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THE RIPKEN YEARS

Ripken: Bring back same team, manager

Season highlights: 1997; Stats line; The year in baseball...and the world

By Peter Schmuck | Sun Staff

September 23, 1999

Cal Ripken may not have many more chances to return to play in the postseason, but he wants at least one more chance to do it with the same team that went wire-to-wire to win the American League East and came within two games of reaching the World Series.

"I look forward to the chance to establish some kind of stability and try again next year," he said.

That means everybody, including manager Davey Johnson, who clashed with Ripken last year over his impending move to third base, but earned his respect as the two fought side-by-side to build the best record in the American League.

"We accomplished a lot of things as a team," Ripken said. "There were a lot of different contributions from everyone in this clubhouse, and a great contribution from Davey. Everybody deserves credit and the opportunity to try again."

Ripken met with Johnson, general manager Pat Gillick, assistant GM Kevin Malone and vice chairman Joe Foss for about 10 minutes after the game. He congratulated them on the team they had put together and urged them to stay the course in 1998.

"The fact of the matter is, we had a tremendous year," he said. "That makes you feel good. That's what you set out to do in spring training. I told them I hope we have something to build on."

The sting of the Orioles' frustrating Game 6 defeat was still fresh, but Ripken endured it gracefully and tried to put the best possible face on the club's disappointing offensive performance in the American League Championship Series. The Orioles failed to hit in several key situations and scored a total of one run in their final two ALCS losses.

Ripken was one of the exceptions. He batted .348 in the series and had a single, a double and two walks in five plate appearances yesterday, but the offense combined to go 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and finally lost on a 11th-inning home run by Indians utility man Tony Fernandez.

"It's disappointing when you don't get what you set out to get," Ripken said. "You know you had opportunities. We made things happen but didn't get the hit to win the ballgame.

"When you allow yourself to view the whole series, Cleveland did what it took to win. They executed well; they pitched well, and the ball bounced their way a few times. I don't really feel bad, but it's still disappointing you didn't get the chance to move on."

So, Ripken will go home and figure out the best way to get ready for the 1998 season. There has been speculation that he will undergo surgery to repair a disk injury in his lower back, but he would say only that he will act quickly to address the chronic back soreness that hampered him to varying degrees during the second half of the regular season.

"Very shortly, I'll have my back re-evaluated," Ripken said. "I'm going to collect some facts and make a decision very quickly. The encouraging thing is that I moved very well. I hope it's over and everything is OK."

The injury apparently is a bulging disk that causes back spasms and pain that radiates down his legs. Ripken can choose to try to alleviate the inflammation with rest and physical therapy, but he does not want to battle with it again next season.

"I've been running well and defensively have been able to move well and swing the bat, but you still want to know what you're dealing with," he said. "The worst thing that could happen is you could let it go and then go to spring training and have it flare up again."

Ripken might take solace from the experience of Seattle Mariners pitcher Randy Johnson, who had surgery last fall to correct a similar injury and came back to go 20-4 this year. If he has the injury repaired quickly, he probably would be ready to start spring training on time and keep his record consecutive games streak intact.

For the moment, however, he said that his only plan is to go home, play with the kids and watch the World Series.

Season Highlights

Cal continues The Streak, finishing the season at 2,478 games.
Moves from shortstop to third base.
Although an extremely high number of errors hurt him early in the season, he went on to recover.
Lower back injuries lowered his performance the further he got into the season.

Stats Line

	Avg.	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	E
1997	.270	162	615	79	166	30	0	17	84	56	73	1	22
Career	.276	2543	9832	1445	2715	517	44	370	1453	1016	1106	36	254

The year in baseball . . .

Davis' inspirational comeback

Outfielder Eric Davis endeared himself to Orioles fans in record time with his hard-charging style of play and the catalytic effect he had on the Orioles' offense, but the baseball world was shocked when it was discovered in June that he was suffering from colon cancer.

Surgeon Keith Lillemoe removed a large cancerous mass from Davis' intestinal tract, and doctors recommended a long course of chemotherapy. Davis accepted their advice, but refused to let the often-debilitating treatment program prevent him from returning to help the Orioles clinch the American League East title.

He returned to the starting lineup on Sept. 15 and was a factor in both of the club's postseason series. He had a big two-run single in the Division Series against the Seattle Mariners and a decisive home run in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

Rocking Randy

Mariners ace Randy Johnson went 20-2 against the rest of baseball this year, but he went into the tank when he faced the Orioles. They won all three games he started during the regular season, and Mike Mussina outpitched him twice in the postseason, including the deciding game of the Division Series.

