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Sun coverage: Cal Ripken Jr. in China

Special coverage of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s 10-day baseball goodwill tour to China as a special envoy for the U.S. State Department in 2007.

Photos

Cal Ripken Jr. visits China

Photos from Ripken's trip, including a visit to the Great Wall and several youth baseball clinics.

Honoring the Iron Man

>Cal Ripken: Hall of Fame special section

November 2, 2007

He's at the Wall

Cal Ripken Jr. has been to Yankee Stadium, built in 1923, renovated in 1976.

November 1, 2007

Baseball still trying to get to first base in China

Han Jichao is 12 years old, and he has been playing baseball for two years. He has already been spotted by Major League Baseball officials, who've taken note of his raw talent and tireless work ethic. Hard work and dedication, Han says, are what it will take for him to someday realize his dream and play in the majors.

October 31, 2007

Iron envoy takes the field in China

Diplomacy, apparently, has no dress code.

October 30, 2007

Long fly lands half a world away

Earlier, whisking nearly 600 mph thousands of feet above Siberia, an airline crew member recognized the flight's most famous passenger. He pulled Cal Ripken Jr. aside, into the service area of the plane and asked for an autograph.

October 28, 2007

Ripken to visit China as envoy

Cal Ripken Jr. has developed a lucrative, baseball-centered career that includes stints as a television analyst, co-owner of a minor league team and a long list of other business interests since retiring from the Baltimore Orioles in 2002. But when he boards a plane at Washington Dulles International Airport today for his latest venture, he'll be carrying a batch of newly printed business cards.

August 14, 2007

U.S. drafts Ripken as envoy of good will

Cal Ripken Jr., who usually avoids the political arena, was named a State Department sports envoy yesterday. He plans to remain politically neutral even as he joins forces with the Bush administration to try to bolster America's image overseas.

August 10, 2007