May 30, 1982 -- Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles begins his major league record consecutive games played streak by starting at third base (his position for the first 27 games during the streak), appearing eighth in the batting order against the Toronto Blue Jays. the Oriole rookie went 0-for-2, in a 6-0 loss to Toronto at Memorial Stadium. Ripken's streak of 2,632 record will span 17 seasons en route to surpassing Lou Gehrig's remarkable feat in 1995.

"The Streak" By the Numbers
0 -- Times he appeared on the disabled list from 1978 to 1999. A total of 3,695 major leaguers went on the disabled list during Ripken's consecutive games streak.

1 -- World Series appearances. Ripken batted just .167 against Philadelphia in 1983, but caught a line drive by Garry Maddox for the final out in Game Five, clinching the championship for the Orioles.

2 -- Children for he and his wife, Kelly. Rachel Marie, 5, was born in November; Ryan, 2, was born in July - on an Orioles off-day, of course.

3 -- Errors he made in 1990. That set the major league record for fewest errors in a season by a shortstop.

4 -- Games he left before the seventh-inning stretch during his streak. His earliest exits came when he was ejected in the first inning for arguing strike calls by umpire Tim Welke in 1987 and Drew Coble in 1989.

5 -- Consecutive years in which he played every inning. Ripken played 8,243 straight innings from June 5, 1982, to Sept. 14, 1987, actually making it a few months more than five years.

6 -- Seasons he played with brother, Billy, on the Orioles. Cal and Billy were managed by their father, Cal Sr., in 1987 and part of 1988. The previous time three members of the same family were together was 1973 when Hector, Tommy and Jose Cruz played for St. Louis.

7 -- Appearances as a pinch-runner. He made his major league debut on Aug. 10, 1981, as a pinch-runner for Ken Singleton in the bottom of the 12th inning in Baltimore and scored the winning run against Kansas City.

8 -- His number. He was the 14th Baltimore player to wear it.

9 -- Players, including Ripken, who have hit 20 or more home runs in their first 10 full seasons. Ripken is the career leader in homers by a shortstop.

10 -- Years in which Ripken led the AL in most games by a shortstop. It's one of 11 major league or AL fielding records that he either holds or shares.

11 -- Number of AL players who have won at least two AL MVP awards. Ripken won in 1983 and again in 1991, when he became the first in AL history to win while playing for a losing team.

12 -- Consecutive starts in the All-Star game, the most ever by a shortstop. He was the game's MVP in 1991 with a three-run homer, the day after he won the home-run derby.

16 -- Innings he missed in 1995, the season he broke Gehrig's record. Going into that year, he'd played 18,139 of the Orioles' 18,287 innings (99.2 percent) since he started his streak.

24 -- Ballparks where he played regular season games. He was the last batter ever at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, grounding into a double play to end a loss to Detroit on Oct. 6, 1991.

27 -- Games he played as a third baseman after starting his streak on May 30, 1982. Earl Weaver moved him to shortstop on July 1 that year.

29 -- Longest hitless slump of his career, going 0-for-29 in 1988. He went a career-high 73 games without a home run in 1992.

47 -- Players taken ahead of Ripken in the June 1978 draft. Bob Horner, Lloyd Moseby, Hubie Brooks, Mike Morgan and Andy Hawkins were the first five players picked. The Orioles took three players, including Larry Sheets, before taking Ripken with their second pick in the second round.

98 -- The age Lou Gehrig would have been (exactly) the day Ripken announced he would retire at the end of 2001.

522 -- Starting shortstops used by the other 27 teams during Ripken's streak. Ripken started every game during his streak; Lou Gehrig started all but two games of his record 2,130, with infamous Fred Merkle twice taking his place at first base for the New York Yankees.

Today’s line up: Click to Listen

May 30, 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers at Pittsburgh Pirates

May 30, 1960 Washington Senators at New York Yankees Game 2

May 30, 1961 New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

May 30,1962 Los Angeles Dodgers at New York Mets

May 30, 1963 Chicago Cubs at New York Mets

May 30, 1965 New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox

May 30, 1969 San Francisco Giants at New York Mets

TRIVIA:

Who had the major leagues' single-season highest qualifying batting average in the 1960s?

Hint: #1 He is the only left-handed batter to hit more than forty home runs in a season in the history of his now 125-year-old franchise.

Hint: #2 He was driving a tractor on his family’s farm by the age of ten.

May 30, 1935 -- Babe Ruth makes his last major league appearance. He plays only the first inning of the opener of a doubleheader between the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Phillies pitcher Jim Bivin retires Ruth on an infield grounder in the Babe's final major league at-bat.

May 30, 1940 - Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants throws 87 pitches in a 7 - 0 one-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hubell faces the minimum 27 batters, as Johnny Hudson, who singles for the only hit, is caught stealing.

May 30, 1955, Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe hits two home runs in a 10-8 victory over the New York Giants. Just four days earlier, the hot-hitting Newcombe tripled, stole home and picked up a pair of RBIs against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

May 30, 1956, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees blasts one of the longest home runs in history. The slugger crushes a pitch by Washington’s Pedro Ramos off the upper deck facade, 396 feet from home plate and 117 feet in the air. Mantle comes within inches of becoming the first major leaguer to hit a fair ball out of Yankee Stadium. Some observers estimate that the ball would have traveled 600 feet if it had not hit the facade. Mantle also becomes the first player in major league history to hit 20 home runs by the end of May as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 4 - 3.

May 30, 1967, Whitey Ford of the New York Yankees announces his retirement. Plagued by a bone spur in his left elbow, the future Hall of Famer leaves the game with a record of 236-106. His final appearance was a start in Detroit on May 21, but he lasted just one inning for the Yankees.

May 30, 1971 -- Willie Mays hits his 638th major league career home run with the Giants franchise, adding in the process his National League record 1,950th run scored.

May 30, 1977 -- Dennis Eckersley pitches a no-hitter as the Cleveland Indians beat the California Angels, 1 - 0. Frank Tanana, with three shutouts in his last four games, is the loser.

May 30, 1977, All-Star voting is returned to the fans, as computerized punch-card ballots appear in stores and all MLB ballparks. Since 1958, the All-Star squads had been selected by managers, coaches, and players.

May 30, 1987 -- At Three Rivers Stadium Twenty Five Year old Eric Davis becomes the first National League player to hit three grand slams in a month, when he takes Dorn Taylor deep in the 3rd inning leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 6 - 2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. His major league-leading 19 home runs also break the NL record for most homers batted between April and May, Davis was also hitting a robust .355.

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