Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #21

Cal Ripken, Jr. is in the news again this week, because that guy just can't stop hogging the limelight. Okay, call off your dogs, I swear I'm joking. In actuality, Junior joined Twitter on Tuesday. I wouldn't recommend doing such a thing myself, but his intentions were good: he's promoting the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation's "Strike Out Hunger" fundraiser, which is a partnership with Feeding America that will provide food for families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. If you want to follow Cal on social media, his username is @CalRipkenJr, oddly enough. He is not stingy with the doggie photos, and his golden doodle Nash is by all appearances a very good boy.

The same day that the Iron Man logged on to the Twitter hellscape, ESPN rebroadcast his record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game, seeing as how they had an opening in their schedule. Ripken claims that it was the first time he'd watched it start-to-finish since that landmark night of September 6, 1995. He told the Sports Junkies that he didn't want to mess up his own memories of it, which I can understand.“Once you start seeing things, you’re like, ‘Oh, that guy was on my team?’ Then you start looking up rosters.”

I mean, if I were Cal, I'd also probably try to forget that Manny Alexander was the other half of the double-play combo the day that I broke Lou Gehrig's record. Until you see the video footage, you can just keep fudging the timeline and pretend that it was Roberto Alomar.

Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #2

Did somebody say 3,000?

Sunday night I mentioned on this blog that my wife Janet is trying to put a positive spin on her cancer diagnosis by raising funds for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Long story short: she shaves her head this Friday (before the chemo causes her hair to fall out, because who wants to wait around for that to happen?). Folks sponsor her by making a monetary donation to St. Baldrick's. Simple. Her original $500 fundraising goal was exceeded in under two hours on Saturday night, at which point Janet boosted her target to $2,000. She topped that mark this morning, and she's not ready to stop yet. The next objective is $3,000, though the word of mouth is traveling so far and so fast, three grand might not be the end point. As challenging as it is to face a disease like this, there's something fun about watching those donations add up. For me, it's a much-needed reminder that there is still a lot of good in this world.

Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #24

Thank you for being a sounding board for my fears, hopes, anxieties, frustrations, and other miscellaneous emotions this weekend. To everyone who commented, your supportive words mean more than I can say. Janet is holding up remarkably well after her first chemotherapy treatment. She was a bit achy, tired, and flushed this afternoon, but felt better after a nap and a good dinner. She's had no nausea at all, and has been fairly energetic otherwise, so hopefully that's a good sign for future treatments.

Janet has also spent the weekend grappling with the reality of losing her hair. Research indicates that most chemo patients find their hair falling out about two weeks after the first treatment. That would be right around April 1, because the universe has a warped sense of humor. The oncologist suggested that Janet take control of the situation before it takes control of her, and she has found an excellent way of doing just that. Next Friday, March 25, Janet will be shaving her head, but she's not doing it for nothing. She's collecting donations to benefit the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which boosts research into cures and treatments for childhood cancers. Last night my brave wife launched her fundraising page with a modest goal of $500 in donations, posted a link on Facebook, and blew past that mark in under two hours! With nearly a week left to raise funds, she's set her sights on $2,000. She's already two-thirds of the way there, and if you'd like to pitch in, you can do so here:

St. Baldrick's Foundation

I know that Janet is anxious about going bald for the first time since she was a toddler, but I bet she's better looking with a bare head than Cal Ripken is.

Cal Ripken Jr., 2001 Fleer Cal Ripken Jr. Career Highlights #26

This card is part of a 60-card box set that arrived as part of the mystery package from Zach last month. It's a pretty snazzy deal, as it commemorates Cal Ripken's legendary career with 20 reprints of his Fleer base cards, 10 cards focusing on significant achievements throughout his career, 13 cards marking major milestones in his consecutive games played streak, and 17 cards chronicling his farewell season. The featured card shows the moment in the sixth inning of the 2001 All-Star Game when commissioner Bud Selig stopped the game to present Tony Gwynn and Ripken with career achievement awards. It's nice that they've captured this memorable moment on the card, but it's poor form to cut Gwynn in half. I know we're focusing on Cal here, but Tony Gwynn was a fellow hometown hero and Hall of Famer, not some schmo middle reliever. Speaking of schmoes, I'm quite sure that is then-Yankees first base coach and future failed O's manager Lee Mazzilli standing behind Ripken. Tony Gwynn gets cropped out, and that guy stays in the picture? Come on.