Ripken, Cal(vin) Edwin, Jr (1960- )

US baseball player. As short stop for the Baltimore Orioles, on 6 September 1995 he broke Lou Gehrig's 56-year-old major-league record of 2,130 consecutive appearances. He then stretched this run, which began on 30 May 1982, to 2,632 games. By his retirement in 2001 he had played 3,001 games in total and had scored 431 home runs, a record for a short stop. At the end of the 2001 season he had scored a career total of 431 home runs, having moved from short stop to third baseman. He was only the seventh player in baseball history to have over 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.