Cal Ripken, Jr.

I kept thinking, 'this must be the coolest job - I'd like to be a professional baseball player.' They were getting paid to play a game, and what a cool lifestyle that was. ”

A lot of people think I had such a rosy career, but I wanted to identify that one of the things that helps you have a long career is learning how to deal with adversity, how to get past it. Once I learned how to get through that, others things didn't seem so hard. ”

I have goals and ambitions, and I see myself as a lifelong baseball student. I have certain philosophies that I'd like to test at some point at the big league level. The job of manager appeals to me, a coach appeals to me, at a different time frame. ”

I think Nick Markakis is a perennial All-Star, and nobody knows about him. I think people are learning about how good he is. ”

I love baseball. The game allowed me the influence to impact kids in a positive way. This gives me a chance to talk to some social issues. ”

Being elected to the Hall of Fame is about your career pretty much and your impact on the game. ”

Your job as a baseball player is to come to the park ready to play every day, and the manager, it's his job to make those decisions about who plays. ”

By far, the best moment of my big league career was when I caught the last out at the World Series. ”

Sometimes I think sportsmanship is a little bit forgotten in place of the individual attention. ”

My dad was part of the Oriole way. I think he was there 14 years in the minor leagues; I think seven of those years, they had the same people in place. So it was about continuity. It was about stability. ”