Jul 29, 2007 4:13 pm US/Eastern
Ripken, Gwynn Enter Baseball's Hall Of Fame
BALTIMORE (CBS) ―
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Cal Ripken Jr. will forever be known as baseball's iron man. (File)
AP
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Tony Gwynn is known as a consistent batter for the Padres, and a one-team man. (File)
AP
Major League Baseball's top brass were in Cooperstown, N.Y. on Sunday to help usher Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn into the Hall of Fame, reports CBS station WJZ-TV in Baltimore.
Former Baltimore Orioles player Ripken and former San Diego Padre Gwynn were honored at the induction ceremony, as the two members making up the Hall's 2007 class of inductees.
Thousands of fans were on hand as Ripken made his induction speech, thanking fans, former teammates and family members for helping him get through his career as a professional baseball player.
Some had signs reading "Red Sox Fans Love Cal," while others hoisted letters reading "Holy Cal."
Ripken will forever be known as baseball's Iron Man but, when sizing up his impact on baseball, he says it isn't so much that he played more than 2,600 consecutive games - it's how he played them.
"I felt that there was a sense of responsibility and a way about your job that dad instilled in me that I just carried," Ripken told WJZ-TV's Mark Viviano.
Cal Ripken Sr. died in 1999, after decades of involvement with the Orioles, but the elder Ripken's influence on his son has always been attributed to part of the Iron Man's greatness.
"Dad used to always say, 'When you go into another level, look around and convince yourself that you belong because otherwise you wouldn't be there," said Ripken.
"He was a thinking man's shortstop and he got that from his dad," said Oriole legend and fellow Hall-of-Famer Brooks Robinson. "His dad was such a wonderful baseball guy."
Former San Diego Padres standout Tony Gwynn also acknowledged Ripken's contribution in a video tribute during the Orioles' send-off ceremony in Baltimore earlier this week.
Gwynn said Ripken epitomizes what is good about the game and sets a great example.
Robinson agreed.
"Cal just kept getting better and better, and won the MVP one year and won it again and you're saying to yourself 'Well this guy is a Hall-of-Famer," said Robinson.
Many baseball greats have said Ripken redefined the shortstop position. He retired in 2002 as one of seven players in major league history with more than 400 home runs and 3,000 hits.
He also won two MVP awards, was the 1982 rookie of the year, won two Gold Gloves and was named to the All-Star team an AL-record 19 times.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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