Cal Ripken Jr.: Baseball's Iron Man

Cal Ripken Jr. is baseball’s “Iron Man.” He holds the MLB record with 2,632 consecutive games played, which is a record that is nearly impossible to break. Throughout Cal Ripken Jr’s streak, he had eight elements of perseverance that helped him play in those 2,632 consecutive games. The first element is having the right values. Throughout his life, Cal lived by the values of: hard work, excellence, honesty, and integrity to his family, by setting a good example. The second element is a strong will to succeed. Cal showed this by having an internal drive to achieve everything, by being competitive, and by being committed to what he applies himself to. The third element is loving what you do. Cal discovered what his true passion was, and knew

had a clear purpose for writing. His purpose for writing his autobiography was to describe what helped him persevere to play through 2,632 consecutive games. Throughout the book, Cal accomplished his purpose in every chapter by building up his credibility. Cal did so by designating each chapter to a specific element of perseverance that helped him throughout his career, and using stories from his career and life to describe the element. For one instance when he talked about loving what you do, Cal said, “The secret to happiness is not the money you make. It’s in the quality of your work and how it makes you feel” (p77). He then continued on by explaining how he loved what he did and how the money didn’t matter to him. Cal displayed that by not going into the free agency when he could have received a lot more money. Instead, he stayed in Baltimore for less money. He did that because of his love for playing baseball for his home town. In one chapter, he talks about a strong will to succeed. In that chapter, Cal said, “When your teammates are counting on you to be in the game, never, ever, let them down” (p49). Cal is stating that his purpose for playing every day was to be there for his team, because he knew they counted on him. Even one of Cal’s managers, Frank Robinson, said, “He never mentioned the streak. I don’t think it was that important to him” (Courtside Tweets, 2012). Cal even stated once it was never his

Those who know nothing, or do not care about the sport of baseball can still admire Cal’s perseverance for playing in all those games. Doing so took Cal longer than 16 years of playing without a game off. Anyone who sees that can be inspired to do things they never imagined doing. People can read how Cal applied these elements to his life and be inspired to apply them into their own life. They would do that because they saw how well things worked out for Cal. Or, people could be reading his story and realize that they live their life the same way he did. But no matter what, people that read this book or even those who know Cal, can truly appreciate what he did, and how he lived his life. On the night Cal broke Lou Gehrig's record, President Bill Clinton said to Cal, “He appreciated the kind of career he had, and the standard that he had set” (Courtside Tweets, 2012). Cal’s purpose was very effective because of the way he displayed his