MVP Profile: Cal Ripken Jr., 1983

Shortstop, Baltimore Orioles

Age:  23 (Aug. 24)

2^nd season with Orioles

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 200

Prior to 1983:

The son and namesake of a former catching prospect for the Orioles who went on to become a minor league manager and coach in the organization, Ripken was a Maryland native and regularly attended Orioles home games once his father became part of the coaching staff. He played soccer as well as baseball at Aberdeen High School. He proved to be a standout as a pitcher and shortstop, batting .496 as a senior as well as posting a 7-2 pitching record for a squad that won the Maryland state championship. Ripken was chosen by the Orioles in the second round of the 1978 amateur draft. While there was interest in developing his pitching talent, Ripken started out professionally as a shortstop with Bluefield of the Rookie-level Appalachian League where he hit .264 in 63 games. He spent 1979 with teams at the Class A and AA levels, batting a combined .286 with 8 home runs and 62 RBIs. With Charlotte of the Class AA Southern League, which had been his second stop in ’79, Ripken hit .276 in 1980 with 25 home runs and 78 RBIs. Assigned to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League in 1981, he batted .288 with 23 home runs and 75 RBIs and was the league’s All-Star third baseman. Ripken received a late-season call-up to the Orioles where he hit only .128 in 39 at bats. The Orioles still dealt veteran third baseman Doug DeCinces in the offseason to make room for Ripken in 1982, and despite a slow start he remained in the lineup and was shifted to shortstop in July. The result was a fine season in which he batted .264 with 28 home runs and 93 RBIs. He received AL Rookie of the Year honors.

1983 Season Summary

Appeared in 162 games

SS – 162

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 726 [1]

At Bats – 663 [1]

Runs – 121 [1]

Hits – 211 [1]

Doubles – 47 [1]

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 27 [9, tied with Willie Upshaw, Lance Parrish & Jesse Barfield]

RBI – 102 [9]

Bases on Balls – 58

Int. BB – 0

Strikeouts – 97 [15, tied with Dwight Evans & Tony Bernazard]

Stolen Bases – 0

Caught Stealing – 4

Average - .318 [5]

OBP - .371 [15]

Slugging Pct. - .517 [5]

Total Bases – 343 [2]

GDP – 24 [4, tied with Gary Ward & Buddy Bell]

Hit by Pitches – 0

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 5

League-leading plate appearances were +6 ahead of runner-up Lou Whitaker

League-leading at bats were +2 ahead of runner-up Cecil Cooper

League-leading runs scored were +6 ahead of runner-up Eddie Murray

League-leading hits were +1 ahead of runner-up Wade Boggs

League-leading doubles were +3 ahead of runner-up Wade Boggs

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 17, HR – 13, RBI – 46, AVG. - .278, SLG – .477, OBP – .353

 

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Most hits, game – 5 (in 6 AB) at Minnesota 9/3

Longest hitting streak – 16 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. Oakland 5/6, (in 6 AB) at Minnesota 9/3

HR at home – 12

HR on road – 15

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 5 at Milwaukee 6/15 – 10 innings

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 831

Put Outs – 272

Assists – 534

Errors – 25

DP - 113

Pct. - .970

Postseason Batting: 9 G (ALCS vs. Chi. White Sox – 4 G; World Series vs. Philadelphia – 5 G)

PA – 39, AB – 33, R – 7, H – 9, 2B – 2,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 5, IBB – 0, SO – 7, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .273, OBP - .385, SLG -.333, TB – 11, GDP – 1, HBP – 1, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News

Silver Slugger

All-Star

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Cal Ripken, Balt.: 322 pts. – 15 of 28 first place votes, 82% share

Eddie Murray, Balt.: 290 pts. – 10 first place votes, 74% share

Carlton Fisk, ChiWS.: 209 pts. – 3 first place votes, 53% share

Jim Rice, Bos.: 150 pts. – 38% share

Cecil Cooper, Mil.: 123 pts. – 31% share

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Orioles went 98-64 to finish first in the AL Eastern Division by 6 games over the Detroit Tigers, while leading the league in home runs (168) and OBP (.340). Under the guidance of new manager Joe Altobelli, the steady Orioles overcame pitching problems during the season’s first half and were propelled by the batting of Ripken and first baseman Eddie Murray, especially down the stretch, in which they nailed down the AL East title with a 20-11 September. Won ALCS over the Chicago White Sox, 3 games to 1. Won World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 1.

