[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 145 (Monday, September 18, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S13704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO CAL RIPKEN, JR.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, a couple weeks ago, like many others, I had 
the opportunity to be in Camden Yards to see a most extraordinary 
baseball game when Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's record. I remember as 
a child thinking that the Gehrig record might never be reached, never 
be broken.
  For me, the fact that I could be there with my son, Kevin, to watch 
that game, was really one of the highlights of this or any other year.
  In watching, I could not help but think that Cal Ripken reflected the 
best of all people who get up and go to work every day in all fields. 
Whether it is the nurse who is there for the evening shift on a 
weekend, the person who shows up at the police department and goes to 
work to protect all of us, the teacher who is there teaching our 
children, the men and women of the Senate staff who are here--sometimes 
long after we Senators are able to go home--every day working for the 
best of our country, and on and on.
  In this case I also think credit should be given to Peter Angelos and 
those who own the Orioles. Earlier this year when there was talk of 
replacement teams, they stood fast and said there would be no 
replacement team for the Orioles. Nothing would be done to cut into Cal 
Ripken's record. Indeed, they did not.
  I also think that two things came as a result of that. One, it sent a 
signal to baseball that there are some owners and some players who care 
more for the game than care for the disgraceful dance that has gone on 
the past year, the dance of charges and counter-charges and strikes and 
lockouts that resulted in the cancellation last year of the World 
Series.
  Second, by doing that, I believe it helped bring to an end the strike 
and it also gave baseball an evening of glory that it has not had for 
so long. It really did not become a question of whether the Orioles won 
or lost that night. It turned out they did win with Cal Ripken hitting 
a home run. It was a chance for people to unite around this country and 
say there are so many good things in baseball, and to go back to the 
basics of it. I hope Cal Ripken's accomplishment does help.
  As Kevin and I sat there, we watched the different people--Joe 
DiMaggio sitting a few feet from us, the President, the Vice President, 
and others just to the other side of us, but what united us was not the 
well-known people but that baseball fans of all sort throughout that 
field and throughout the country could share in a magnificent 
achievement.

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