Congratulations Cal!!

Baltimore's favorite son (sorry John Waters -- you're second, I promise) was inducted into the Hall of Fame today. Cal Ripken, Jr. and his co-inductee, Tony Gwynn, represent everything good about baseball. All-around good guys who went to the park everyday, not for individual glory, but for the team and for baseball. They loved the game and considered it an honor to be able to play. There was no talk about drugs or steroids. The worst thing you could say about these guys is that they put on a few pounds as they got older (and haven't we all). Well, unless you count that whole Kevin Costner rumor...

I grew up in Baltimore during the Ripken era. I remember when you were lucky to score Orioles tickets and a trip to the game was an event. Yankees fans would have never outnumbered O's fans at Memorial Stadium. And there was Cal. Always doing his best and always hanging around to sign autographs after the game. Now, all we can hope is that someday Peter Angelos will sell the O's to Cal, and we can be one step closer the the good old days.