?
“No,” the Bruins goalie said curtly, with a laugh. “Glad we both had our first gig against each other. Really worthy opponent.”
Vasilevskiy gave him a tap on the back and then tapped the back of Swayman’s head in appreciation of the moment, grinning widely as the fans roared inside Raymond James Stadium.
“When we both fell, we just kind of said to each other nice words. It was super nice. It’s one of the biggest moments for me, because I never fought in the NHL,” Vasilevskiy said. “Big thanks to him. He was great in the net all game and great in the fight as well.”
Swayman was also appreciative.
“He wanted to win, which is good. So did I. So that’s game respecting game,” he said. “I’m fighting the biggest, toughest goalie in the league. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but glad we got the first one out of the way. Probably retire after that.”
The crowd of nearly 65,000 fans stood and cheered during the confrontation, and then again when the referee announced the goalies had both received five-minute majors for fighting. Players on both benches were on their feet, too, slapping their sticks against the boards in appreciation and respect for their netminders.
“He was throwing lefts. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I didn’t want to be the other guy,” Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov said. “I was so happy. I was so fired up. I think the bench felt it. Everyone in the building felt it. Ever since that fight, the game was turned. Vasy had to do it, I guess. He had to wake us up.”
The Lightning would score twice on 5-on-3 power plays over the next 5:12, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 5-4 heading into the third period. Kucherov tied the score in the third period, and the Lightning eventually won 6-5 in a shootout.
Tampa Bay’s rally from a four-goal deficit to win marked the largest comeback victory in franchise history and the largest in an NHL outdoor game.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he could feel the momentum starting to swing before the fight, but the goalie throwdown was an emotional high the Lightning needed at that moment.
“I was like, ‘Thank goodness something positive was going to happen to our game,'” he said. “I give Boston a lot of credit. They took it to us and we weren’t prepared for it. Vasy was pissed.”
Hagel said he felt the fight was “a big turning point in the game.”
So did Kucherov, who was also convinced that his goalie would win the fight.
“I knew he was going to beat the wheels off of Swayman right away,” Kucherov said. “We call him ‘White Tyson’ now.”
NEW YORK — For a 22nd straight year, LeBron James is an All-Star.
The NBA announced its reserves for the Feb. 15 midseason showcase Sunday night on NBC before James and his Los Angeles Lakers faced the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Voting was conducted by the league’s coaches over the past week.
James, 41, was the last player announced, as the league’s oldest player extended his record for both overall and consecutive selections by another season.
“Super humbling,” James said Sunday night, after the Lakers lost to the Knicks 112-100. “The coaches voted, right, so mad respect to the coaches and them seeing the way I’m still playing at this latter stage of my career.
“And to be able to be an All-Star means a lot to my family, people that have been following my career, my LeBron faithful. They’ve been following my journey and it’s always rewarding just from a humbling standpoint to be able to be rewarded for what you put your work into.”
James did not play in last season’s All-Star event because of injury.
“You think about a star player, their prime is their All-NBA, All-Star years,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And you know, he’s basically had a 20-plus-year prime. It’s kind of unheard of. It is unheard of, uncharted, whatever you want to call it. I mean, it’s incredible. It’s a testament to the work that he puts in.”
James was joined on the court Sunday by three other All-Stars: starters Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson, and fellow reserve selection Karl-Anthony Towns.
“Of course he deserves it,” teammate Doncic said of James. “He’s playing at a top level still at that age. It’s incredible to share the floor with him.”
The reserves named with James were led by Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, whose 16th All-Star selection is fourth most of all time — breaking a tie with Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett and putting him behind only Kobe Bryant (18), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19) and James.
Joining James and Durant as Western Conference reserve selections included a trio of first-time participants — Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren and Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija — plus Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (fourth) and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (fifth).
“Multiple 50-point games, multiple 50-point games in the playoffs, let’s see, triple-double in the finals, NBA champion, most wins in the West over the last 10 years, he’s the point guard of that team … in my mind, all those things make sense, except for the one that was missing,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said of Murray.
In the Eastern Conference, Towns — making his sixth All-Star team — was joined by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (seventh), Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (fourth), Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (second) and a trio of first-time picks: Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren, Miami Heat guard Norman Powell and Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson.
