Triple Bill

Not in honor of the recent Labor Day holiday, I made an effort (labor = effort, get it?) to tell three stories that aren’t quite long enough for a single column, so I combined them into a regular-sized story and put them in this potpourri piece. This column was first posted on the anniversary of the first item.

Thirty years ago today (September 6, 1995), Cal Ripken played in one of the most important games in baseball, when he broke the unbreakable record by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game, surpassing Lou “Iron Horse” Gehrig’s mark.

Ripken played a total of 3,001 games in his Hall of Fame career, but as with every player in the majors, he had a first game and a last game. On August 8, 1981, the Baltimore Evening Sun printed a short article about Ripken and left-handed relief pitcher Jeff Schneider being promoted to Baltimore from its Triple-A team in Rochester, NY.

“Ripken was hitting .290 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs,” the paper reported. “He led the club in seven offensive categories. Schneider was 5-1 with 13 saves with an ERA of 2.35.” The paper also noted Ripken was the son of the team’s third base coach, Cal Ripken Sr.

The following day, the Sun’s Bill Free wrote, “Oriole fans will have to wait no longer for the highly touted third baseman Cal Ripken Jr.

“Ripken, regarded as one of the top prospects ever to come through the Baltimore organization, will join the Orioles today as they prepare for the stretch drive down the 51 games of the second half of the season,” continued Free.

Manager Earl Weaver issued a warning not to put too much pressure on him. “Don’t be making a Reggie Jackson of this kid already. He’s not going to come up and hit a home run every time.”

Ripken’s parents lived in Aberdeen, MD, where his father coached in the Orioles’ system. When Cal arrived from Rochester, he moved back into their home. The Baltimore Sun reported: “Now that Cal Ripken Jr. is around, Cal Sr. has decided he’ll ride in the passenger seat in the car for a while on the ride from Aberdeen to the ballpark. ‘We drove in his car today,’ Cal the coach said. ‘Let him use his gas for a change.’”

On August 10, at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, the Orioles and Kansas City Royals were tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 12th inning. Renie Martin was starting his third inning and Ken Singleton led off with a double, and Weaver had Ripken pinch-run for the outfielder.

“I’d never been on that kind of stage before. A minor league stadium isn’t even close to the same experience. It was a thrill, but at least I didn’t lose my head over the situation, because (Royals) second baseman Frank White put on a pickoff play immediately. The umpire called ‘Safe!’ and White said, ‘Just checking, kid,’” Ripken wrote in his book, The Only Way I Know (co-authored by Mike Bryan).

(Two days later, Weaver again used Ripken as a pinch-runner, in a 10-0 loss to Kansas City.)

“After September 4, I had no plate appearances at all because we were in a pennant race, and I guess Earl Weaver didn’t trust me enough. That was the year of the split seasons, and in the AL East the Orioles had finished two games back of the Yankees in the first half before I showed up, and with me watching we finished two games back of Milwaukee in the second half, tied for fourth. We had the second-best overall record, but we were knocked out of the playoffs by the format,” Ripken.

“The whole time, I felt somewhat a part of the team. The other guys on the bench quickly enrolled me in their various games and pranks, and I gladly went along. It was something to do. Still, would I have been better off playing in Rochester than mostly watching Baltimore, especially if I wasn’t watching for some good reason?” he shared in The Only Way I Know.

It was sitting on the bench for weeks that made Ripken decide if he ever got onto the field again, he wasn’t getting off. He played in roughly 99 percent of the innings in the 2,131-game streak.

As 1994 became 1995, the players were still on strike, but the biggest consideration for the press, fans and even players was Ripken’s status. The owners planned on using replacement players: if they played, would that end Ripken’s streak? There was talk the players’ union would allow Ripken to cross the line and play, but he declined. Orioles owner Peter Angelos threatened to boycott every game if it meant keeping the streak alive. Fortunately, the baseball gods intervened – and the strike was settled, and on Opening Day Ripken was on the field.

On September 5, he tied Gehrig’s record and broke it the next day. I don’t know if this was planned or it happened on the fly, but Ripken acknowledged the crowd by jogging around the stadium warning track. According to a Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) article by Jimmy Keenan, “Cal continued to play third base for the Orioles at a high level, but it was soon apparent to Baltimore baseball fans that all good things must come to an end.” On June 19, 2001, Ripken announced he was retiring at the end of the season.

Ripken’s last game was at Camden Yards, on Oct. 6 in front of more than 48,000 fans. When the game ended, this time Ripken was driven around the stadium.

