The Ripken Way?

Tom Verducci reveals that Cal Ripken is being wooed by two of the prospective Nats ownership groups.

Ripken has not aligned himself with any potential buyers of the Nationals -- between four and six bidders are expected -- and is not likely to do so until after the franchise is awarded. That decision is likely to come before the All-Star break. At that time Ripken would consider an opportunity to be the point person for the baseball organization, such as a club president. In that role he immediately would present an intriguing professional and personal rivalry with his former team, the Baltimore Orioles, and their owner, Peter Angelos.

"He is interested and he's a free agent," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's president and chief operating officer, about Ripken's potential involvement with a Washington group.

Verducci also claims that the darling of the internet baseball analystis, Billy "Don't call me Billy Bean" Beane has expressed interest in owning a team. (But not necessarily as part of a Nats ownership group.)

I'm not excited about this idea. I'm not a big fan of Ripken. I think he was a great player, but the Cult of Ripken drives me up a wall. He's a great player not because he worked hard and showed up to play. It's because he played good defensive shortstop and knocked the hell out of the ball. Instead of taking him for what he is, the Cult has blown him up to mythic demi-god status. I went to school in Baltimore and it was nauseating. It became hard to separate the man from the tripe that was spewed about him.


I was lucky enough to be there on both the final game of his streak (notable for Cal Pickering's first MLB homerun) and the one he finally sat out (Ryan Minor, who?) I was privileged to see a great shortstop play--even if it was in the decline of his career.