Looking back, the night I broke the consecutive games record unfolded in front of my eyes like a movie. For years, I didn’t want to see any of the replays of the game. I didn’t want to see any different angles. I just wanted to remember it through my own personal camera lens.
The game became official when we were batting in the bottom of the fifth inning. At that point, everybody stood up and cheered. I acknowledged it as much as I could, but I started to get a little embarrassed the longer it went on. We were in the middle of the game, so I thought the interruption wasn’t fair to the pitchers and the other guys who were playing. After one of the curtain calls, when I tried to go back into the dugout, Rafael Palmeiro said, “Ok, you’re going to have to take a lap around this ballpark or we’ll never be able to start this game again.”
Author’s note: I came across the above article while researching Cal Ripken’s “Streak.” Here, Ripken tells the story in his own words, and decidedly so, instead of trying to interpret his words, I decided to share them with you verbatim, along with a link to the article.
