Q+A Cal Ripken Jr.
SI: What can listeners expect from Cal Ripken Jr., talk-show host?
Ripken: I'll talk about baseball and expand on my opinions and philosophy of youth baseball. Billy is very witty and quick, and you never know what he might say. I'll be more buttoned-up, but maybe Billy will be the Howard Stern of the show.
SI: Will your streak of 2,632 consecutive games ever be broken?
Ripken: I feel if I could do it, somebody else could do it. I wasn't Superman. You have to have a little luck, and you have to be durable.
SI: You have the ball from the final out of the 1983 World Series. If Doug Mientkiewicz called and offered his Red Sox ball straight up for yours, would you do it?
Ripken: No. Those things have personal meaning. I don't know whether it was right of me to grab the ball. I caught the last out and [the fans] tried to take it out of my glove when they ran on the field in Philadelphia. But I held on to it really tight, and I ended up with it. Therefore it's mine.
SI: You have a basketball court at your house. Who's the most interesting competition you're facing these days?
Ripken: Gheorghe Muresan. He's come up a couple Sundays in a row. He still can shoot really well. I've had the misfortune of trying to guard him. I tend not to work on my post game if we end up matching up.
SI: Jose Canseco called you out in his book, saying you received preferential treatment during your career. Are you angry at being dragged into his story?
Ripken: No. Maybe he's mad at baseball in some way, and I became a symbol of something that was happening that was good, and therefore he lashed out at me. I don't take it personally. I played my career and lived my life in a certain way and that speaks for itself. --Richard Deitsch
COLOR PHOTO
LARRY GOREN/WIREIMAGE.COM (RIPKEN)
COLOR PHOTO
ALLEN KEE/WIREIMAGE.COM (RIPKEN BATTING)