Ripken’s Respect for Jeter

September 11, 2009, 11:31 pm
By Jack Curry

As the dreadful Baltimore Orioles staggered into Yankee Stadium on Friday, Derek Jeter needed one more hit to zoom past Lou Gehrig as the franchise’s career hits leader.

Cal Ripken Jr., the Hall of Famer from the Orioles, was being honest, not critical, when he discussed the chances of Jeter not getting at least one hit in the three-game series.

“It would be a miracle if we held him without a hit,” Ripken said.

Obviously, the Orioles, who are last in the American League with a 5.06 earned run average, do not believe in miracles. In Jeter’s second at-bat, he rapped Chris Tillman’s 94-mile-per-hour fastball past first baseman Luke Scott and into right field. It was Jeter’s 2,722nd career hit, the most by a Yankee.

Fourteen years ago, Ripken displaced Gehrig from a more monumental record when he played in his 2,131st straight game. Ripken extended the record to 2,632 games before not playing in a game in September 1998.

While Ripken was uncomfortable with being compared to Gehrig, one of the best players ever, as a player, he enjoyed it when he was compared to Gehrig as a person. Ripken guessed that Jeter appreciates that part of the comparison as well.

“Privately, humbly, I’m sure Derek feels really good about that connection to Lou,” Ripken said.

Ripken was proud and relieved when he finally broke Gehrig’s record, but said the enormity of it sank in later. In another 10 or 15 years, Ripken said Jeter will “be even prouder” of what he had accomplished.

Jeter has always been a gentleman with the Yankees, a personality trait that has been mentioned often as he chased Gehrig. Interestingly, Ripken, who retired after 2001, said that Jeter’s respectful approach created a situation where opponents did not begrudge his success.

“In some ways, you take pride when you play against a guy like Derek,” Ripken said. “You respect him because he plays baseball the right way. You’re there to win and you want to win. But there are players that you like to see have good games along the way. He’s one of them.”

News source：http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/ripkens-respect-for-jeter/