In 1983, budding superstar for the Baltimore Orioles, shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., in just his 2nd full season in the Majors, won the American League MVP award. The year prior, he was named the AL Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous decision, earning 94% of the votes. It was in May of that freshman campaign when ‘Rip’ kicked off his historic consecutive game streak. After sitting out the 2nd game of a doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 29th, Ripken was back in the lineup the following day. From a performance perspective, Ripken’s game itself was uneventful, as the 21-year-old went 0-for-2 in the contest. As a team, Baltimore racked up just one hit in the ballgame en route to getting blanked by the Blue Jays, 6-0. Yet, the date May 30th, 1982, will live on forever in the baseball world, as it marked the first of 2,632 straight games that Ripken Jr. would start in. An incredible, unbroken chain of events that lasted almost 16 years. On September 6th, 1995, ‘The Iron Man’ surpassed Lou ‘The Iron Horse’ Gehrig’s previous record of 2,230, and became the all-time leader in the history books. Barring an unfathomable run by a modern-day ballplayer, with the way the game is trending, it’s quite possible that Ripken Jr. will remain the king of the category until the end of time.
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