Before the game, Maryland’s governor proclaimed October 6 “Cal Ripken Day” in the state. Baltimore’s mayor said Lee Street, near the ballpark, would be renamed Cal Ripken Way. Former President Bill Clinton appeared, and called Ripken “the kind of son every father would like his son to grow up to be.”

Among the crowd were former teammates, commissioner Bud Selig and video tributes from players such as Roger Clemens.

Ripken’s father worked for the Orioles for more than 30 years, as a minor league coach and manager, and later was third base coach for the O’s and finally, their manager. Before the last game, his son was presented with a four-foot charcoal portrait of his dad. That, Ripken said, was the most powerful moment of the night.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Ripken’s mother, Violet (Vi), to her son crouched at the plate. The son called for a curveball, but Mom shook him off twice and went with a fastball. Ripken went 0-for-3 that night against Boston’s David Cone. In his first at-bat, Ripken hit a hard liner caught by the left fielder. After the game, Cone said Ripken hit it too hard. If he’d gotten a little lift on the ball it would have been a home run. In his second plate appearance, Ripken popped up to shortstop. In his final plate appearance — both for the game and his career — Ripken flew out to center field. As he approached the dugout, the crowd gave him a standing ovation, and Ripken tipped his cap to them.

In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Brady Anderson was at the plate and Ripken on deck. Fans wanted Boston manager Joe Kerrigan to intentionally walk Anderson to give Ripken one more at-bat. He didn’t, and Anderson ended the game by striking out. (Kerrigan told reporters walking him would not be the way Ripken would want that last at-bat to happen.) Like Gehrig on his day at Yankee Stadium, Ripken would have to make a farewell speech. He began: “People have asked me these past couple of weeks how I want to be remembered. My answer is simple, to be remembered at all is pretty special. If I am remembered, I hope it is because that by living my dream, I was able to make a difference.”

Early last month, there were “a lot of hugs” when Australian natives Mitch Neunborn and Chris Adamson were reunited in Pennsylvania.

Neunborn had been promoted to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Phillies, while Adamson is in his first season as bench coach for Lehigh Valley after managing in the lower levels of the Phillies’ minor league system. Adamson managed Neunborn while they were in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). “Pretty big hugs, honestly. I mean the Australian baseball community is small and especially Adelaide, where we both live now, it’s even smaller,” said Adamson about his meeting with Neunborn. “So, to be on the other side of the world with people from a similar background, it’s huge, just on a human level. So yeah, I was (happy) to see him and, you know, it’s been really helpful for both of us, I think.

“Mitch and I have been together essentially since the end of 2019. So it’s been, yeah, quite a while now,” said Adamson, who is one of the few Australians coaching in the U.S. minor leagues this year.

Neunborn grew up playing rugby and soccer, along with swimming and other sports that are part of Australia’s culture. He discovered baseball “on a whim.”

A neighbor played T-ball, so he watched “and it was fun,” he said. But “I was getting tired of getting concussions” playing rugby.

He came to the United States for a year to play at Northern Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) as a two-way player, until he injured his elbow and concentrated on hitting. After the season, he returned to Australia. He was noticed by American scouts when he played for the Australian national team in the World Baseball Classic.

He signed with the Phillies and spent last season at Double-A Reading in the Eastern League. “The stuff is really ticked up, but more so, just the self-belief and understanding that he has a unique skill set and it’s something that has a chance to do for a living. So it’s been cool just to see him go from strength to strength,” said Adamson. Preston Mattingly, the Phillies’ General Manager, said, “I just think he’s shown kind of all year he’s able to pitch in different roles, whether that’s in short relief, long relief, and also starting, and I think he’s done very well for himself. His continued development of his changeup, the command of all his pitches has continued to get better, and we thought it was time to challenge him at the next level.” Several years ago, the Phillies started an agreement with Adelaide, sending players there in the off-season.

“The agreement with Adelaide came before I was here, but I’m really happy it was in place,” said Mattingly. “We found a lot of success sending players over there and part of the reason of our being comfortable with that league and that team is Tank being involved. Chris Adamson is a guy that has shown his ability to develop players, has a really good temperament for all different types of players, whether that’s players in the complex league or players in Triple-A,” said Mattingly. “We’ve continued to expose him to a lot of different levels, a lot of different things, and he’s continued to show us how important development is and the way he treats it, and I’m really excited to have him working with our Triple-A group now.”

