{"id":13587,"date":"2025-03-05T11:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T19:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=13587"},"modified":"2025-03-05T13:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:30:12","slug":"cal-ripken-jr-1989-upper-deck-pack-unsealing-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2025\/03\/05\/cal-ripken-jr-1989-upper-deck-pack-unsealing-1\/","title":{"rendered":"1989 Upper Deck Pack Unsealing 1: Cal Ripken Jr. – The Hometown Ironman Chases Gehrig, History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cal Ripken Jr.<\/a><\/strong>‘s career was a legendary one as he played for 21 seasons, all with the Baltimore Orioles<\/a>, and was an All-Star for 18 straight seasons (5th all-time) from 1983 until his final season in 2001. A two-time AL MVP, Ripken shined, beginning from his first full season in 1982 when he was not an All-Star but was the AL Rookie of the Year. In other words, his rookie cards aren’t going to show up as All-Star rookie cards, but he did earn some MVP votes.<\/p>\n

Some major leaguers and plenty Rookie of the Year award winners fall victim to the aptly nicknamed “sophomore slump,” which is a term used to denote a player having a good first season before the league adjusts to them for his second season. Players who fall victim to such a slump must make their own adjustments in order to find continued success in the majors. Cal Ripken Jr. had no sophomore slump. In fact, his sophomore year was not only the first of his two MVP seasons, but the Orioles won the World Series that season (1983). (Editor’s Note: Ripken caught the final out of that series, a soft liner by Garry Maddox<\/strong><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Cal Ripken Jr.’s Two Special MVP Awards<\/h3>\n

Cal Ripken Jr.’s two AL MVP awards are both special in their own right. The first MVP award (1983) was a massive offensive season for Ripken. He led the AL in WAR, games played, plate appearances, at-bats, runs, hits, and doubles while slashing .318\/.371\/.517 with an OPS of .888 (144 OPS+), 27 homers, and 102 RBI. What makes the second MVP (1991) so special is that it was eight seasons after the first, and Ripken played in every single Orioles game in between. The Orioles knew they had a durable, dependable shortstop who wasn’t penciled into the lineup, but Sharpied. That’s extremely rare. Players get small injuries throughout a season and those small injuries can add up to something larger and sometimes playing through pain can cause a player to injure himself further. But Cal Ripken Jr. played through all of that like it was simply part of his job.<\/p>\n

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Why Ripken Was Great<\/h3>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>