Cal Ripken, Jr. – 2009 Wooden Cup Winner
“The platform that baseball has provided me has led to wonderful opportunities and, at times, special recognition. Receiving the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup was a tremendous honor. Coach Wooden stood for integrity and leadership and I was honored to have met him. Receiving an award bearing his name had great meaning to me.”
Awards
| Award / Honor | Time(s) | Date(s) |
|---|---|---|
| American League All-Star | 19 | 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 |
| American League Silver Slugger Award (SS) | 8 | 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994 |
| American League Most Valuable Player | 2 | 1983, 1991 |
| MLB All-Star Game Most Valuable Player | 2 | 1991, 2001 |
| American League Gold Glove Award (SS) | 2 | 1991, 1992 |
| American League Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1982 |
| Roberto Clemente Award | 1 | 1992 |
| Lou Gehrig Memorial Award | 1 | 1992 |
| Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Sportsman of the Year” | 1 | 1995 |
| The Associated Press “Athlete of the Year” | 1 | 1995 |
| The Sporting News’ “Sportsman of the Year” | 1 | 1995 |
| Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award | 1 | 2001 |
Records and honors
- 1999: Ranked Number 78 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players
- 1999: Elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
- Beat Lou Gehrig’s Consecutive Games Streak
- 2001: Ranked third greatest shortstop all-time in the The New Bill James Historical Abstract.
- 2001: Uniform number (8) retired by the Baltimore Orioles
- 2007: Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by 98.53 percent of voters. The highest percentage of votes ever for a position player, as well as third highest overall.
- 2007: Inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29 with the San Diego Padres’ great Tony Gwynn in front of a record crowd of 75,000 people
- Most consecutive games played at 2,632 (World record until 2005, current MLB record)
- Most consecutive innings played at 8,243 (World record until 2005, current MLB record)
- Most grounded into double plays at 350
- Most home runs by a shortstop at 345
- Most double plays by a shortstop, American League, at 1,682
- All-time leader in MLB All-Star fan balloting (36,123,483)
- Most American League, MLB All-Star team selections (19) – 1983–2001
- Most MLB All-Star Game appearances at shortstop (15) – 1983–1996, 2001
- Most consecutive MLB All-Star Game starts (17)
- Most plate appearances by one player in one game at 15 (Triple-A game tied with Tom Eaton and Dallas Williams).
Photo source: Wikipedia Commons