We Can't Let Brandon Walker Off The Hook For Calling Cal Ripken Jr.'s Consecutive Games Played Streak The Most Overrated Thing In Sports
Let me say this first, Family. Now that we got that out of the way, I need to talk about Brandon Walker's absolutely putrid and tired take about Cal Ripken Jr. While chatting on the fantastic show "Mostly Sports" yesterday, Brandon let the world know that he thinks that the 2,632 games that Cal played in a row is an overrated record. By far the most insane and laughable thing I've ever heard anyone say. Not only is this the greatest record in sports history, it will NEVER come close to being touched. NEVER. He did something no one else will ever sniff. Someone will come within like 10 or 15 of Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak record soon, but I don't think anyone will come within like 2,000 games of Cal. No one plays in 162 games anymore, no one. They don't make em like 8 anymore.
And it wasn't just the games played record that is incredible and the best in sports, at one point he played in 8,243 consecutive innings, that was over 3,000 more innings played consecutively than the 2nd place person. He played in every inning from June 5th 1982 until September 14th 1987. Incredible. Guys miss games and innings for anything now. Cal didn't. He mentioned that the all time leading NHL, NBA, and NFL consecutive games records are more impressive than Cal's and that just can't be true. Just because baseball isn't a physical sport like hockey or football doesn't mean the record is less impressive.
These guys play basically everyday for 6 months straight in like 6-7 different cities a month. The travel, the wear and tear of playing on the dirt as an infielder, back in the 1980s and 1990s when guys could take out the shortstop on double plays, those things add up. He wasn't a DH going out there and just swinging a bat 4 times a day, he was the best player on the field at a physically demanding position. It's not all flowers and rainbows in baseball, it's a tough sport to play for any extended period of time. He's also giant, they didn't make shortstops like him back in the day. 6'4 200 pounds, that's a large athlete to play a position like short and eventually third.
This fight from 1993 almost ended the streak, Cal got involved and twisted his knee up pretty good, probably a sprain. How many football players and NBA players sit out for sprained knee? A lot. Baseball is a tough sport to play if you've got a sprained knee, planting to throw, fielding grounders, all of that can't be fun. He gutted it out and played through an injury that would have stopped the streak at 1,790 games. He would go on to play almost 1,000 more games. I get that baseball has the soft label attached to it but nothing about Cal was soft, that guy played through a lot of injuries guys sit through now. You know how he trained in the offseason?Basketball. Not yoga or any of that stuff now, he would go out and ball his face off. You can get hurt playing basketball super easy, ask Aaron Boone about that. The guy competed everyday for almost 17 years, I don't know how you can say a streak of that length is overrated.
Guys now a days call out of work for a hangover, or if they have a headache, Cal wasn't doing that! Literally built different. BFW talks about how no one talks about the NFL record and how ESPN shut down programming for a summer just to show Cal and the streak. The guy saved baseball! He helped bring back millions of fans that had left because of the players strike. That is why it was so talked about. It wasn't just him breaking Lou Gehrig's record, he shattered it. 2,131 is the number we all know, but 2,632 is what it ended at. And he ended it because he thought it was time. It wasn't because of bad stats or dwindling performance, it was just time. You know what he was hitting when he sat out on 9/20/1998? .273. That's pretty damn good for a guy who had played in EVERY SINGLE GAME FOR ALMOST 16 YEARS. He wasn't hitting .210 and dragging the team down, he was still a beast. That is why it was talked about. It was also mentioned so much because of what a blue collar town Baltimore is. That's just how you do it here, you wake up, go to work, do your shit and come home. I assumed that's how they did it in Mississippi as well but I guess they don't respect an honest days work around there. Sad!
Just to have the mental makeup to go to work everyday for 2,636 shifts in a row in different cities and timezones and weather with guys barreling down at you trying to take your knees out or throwing 100 MPH at your head, not an easy thing. Calling the streak overrated is an insane take, I really wish Ebo was there and not on vacation so he could have backhanded Brandon when he said it.
Brandon, I love ya. I enjoy Mostly Sports, I consider us family. But this was a take too far. It's a bad, bad take. I am sorry to say that you are now not welcomed to the parade down Pratt Street when the Orioles win a World Series. I would allow it but I am actually scared for your life if you step foot into Charm City. I can talk to some of the fine citizens of Baltimore but they're pretty upset at you right now. You have angered a fanbase and city you really don't want to get into the mud with. These are people that built a statue for a guy involved in a murder!
What's the best ability? Availability. Cal had that, and more. Just a sad, sad take here. Please put some respect on Cal's name and the unbreakable record that he set. I do know one thing though, Cal wouldn't have gone to sleep and let him teammates down in a free throw contest.
Family.