Aftermath of ‘83:

Ripken followed up with another strong season for a less-accomplished Orioles club in 1984, hitting .304 with 27 home runs and 86 RBIs. Taller and heavier than most shortstops, Ripken was also agile with quick reflexes and a good throwing arm He remained a steady presence at the position. The high-scoring Orioles finished fourth in 1985 while Ripken contributed 26 home runs, 110 RBIs, a .282 batting average, and a .347 on-base percentage. In 1986 he compiled 25 home runs, 81 RBIs, and a .282 average while leading AL shortstops with 482 assists and committing only 13 errors. In 1987 Ripken’s father, Cal Sr. took over as manager of the fading Orioles. In July he was joined by his brother Billy, who took over as the starting second baseman and played well alongside his older sibling. Additionally, in September, manager Ripken pulled shortstop Ripken late in a hopeless game, thus ending Ripken’s record consecutive innings streak at 8264 while the consecutive games streak stayed alive, reaching 925 by season’s end. For the year Ripken’s average dropped to .252 with 27 home runs and 98 RBIs. When the 1988 season started off with six losses, Cal Sr. was fired as manager, much to the distress of his two ballplayer sons. The losing streak extended to 21 under their father’s successor, Frank Robinson, on the way to a last place finish. Cal Jr. batted .264 with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs. The Orioles bounced back with a strong second place finish in 1989 and Ripken contributed 21 home runs, 93 RBIs, and a .257 batting average in addition to leading AL shortstops in total chances (815), put outs (276), assists (531) and DPs (119). In 1990 he posted a record .996 fielding average at shortstop as he committed only three errors in 680 total chances. At bat he hit .250 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs. His hitting improved in 1991 to .323 with 34 home runs and 114 RBIs while in the field he won his first Gold Glove. He ended up receiving his second league MVP award and a Silver Slugger. The Orioles moved to a new stadium at Camden Yards in 1992 and Ripken’s batting dropped to .251 with 14 home runs and 72 RBIs. He remained a Gold Glove performer in the field. A sprained knee put his consecutive game streak at risk in 1993 but he played through the injury and hit .257 with 24 home runs and 90 RBIs while still performing well in the field. In the strike-shortened 1994 season Ripken’s average rose to .315 with 13 home runs and 75 RBIs. The focus in 1995 was the pursuit of Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game record which he surpassed by playing in his 2131st straight game on September 6. It was a much-needed bright spot at a time in which labor issues were significantly denting baseball’s popularity. For the year, Ripken batted 262 with 17 home runs and 88 RBIs. The streak continued into 1996 as Ripken passed Japan’s Sachio Kinugasa, who held the world record of 2215 consecutive games played. He was also briefly shifted to third base in 1997. Dealing with back problems he hit .278 with 26 home runs and 102 RBIs. The move to third base became full-time in 1997, a year in which he batted .270 with 17 home runs and 84 RBIs while still appearing in every game and committing just eight errors at third base. The consecutive game streak finally came to an end at Ripken’s request in September of 1998, having reached a total of 2632. His batting production dropped to .271 with 14 home runs and 61 RBIs. He played three more seasons until retiring in 2001. For his major league career, spent entirely with the Orioles, Ripken, over the course of 3001 games, batted .276 with 3184 hits that included 603 doubles, 44 triples, and 431 home runs. He further scored 1647 runs and compiled 1695 RBIs and a .340 on-base percentage. Appearing in 28 postseason games, he hit .336 with one home run and 8 RBIs. A 19-time All-Star, Ripken was also a two-time MVP and Gold Glove recipient. The Orioles retired his #8 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. The consecutive game streak stands as a testament to Ripken’s dedication and consistency. He remained involved in philanthropic activities following his retirement, as well as youth baseball activities. He also owns a minor league team that is affiliated with the Orioles, the Aberdeen IronBirds. His brother Billy remained his teammate until 1992, and again in 1996, on his way to a twelve-year career that ended in 1998.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.