“I believe that he deserves it, and I think probably one of the best compliments you can give him is the fact that he starred in all of his roles that he’s had in his career, and he just continues to get better,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Powell. “He’s having his best years now after the age of 30.”
Under the NBA’s latest format change for the event — U.S. vs. the World — the 24 All-Star participants will be divided into three eight-player rosters — two featuring Americans, with the third made up of international players. They will each play two 12-minute games, with the two teams with the best record — or the two with the best point differential if they all go 1-1 — facing each other in the championship game.
The All-Star Game will take place at the LA Clippers‘ arena (Intuit Dome) in Inglewood, California. The Clippers were notably absent from Sunday’s announcement; despite going 16-4 over their past 20 games to partially erase a brutal start to the season, the team didn’t have any of its players selected for this year’s event.
Either Clippers star Kawhi Leonard — who since Dec. 20 has led the league in scoring and steals — or Rockets center Alperen Sengun is probably the best candidate to replace Milwaukee‘s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will sit out the game because of a calf injury. NBA commissioner Adam Silver will pick a replacement for Antetokounmpo, plus any additional players should the need arise.
Other players chosen last month as starters were: Boston‘s Jaylen Brown, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, Philadelphia‘s Tyrese Maxey, Golden State‘s Stephen Curry, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and San Antonio‘s Victor Wembanyama.
Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff will coach one of the All-Star teams. Either San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson or Adelman will coach another — that will be decided by results of games Sunday — and the NBA has not announced how the coach of the third team will be decided.
Bickerstaff earned his nod because the Pistons lead the Eastern Conference. Johnson or Adelman will go by having the best record in the Western Conference among eligible coaches; Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault coaches the team with the West’s best record, but he cannot coach the All-Star Game this year because he coached at the event last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sports
Lightning players wear full-padded Bucs uniforms, get Baker Mayfield escort before Stadium Series in Tampa
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The Boston Bruins were being hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning not in the usual Amalie Arena way on Sunday night, but rather at Raymond James Stadium — home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
So, before they hit the outdoor ice on a very chilly Tampa night, the Lightning players were spotted coming off the bus wearing throwback “Creamsicle” Bucs uniforms.
Pads, helmets and all.
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Victor Hedman and the Tampa Bay Lightning dress in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers creamsicle jerseys and are joined by Tristan Wirfs as they travel to the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game against the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Mark LoMoglio/NHLI)
Fans were cheering as the players, all with their numbers and last names on the back of the bright orange jerseys, made their way into the stadium for their clash with the Bruins.
It was a lot different than the regular blue, black and white jerseys the Lightning players are used to, but these throwback jerseys are a staple in the Tampa area. The Bucs still wear them today on occasion, though it used to be synonymous with losing when the franchise first began in 1976.
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The Bucs were an expansion team, and they turned heads with their uniform color choice. However, they went a whopping 0-26 in them before finally coming away with a win in their second season.
And it wasn’t just the Lightning players the fans were cheering for. At the head of the pack were Bucs stars, quarterback Baker Mayfield and left tackle Tristan Wirfs, leading the way while wearing the actual blue sweater the hockey team would don on the ice at Raymond James Stadium.
Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning arrives prior to the 2026 NHL Stadium Series against the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the Bruins also had a football theme considering their fellow NFL team in New England is going to the Super Bowl in a week.
With the Patriots back in the “Big Game,” the Bruins showed up in full Patriots outfits, looking like our founding fathers as they got off the bus.
While the NHL and its teams are having fun with this Stadium Series game, both of these squads are coming into the contest on fire.
The Bruins and Lightning each own an 8-1-1 record over their last 10 games, and the Lightning own the Eastern Conference’s best record at 34-14-4. The Bruins are not too far behind, though, at 32-20-3.
David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins arrives dressed as a Colonial Patriot before the 2026 NHL Stadium Series game between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Brian Babineau/NHLI)
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Finally, hockey outdoors in Florida is usually conducive, but the NHL will actually need a heater to get the ice to the proper temperature as it’s an uncharacteristic 40 degrees on Sunday night.
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