Lou Gehrig's record stood for a half-century, and it felt like it had been there forever. Cal Ripken Jr.'s record has stood for 20 years, and it feels like...wait, has it really been 20 years since that fabulous night when he passed Gehrig by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game? "It seems like yesterday in one way," Ripken said. "And then there's the realization that it's been 20 years."
Twenty years. It's a lifetime for the guy who might be the best shortstop in baseball today. Carlos Correa was born two weeks after the game that changed Ripken from a great player headed to the Hall of Fame into a legend with a nickname. When Ernie Johnson says "Iron Man" on those TBS baseball telecasts, we all know who he's talking about. We all remember. It's about that streak. It's about that night—that magical night that lives on in history. "There's never been another game like it," Rex Hudler said. "And there'll never be another game like it."
Hudler was the starting second baseman for the California Angels that night at Camden Yards. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout, before Spike Owens pinch hit for him. "By far the greatest moment in my career," he said. "And it had nothing to do with me." It truly was a game like no other ever played. And this Sunday, September 6, 2015, will mark the 20-year anniversary.
Even before Sosa, McGwire and their kilos of 'roids, the real Iron Man resuscitated baseball from the '94 Strike. If there's a better streak in sports - with all due to respect to Unbreakable Orel H - I don't know about it.
1 comments:
Photo is of rarest cover in MPQ.
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