Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. is celebrating his 50th birthday today. Born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, just a short 1 hour trip up 95 from his future team the Baltimore Orioles, Ripken was raised on the baseball diamond. His father, Cal Sr., played, scouted and managed in the Baltimore Orioles organization. By the time Cal Jr. broke into the big leagues with the Orioles in 1981, Cal Sr. was the Manager of the team. While Ripken was not in the mold of the prototypical shortstop of the time, by combining great defense and homerun hitting power, he would break his way into the starting lineup and become the new breed of shortstop in the Majors.
On April 5th, 1982, Cal Ripken Jr. started his first full season as an Oriole against the Kansas City Royals, going 3-5 with a homerun in his first at-bat of the season. From there, Ripken would go on to put together one of the greatest resumes in Major League Baseball history. Over the course of his 20 seasons in the league, Ripken would win the Rookie of the Year Award, a World Series Championship, 8 Silver Slugger Awards, 2 Gold Glove Awards, 2 American League MVP Awards and be elected to 19 consecutive All-Star games from 1983 to 2001. He also led the league in defensive assists 7 times and is 3rd on the All-time Assists list.
Ripken’s most notable moment came back on September 6th, 1995, when he broke the all time record for most consecutive games played (solidifying his nickname as “Iron Man” once and for all) set by Lou Gehrig back in 1939. His 2,131 consecutive game was prolonged slightly in the bottom of the fifth inning, when a 22 minute standing ovation and a lap around the field on the back of a car postponed the Orioles from batting their turn. He would end the game 2-4 with a homerun and the Orioles beat the California Angels 4-2. That game is still one of the most viewed games in Major League Baseball history. Ripken would finish his consecutive games streak roughly 3 years later at 2,632. Upon retiring in 2001, Ripken’s #8 jersey would be retired by the Orioles. In 2007, Ripken was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with an overwhelming 98.53% of the vote. Happy Birthday Cal !
Christopher Adolph “Sonny” Jurgensen was born August 23, 1934 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Jurgensen began his athletic career early on playing baseball, basketball and tennis for his grammar school. In high school, he continued his baseball and basketball career, but also started football as a backup quarterback.
At Duke University, Jurgensen was backup quarterback in 1954 and took over as the starter in 1955. He was drafted after college in 1957 by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round. He was backup to Bobby Thomason in 1957 and Norm Van Brocklin from 1958 through the 1960 season. In fact, Jurgensen’s only championship was as an Eagle when they took the 1960 Championship. Sonny was traded to the Washington Redskins after an injury-prone ’63 season in exchange for Norm Sneade and Claude Crabb. He remained in Washington for the next 10 years before retiring.
In Washington, Jurgensen won three NFL passing titles, led the team to the 1972 Championship and was elected into the Pro Bowl four times. He exceeded 400 yards passing in a single game five times and threw five touchdown passes in a game twice. Over his career, his stats include 2,433 completions for 32,224 yards and 255 touchdowns. He also rushed for 493 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and still continues his broadcasting career for the Washington Redskins.
Today marks the 58th birthday of Hall of Fame Linebacker Jack Lambert. Born in Mantua, OH, Lambert attended nearby Kent State. Lambert would be named to 2 All-Mid-Atlantic Conference teams while attending Kent State.
In 1974, Lambert finished up at Kent State and declared for the NFL draft. With the 46th overall pick, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him in the 2nd round. Considered one of the greatest draft classes of all time, the Steelers had 4 picks in the first 5 rounds of the 1974 draft and all four are now NFL Hall of Famers (Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster).
Lambert was inserted into the starting lineup quickly and would go on to win the NFL Rookie of the Year Award. Over the course of his 11 season career, Lambert would earn 9 Pro Bowl selections (consecutively from ’74 to ’83), 7 First-team All-Pro Selections, an NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and 4 Super Bowl Championships. Since retiring, he has been named to the 1970 All-Decade team, the 1980 All-Decade team and the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time team.
Check out Mitchell & Ness next month for our re-release of Jack Lambert’s ’75 Dark and ’75 White Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys. Happy Birthday Jack!
Happy 52nd Birthday to Wade Boggs. On June 15th, 1958, Wade Boggs was born in Omaha, Nebraska. The Boston Red Sox drafted Boggs in 1976 at the age of 18. It wouldn’t be until April of 1982 that he would get his first at-bat, but Boggs would have an immediate impact for the Red Sox.
In his rookie season, Boggs recorded a batting average (BA) of .349 and earned the Rookie of the Year award. From that season on, Boggs would go on to earn 8 Silver Slugger awards (given to the best offensive player in each league), 5 batting titles, 12 total and consecutive All-Star Appearances from 1985-1996, 2 Gold Gloves (awarded to the best defensive player at each fielding position in each league) and a World Series Championship. Boggs played his entire 18 season career in the American League East (11 with the Red Sox, 5 with the Yankees and 2 with the Devils Rays). In his final season on August 6th, 1999, Boggs blasted a home run at Tropicana Field as a member of the Devil Rays and recorded his 3,000th career hit. Of the 27 players in the 3,000 career hit club, Boggs is the only player to hit a home run as his 3,000th hit.
Boggs was elected into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. Today, Boggs is a still regarded as one of the best 3B to ever play the game and was named #95 on the Sporting News’ list of Greatest Baseball Players. Happy Birthday Wade!
Today, Chicago Blackhawks’ legendary center, Stan Mikita, celebrates his 70th birthday.
Stan Mikita was born on May 20, 1940 in Sokolce, Czechoslovakia as Stanislav Guoth. At age 8, Stan was sent out of the communist-controlled country by his parents to be adopted by his aunt and uncle in Canada, taking their surname. He was bullied and victimized as a child for his background and poor-english and hockey became the outlet for his frustration. After playing juniors for the Ontario Hockey League, Mikita was called for his first NHL trial in 1958.
Mikita joined the Blackhawks in 1959, where he remained until his retirement in 1980. The 5’9” center lead Chicago, along with teammate Bobby Hull, to a Stanley Cup victory in 1961. Despite his small stature, Stan never shied away from the physical aspects of the game. He was among league-leaders in penalty minutes through most of the '60s. He abruptly changed his style of play after his daughter questioned why he was always sitting down. From there, 'Stosh' went from 100+ penalty minutes to just 12 in the 1967 season.
In the early 1960’s Mikita discovered that by adding a curve to his hockey stick, the puck would move all over the air, thus confusing goalies and making it more difficult to defend. Teammates followed suit, as did other players around the league. Curved sticks became so effective, the NHL instituted a rule against ‘over-curving’.
Mikita retired from the Blackhawks in 1980 as the team leader in games played (1394), points (1467) and assists (926). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.
Be on the look out for a Mitchell & Ness Stan Mikita jersey set to be released later this year.