How a brawl almost ended Ripken's streak

The day Cal Ripken Jr. came the closest to ending his consecutive games played streak came on June 7, 1993 -- more than two full years before he would pass Lou Gehrig as baseball’s Iron Man.

The day began early, with a phone call to Orioles head athletic trainer Richie Bancells, who had gone to sleep the night before not expecting to be woken up so early.

“This was back in the dark ages when we only had landlines,” Bancells recalled. “It was not unusual for him to call me, but at eight in the morning was certainly unusual. And my wife picks up the phone and hands it over to me in bed and says: ‘Cal wants to talk to you.’ And I thought that was weird.

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“And he told me he was having a problem with his knee. It was swollen up and he couldn't move it.”

The day before, the Ripken had found himself in the middle of an ugly brawl between the Orioles and Mariners, sprung from Mike Mussina plunking Bill Haselman. Haselman charged the mound. The benches and bullpens cleared. Ripken rushed in from shortstop. A melee ensued. His spikes caught on the infield grass and, in an instant, Ripken was trapped beneath a pile of bodies.

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He played the final three innings once play resumed, completing his 1,790th consecutive game. But the next morning, considerable soreness had set in. His knee was as stiff as a board.

“That was probably the closest I ever came to missing a game,” Ripken said. “Some players can convince themselves they can play a little hurt. I always had a pretty good toleration for pain. Somehow, I figured out how to get it done.”

Bancells said: “During the streak, that's the one time when I thought, like, ‘I don't think so.’”

It had already been a trying season for Ripken. He was 32, coming off a down year, and hitting just .218 with five homers through the first 56 games. The O’s were in fifth place, 7 1/2 games back in the American League East. Meanwhile, chatter had begun, viewing the streak negatively as his numbers dwindled. Giants star Bobby Bonds called it “idiotic.” Others called it selfish.

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“There were some intense moments where it felt like I was being criticized for wanting to play. That was weird to me,” Ripken said. “While wishing I could scream and pull my hair out prematurely, I thought it was one of the most unselfish things to give yourself to the team to play every day.”

This wouldn’t be the only time during the streak’s 16-year run when Ripken struggled to get on the field. There was the sprained ankle in 1985, before the streak was even a thing. Later in his career, back problems plagued Ripken after he surpassed Gehrig’s mark. And there were countless dings and dents in between, which Bancells helped Ripken through over the years, the stories of many of which never saw the light of day.

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But on this day, playing would take extra effort. Bancells told Ripken to call the team’s orthopedist surgeon immediately. He underwent an MRI that morning and reported to Camden Yards. That was where Ripken learned he had a Grade L medial collateral ligament sprain. It was an issue that, if it got any worse, could sideline him for months.

"The real issue with this was he is playing shortstop at the time, so he has to move laterally, and for this ligament to be compromised by you having to move laterally at your position is really a problem,” Bancells said. “This could easily go from a first degree sprain, which is mild to moderate, to a third degree where you completely tear the ligament if you're not careful. And that was my concern.”

They treated the knee all day. They had until the 7:38 p.m. first pitch of the game. Treat, rest, treat. All day. Then 45 minutes before gametime, Ripken, Bancells and Ripken’s longtime agent Ron Shapiro met in the indoor cages below Oriole Park. Bancells rolled Ripken some grounders, to test his lateral movement.

“It was not going well,” Bancells said. “I had a lot of doubt.”

Ripken knew the risks. Yet he played. He told Bancells to tape it up and he was in the lineup, batting third.

“He had an extraordinary ability to push through certain things,” Bancells said.

The Orioles won, 3-2 vs. Oakland, that night, on a go-ahead eighth-inning sac fly from David Segui. Ripken reached base three times, singling and walking twice in four plate appearances. He made four defensive assists, including on the first and penultimate plays of the game. He scored ahead of a two-run Harold Baines homer in the third. It was the game’s first run.