Johnson, perhaps the most overpowering pitcher of his generation, has a 3-9 career record against the Orioles, including postseason play.

If you could figure out the reason and bottle it, the rest of the American League would beat a path to your door.

Don't shoot, I'm only the manager

Manager Davey Johnson has the highest winning percentage of any active major-league manager, and he has never finished lower than second in any full season he has managed in the big leagues. So why is his job security always an issue?

Johnson said in July that he felt he had to reach the World Series to feel good about his chances of returning for the final year of his three-year contract.

"I signed a three-year contract," he said at the time, "but I've always felt I would have to get it done in two."

He is not a favorite of owner Peter Angelos - and his future with the club appeared to be in jeopardy after he fined Roberto Alomar $10,500 for missing an exhibition game and a team function - but Angelos said last week that there is no reason to think that Johnson will not be back for the 1998 season.

Ripken moves over

Future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken did not immediately embrace the club's decision to move him from shortstop to third base, but he agreed to make the move when the team signed free-agent shortstop Mike Bordick, and it worked out well.

Bordick brought added range to the infield, and Ripken - reluctant or not - finally brought some stability to third base, where the club had been without a front-line veteran presence since the club traded Doug DeCinces after the 1981 season.

The new infield combination took some time to click. Bordick struggled at the plate for much of the season, Ripken was hampered by back problems at his new position and Roberto Alomar was slowed by a string of injuries, but everything fell into place in September, and the infield defense was superb in the postseason.

Cal's back

Ripken became the center of controversy in September, when he lapsed into a deep slump. He had been struggling with back soreness for much of the second half, and there were calls for him to take a seat for the good of the team.

He rebuffed talk of ending his consecutive-games streak and finished the season, then pulled out of his slump and played great defensively in the postseason.

Banged-up Brady

Center fielder Brady Anderson had high hopes of picking up where he left off in 1996, when he became the 14th player in major-league history to hit 50 or more home runs in a season. He never really got the chance.

Anderson cracked a rib diving back into first base during a spring-training game and had to alter his approach at the plate to avoid aggravating the injury. He hit only 18 home runs, but compensated by excelling in a more standard leadoff role. He ranked among the league leaders in on-base percentage for most of the season and finished with a .393 percentage to lead the club. He also led the team in walks (84) and doubles (39) and triples (seven).

Though he also battled leg problems throughout the year, he was one of the Orioles' most productive hitters during the postseason.

The Big Three

The top three pitchers in the Orioles' starting rotation - Mike Mussina, Scott Erickson and Jimmy Key - got off to an amazing start, going a combined 28-4 while the club was building a big first-half lead. They finished with 47 victories. It was the first time since 1982 that the Orioles had three pitchers with at least 15 victories.

The season ended with Mussina and Erickson going strong, but Key finished on a big downswing. He had won 11 of his first 12 decisions, but went 5-9 the rest of the way and won just one of his final nine regular-season starts at Camden Yards.

He did not pitch particularly well in the postseason either, until he was called upon in relief in Game 5 of the ALCS. That strong, three-inning, no-hit performance would have bought him a Game 1 start in the World Series if the Orioles had gotten that far.

Wire to wire

The Orioles became the third American League team and sixth team overall to spend every day of the regular season in first place. The others were the 1923 New York Giants, the 1927 New York Yankees, the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, the 1984 Detroit Tigers and the 1990 Cincinnati Reds.

They also earned the more dubious distinction of becoming the first team in baseball history to go wire to wire and not play in the World Series.

. . . and the world

Heaven's Gate shed their earthly containers.
Only weeks after losing Princess Diana--whose death was blamed on everything from a drunk driver to overzealous paparazzi--Mother Teresa passed away at the age of 87.
The United Kingdom bade farewell to Hong Kong, the last vestige of its once-great empire.
Our knowledge of Mars expanded dramatically as the Mars Rover set foot on its rocky soil
A lamb named Dolly captured the world's imagination and scared more than a few people as the first animal cloned from an adult cell
The McCaughey septuplets used medical science to produce a rarity in nature--seven children born in the same gestational period.
Both Jon Benet Ramsey and Louise Woodward confronted the American public with the issue of child abuse.
El Nino received the blame for everything from droughts to unusual snowfalls in some parts of the country.
Related links
- Cal Ripken: 1997 Photo