MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 13, 1999

Cal Ripken, Jr.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.: Some of the festivities that go along with the All-Star Game, there's some great moments. And I don't know if today's pregame festivities, whether it deviated from the program or not, but it seemed like it did. It seemed like there was a lot of spontaneous reaction, there was a lot of genuine feelings towards baseball. I know that I was actually supposed to help Ted get up and throw the first pitch out, and everybody actually swarmed him and wanted to talk baseball with him and shake his hand. That was a great thing. I spent some time in the afternoon with all the great baseball players that were nominated, and on the list, and it's cool to me that the language of baseball transcends different eras. So you can talk baseball, same dimension, same mounds, strike zones, anything you want to talk about, you can talk with the great players of the game, and I had a great time doing that.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.: They're special and unique with each and every one. Coming to Boston and having the great history of baseball in Boston and the baseball field and the stadium, it was a special feeling being out there. You put the great players from the National League against the great players in the American League and have a game in this environment in Fenway Park, it doesn't get much better than that.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.: Well, to me it seems like it goes along with the debate about when you design new stadiums and they talk about what they want to try to capture in a new stadium, try to capture the old-time baseball field, what it represents, what it means, places like Fenway Park and Tiger Stadium and Fenway Park, all of those places have it. When you try to define what that means, what is that? What is that? When you're out on the field playing, and you just -- you have that special magical feeling in a ballpark that has baseball history, it seems like you know what it means. And to have an All-Star Game here to compete that way, that's a nice, special moment. So, again, all the All-Star games are very unique, because the celebration of baseball and the Mid-Summer Classic is great. But when you actually do it in a slightly different way at a different ballpark, the significance of Fenway Park has to rank way high up there on the list.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.: Am I still going to be active? (Laughter.) Camden Yards they did a great job in the design of the ballpark. I had the same feelings of losing Memorial Stadium, and then when they designed Camden Yards and they got that old baseball feel in a new ballpark, it's a great feeling. So I think Camden Yards will be around for a while.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.: If you get hit by a pitch, that feels pretty good, too.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.: There's a great feeling to perform in this kind of environment. It is the best of the best. And you're the spotlight or the highlight -- to compete in this environment, it's a special environment. Some people think it's an exhibition kind of environment, but I think that's the farthest from the truth. It's a great celebration, and we all enjoy the festivities and we all enjoy being with each other, but when the game starts the caliber of the quality of the players that are out on the field, they want to win and they want to perform and they want to do a good job. When you're up at homeplate and you are battling against some of the very best people, it makes you feel that much better when you're able to get a hit. I felt good about that hit today.

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