Ripken thrust into steroid debate, By: Jeremy Sandler
'Artificial numbers': Baseball's Iron Man on Hall ballot with McGwire, Canseco
December 06, 2006
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA - During his 21 seasons in the big leagues, baseball iron man Cal Ripken Jr. had a knack for being properly positioned.
At 6-foot-4, he was tall by shortstop standards but was able to field his position well and reach a record 2,632 consecutive games by being in the right place at the right time.
But when he retired after the 2001 season, there was no way for Ripken to know he unwittingly set himself on course to be swept up in baseball's steroid scandal.
An almost certain Hall of Famer after a career that besides his streak includes 3,184 hits, 431 home runs and two MVP awards, Ripken's first year of eligibility for enshrinement comes at an inopportune time.
Never thought to be anything but a clean player, Ripken is on the Hall of Fame ballot beside alleged steroid user Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti
"Couldn't get past that, could we?" joked Ripken when the inevitable question about McGwire interrupted his appearance as a product pitchman at baseball's winter meetings.
"I understand the interest, I understand the debate that's going on right now," he said. "I personally don't want to be drawn into that. I don't feel comfortable judging anyone in that particular debate. I'm not qualified."
However, he did allow that anyone who used steroids is suspect in his book, no matter what the record books may say.
"Are they tainted?" he said. "I don't know to what extent they were. I assume they are because it's such a big deal if all your numbers are produced by those sorts of means, then I'd say, yeah, they're artificial numbers."
Ripken said he was never aware of a big steroid problem during his career from 1982-2001, but does not deny it existed.
"I think a smarter person will have suspicions when you look around and see some different people coming back from the off-season a lot bigger than they were," he said. "Sometimes I shook my head because I built a gym in my house and worked really hard to try to make gains. My physical body, I couldn't make those sorts of gains."
Ripken said he did not have a problem putting his numbers up against other players who may have been chemically enhanced.
"I honestly don't get into comparing my numbers," he said. "To me it was trying to be the best you can be and fulfilling a dream. And then you're content that you did as much as you could so it's not a matter of measuring yourself against somebody else. It's your contribution to the game, your legacy to the game."
Insisting he's not upset about ceding some of the Hall of Fame spotlight to the issue of steroids, Ripken said time would end up declaring a verdict on everyone in the sport.
"I guess I honestly believe that history will judge us all in some way," he said. "Whether your judgment day is now or 50 years from now, it doesn't matter. If you share a secret or harbour a secret, you live your life with that sort of conscience."
