Cal Ripken's Induction Speech

Just saying his name puts a smile on my face.

And our children, Rachel Marie and Ryan Calvin that not only gave me a whole new understanding of life but they also continue to bring me pride as they continue to grow and meet life's challenges. I'm so proud to stand here today and tell them how much I love and care for them.

Next to them is the love of my life. She didn't know anything about baseball or me when we first met, but she has learned and stood by me and supported me throughout our years together. Kelly, I hope you know how much I appreciate your love and your always being there for me. I love you and I thank you. Ryan, I might need a little help transporting this (rose given to Kelly Ripken).

My life in baseball has been one giant blessing. But when I finished playing, and I say finished playing rather than retired because I felt that I was not at an ending, but rather at another beginning in my life. I had the opportunity to look back on my playing career and take stock of experience, knowledge and values that could shape the next stage of my life.

Whether it be the last game of the streak or the last day of my playing career, I am a believer that such milestones open doors of opportunity for new and exciting endeavors.

In the present chapter of my life, I have created a company and helped to organize a foundation through which I have taken all that I have learned as a player and translated it into programs to make the young people of today be aspiring players of tomorrow. And I hope that I set an example for them as men like Lou Gehrig and the remarkable people seated up here have been for me and so many others.

My opportunity to work with children and their coaches across this great country, and for that matter the world, enables me to tell you first hand that the game of baseball is alive and well. I see that as we work to help mold another generation of young people into the future scholastic players, professional players and even the big leaguers and Hall of Famers of tomorrow.

We all hear about how baseball imitates life, which held especially true for my dad. He used to say that everything that happens in baseball happens in life and everything that happens in life happens in baseball. He certainly taught us about life through baseball. But I also have to admit that as a young man with a limited view of the world, baseball and life became one for me and it was difficult to see beyond playing the game.

Did you ever stop to think about how your life would unfold or imagine how you would like your life to turn out? One of those reflective pauses happened in my life when I was around 18 years old. I thought I had it all figured out, I would play big league baseball until about 45 and then worry about the rest of my life after that. It took me a little while, but I did come to realize that baseball was just one part of my life with the possible exception of this weekend, of course. This was never more clear to me than when we had children. I realized that the secret of life is life, and a bigger picture came into focus. Games were and are important, but people and how you impact on them are most important. While we all work to develop into productive people for our own happiness, it is also vital that we do so for the good of society as a whole.

As I came to know the importance of my role in the development of my children, I began to sense the impact I could have on other kids. It is all about coming to the realization that we all have within us the power to develop and pursue almost anything we set our mind to, and that is the message and opportunity we want to pass to all children.

We are the ambassadors for the future, just as a baseball player wants to leave his mark on the game and leave it a little better than he found it, we should all try to make this world a better place for the next generation.

When I realized that I could use baseball to help make life better especially for the kids, baseball became a platform. By trying to set a good example, I could help influence young people in positive and productive ways. And some of this became apparent to me in my earliest playing days. So as my major league career unfolded, I started playing a little more attention to my actions. I remember when Kenny Singleton showed me a tape of me throwing my helmet down after a strikeout and all he said was, "How does that look?" I remember learning about a family who saved their money to come to Baltimore to see me play. I got thrown out in the first inning and their little boy cried the whole game. I remember how I reacted with anger when dad was fired after an oh and six start, and after each of those events and others, I vowed to act better the next time.