Before there was Nomar, there was No. 8. Before there was A-Rod, there was the Ironman. Back in the day when I was younger and patrolling the shortstop position at the Nanuet Little League field, in my head, I was the Ironman with the powerful bat and the deep range in the hole. There would be pop-ups. There would be grounders. There would be the occasional overthrow and the usual misplay, but there was never, I repeat never, a Hall of Fame shortstop lobbing batting practice to me.
But it's okay. Not many kids can say they worked out in the Fenway Park batting cage, let alone have Cal Ripken Jr. toss batting practice pitches to you from behind a netted screen. Even fewer can say that the Hall of Fame player got down on his hands and knees to gather the baseballs off the ground and put them in the bucket.
Yet, 28 boys from the Metro West Boys and Girls Club can now make that proud claim. They can go back to their classmates and brag about smacking Cal Ripken Jr. around in the batting cage and winning throwing contests against Billy Ripken.
Was I jealous? In a word: yes. The brothers Ripken were in town on Wednesday to put on a clinic for the boys as they continued their 10-city book tour. They left behind more than autographs and free copies of their book, Play Baseball the Ripken Way. Instead, they left their brand of baseball and way of life, too.
Ripken Jr. may wear a Kipling Star fanny pack instead of metal spikes these days, but Mr. Ironman still keeps active bouncing from spot to spot in the batting cage with the activity level of a five year old on a sugar high.
"We thoroughly enjoy practice," said the future Hall of Famer and former Oriole. Imagine that, a professional athlete who enjoys practice. Practice? Yes, you heard it right, are you listening Allen Iverson?
Junior is not only a part of history; he's a student of it. He wrote his name in the dirt of baseball history with his Louisville Slugger, but now he's writing his advice and tips in a book. He's still trying to carry on the work of his father and family.
"The passion and fun for it. He exposed us to how much he loved the game," said Ripken Jr. when talking about the lessons learned from his father. Through the father's memorial foundation, the Ripkens donated $30,000 to the Boys and Girls Club and Nike Go! donated equipment.
"It's a lot of fun to learn from them," said Michael Schatz, a Little Leaguer with eyes brighter than a Magic Johnson smile and an excitement level that could have lit up the Fenway lights.
The kids got a whole lifetime full of baseball experience packed into a time frame that equaled about three innings in baseball time telling. As Curt Schilling walked by the group doing drills, two kids tripped over themselves and saliva was dripping from the on-looking youngsters. They must now expect that when you walk the inner bowels of Fenway there are going to be Hall of Fame shortstops and pitchers everywhere.
Funny you should say that.
"That's Nomar's bat! It says his name on it," exclaimed two mischievous kids who had been keeping one eye on the batting tee and the other on the brothers Ripken.
After the bats were put down and the tee was tucked in a corner, Junior was left to reminisce about the 1999 All-Star game at Fenway. "Walking out there is a feeling that few get to experience. That's meaningful." When asked about meeting Ted Williams and other legends that day, Ripken said, "We all had Fenway in common."
Indeed, they did. And now 28 kids from Metro West have friendly Fenway in common, too.
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