Springdale Har-Ber senior wrestler Kimble Jennings was asked by Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. if he ever had trouble making weight in wrestling.
Jennings' response to Ripken?
"Did you ever have trouble playing all those games?" Jennings, a Class 7A/6A state champion in the 126-pound weight class for Har-Ber, said to Ripken, who played a major-league record 2,632 games over a 17-year span.
Ripken was the guest speaker at the fourth annual Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Award Banquet on Saturday at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
More than 300 athletes and coaches were honored in 10 different sports. The All-Arkansas Preps teams during the 2015-2016 season were chosen by Democrat-Gazette staff members, with nominations from the state's coaches.
Ripken, 55, broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 games on Sept. 6, 1995, against the California Angels in Baltimore. His consecutive games streak ended in 1998. During his 21-year career, Ripken, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, batted .276, hit 431 home runs and had 1,695 RBI. He is one of 29 members of the 3,000-hit club, finishing with 3,184.
Playing every day was something Ripken appreciated.
"It was a sense of responsibility to your team to play," Ripken said. "When I played, I thought the coolest thing was having people come and know I was going to play."
As a 23-year-old in 1983, Ripken caught the final out in Game 5 of the 1983 World Series for the Orioles.
"That by far is the best feeling in all of sports," Ripken said.
The night he broke the consecutive games record was right up there.
"As a personal, human moment, that lap around the ballpark was pretty special," he said about his stroll around the ballpark to soak in the fans' appreciation.
Ripken has not been an active player since 2001, but he has noticed the behavior and demeanor of current athletes in sports. He admits there's always going to be personality in sports, citing fellow Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Dennis Eckersley. But he said sportsmanship still should matter.
"You can still be cutthroat and hard in competition," Ripken said. "But I was raised to have certain respect for your opponent. Would you call that old school? Well, so be it."
During Ripken's question-and-answer session with former NFL tight end Keith Jackson of Little Rock, a photo of Ripken and his father Cal Sr. arguing with an umpire was shown on the big screen in the ballroom.
"Are you all double-teaming this guy?" Jackson quipped.
"You could really tell it was my dad in this situation," Ripken said. "It looks like he really wants to beat him up. But those things happen."
Sports on 06/19/2016