A profile on the Australian Baseball League’s website began: “Mitch Neunborn kisses a pendant attached to his necklace every time he takes the mound. It belonged to his mum, Lynda Neunborn. It serves as a reminder of why he plays the game. She passed away in May 2023 after a year-long battle with cancer. When it happened, Mitch was overseas.

The profile added, “Mitch delayed the start of his professional career to stay with his mum while she was in hospice.”

“That was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life. I still struggle with it today,” Neunborn told the ABL website. To this day, he gets emotional when talking about his mother, who died when he was 25. “But she was the drive and the motivation behind it. She told me to go. She knows my ups and downs. She knows my surgeries and Tommy John surgeries and the adversity I have been through. To her, it was a no-brainer.

“It’s me trying to keep her proud and trying to keep the legacy of what she’s sacrificed to play the game I love. She was a massive factor in me travelling and to be able to play on this team. She was very supportive. It’s given me an extra push to never give up and keep going with the sport,” he says.

Adamson’s route to the United States began when he was a teenager, when a friend took up baseball. “I just tagged along with a mate from down the street to a practice and really enjoyed it,” Adamson said. “I was from a cricket and rugby household, so it was completely new.

“I moved to the States to play in college when I was 18,” he said. “I remember getting off the plane — or we were about to get on the plane, I was still in Sydney at the time — and kind of questioning what the hell am I doing? I was 18 years old and moving to the other side of the world, but because we’re so isolated down there, it’s something that if you do really want to pursue something in your life, quite often you do have to go to some pretty extreme lengths to do it. So, there’s always the uncertainty and things on the human side, but you just remind yourself that is what you want to do and it’s the steps to take if you want to see what doors can open in this sport.”

The 1949 American League pennant came to the last day of the season between the visiting Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

Starting for Boston was 23-game winner Ellis Kinder, who told teammates to give him three runs and he’d do his job. They didn’t. He allowed a run in the first, then threw six scoreless innings, but the Yankees’ Vic Raschi was tossing a shutout. In the top of the eighth, Boston manager Joe McCarthy pinch-hit for Kinder, but the team did not score.

In the bottom of the eighth, Mel Parnell, who led the league with 25 victories, took over. Parnell gave up a run without recording an out. He was replaced with Tex Hughson, who gave up three more runs before the inning was over, and the Red Sox were down 5-0 as the ninth inning started. They rallied, but lost 5-3, and the Yankees won the pennant and went to the World Series (which they also won). Despite the late rally, Raschi pitched a complete game for his 21st victory.

What may seem odd is why Kinder was charged with the loss. He gave up one run. Parnell gave up the second run. Hughson surrendered the third, fourth and fifth Yankee runs. But under the scoring rules, the losing pitcher is the one responsible for the go-ahead run that puts the other team ahead to stay. The first inning run turned out to be the winning run, and because Kinder allowed it and Boston never tied the game, he was the losing pitcher.

Members of the press had been official scorers for decades, until 1980, when MLB created the position of official scorers; this was done to eliminate possible conflict of interest charges. The MLB Competition Committee is responsible for changing the official baseball rules. The committee, which includes team owners, players, and an umpire, votes on and approves new rules that are then implemented.

I spoke to a retired sportswriter who covered hundreds of games, and was an official scorer for many. I presented him with this hypothetical situation, similar to the Red Sox-Yankees game:

A starter pitches well but leaves after the eighth inning trailing 1-0. In the top of the ninth, a reliever allowed five runs. It’s now 6-0. In the bottom of the ninth, the home team scores five runs but loses 6-5. The starter is charged with the loss while the reliever, who gave up the sixth — and winning — run, isn’t the loser. Why, I asked, is the starter charged with the loss?

“Is that entirely fair? Probably not,” he said. “It’s probably not fair in your scenario that the reliever put the team in such a deep hole that even that rally wasn’t enough. But I also think you get in trouble if you start parsing what happened afterwards. In a tighter game, maybe the other team uses its closer instead of a mop-up reliever and the opposing team doesn’t score at all. When you start trying to include ‘what if’ in those determinations I think it can get subjective pretty quickly.

“I guess the simplest answer is that that’s just the way the rules are written. It’s probably not fair that a starter can pitch five innings, give up eight runs and get the win if his team is ahead when he leaves the game and never relinquishes the lead, either. It’s probably anachronistic that starting pitchers even get wins and losses considering how much of that is impacted by run support and the reality that as starters pitch less and less the result of the game is determined by the bullpen more and more,” he noted.

What stood out to me was his phrase, “that’s just the way the rules are written.” Time for a change, if you ask me. And if you don’t ask me, it’s still time to change that method.