By J.A. Adande
Washington Post Staff Writer
September 7, 1995

BALTIMORE, SEPT. 6 — Cal Ripken never let an injury stop him during his pursuit of Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record, so why should a broken bone have kept Bryan Johnson from sharing in Ripken's historic moment?

Johnson, from Pasadena, Md., was sitting in Section 78, Row K, Seat 1 of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the bottom of the fourth inning tonight when Ripken came to bat. Johnson turned to his girlfriend, held up his hand, which was wrapped in a cast, and said: "Get ready to catch it, because I don't know if I can."

Then Ripken hit a blast into the left field seats.

"It bounced once," Johnson said. "I grabbed it with my left hand. About eight other people started grabbing it. I held on for dear life."

Then the adventure began. Orioles representatives whisked him away, out of the stands and onto some steps in the lower concourse. Reporters fired away with questions while a crowd quickly gathered and took pictures. One man offered to pay him $4,000 for the ball.

"No," Johnson said. "No."

The man increased his offer to $5,000 before ushers led Johnson on a sprint around the picnic area in center field and into the information center in the B&O Warehouse beyond right field.

"Six thousand!" the souvenir-seeker said. "Seven!"

Johnson paused inside the center to answer a few more questions, while fans pounded away at the glass walls and took even more pictures.

Johnson said he wanted to give the ball to Ripken.

"This is Cal's moment,"Johnson said."It's a perfect moment. I assume he'd like the ball."

Kudos and Gifts

In a postgame ceremony, some of Ripken's teammates from May 30, 1982 — the first day of his streak — were introduced, including Ken Singleton, Dan Ford, Rick Dempsey and Rich Dauer. Ripken was then escorted to third base — where he played that day — by his parents, Cal Sr. and Vi, but 1982 manager Earl Weaver ran out and made a show of moving Cal to shortstop. . . .

The Ripkens received several gifts during the postgame festivities. Ripken's current teammates presented him with a mahogany pool table and a landscaping stone etched with "2131." Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos contributed an engraved piece of Waterford crystal. But the Ripkens should have had no trouble getting their loot home: Angelos also threw in a Chevy Tahoe.