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This is a SIGNED First Edition. Signed by the man himself: The Iron Man, Cal Ripken Jr.! The Hardbound is in Fine with very slight bumping to the spine edges and light discoloration to front board white. Dust Wrapper is Fine with bumping to spine. It contains the signature on the faux title page. A Cal Ripken autograph on paper can command over $200.00 alone. The envelope that contains a Cal Ripken Jr. baseball card has been opened, but both remain solid and complete. They are tipped into the book before the rear free endpaper. Cal Ripken Jr. is "nicknamed "The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981 2001). One of his position's most offensively productive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ripken holds the record for consecutive games played, 2,632, surpassing Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years and that many deemed unbreakable. In 2007, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 98.53% of votes, the sixth-highest election percentage ever. Ripken is considered one of the best shortstops in baseball history. At 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 225 lbs. (102 kg), he pioneered the way for the success of taller, larger shortstops. He holds the record for most home runs hit as a shortstop (345), breaking the record previously held by Ernie Banks, and was selected as the starting shortstop for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team." "There aren't many Americans who didn't feel a lump in their throat watching Cal Ripken, Jr. take a historic jog around the bases on the evening of September 6, 1995--the night he smashed Lou Gehrig's record number of 2,130 consecutively played games. But, as "the hardest working man in baseball" will tell you, he was just doing his job. And now he tells you just how he does it, why he does it, and how it makes him feel. With the candor and grace that have endeared him to fans everywhere, Cal Ripken, Jr. tells the story of his journey to the major leagues: of his early childhood and life with a baseball manager for a father; his stint in the minors, working his way up from the Rookie Leagues to Triple-A; and finally, to the permanent call from Baltimore where he began the drive to an All-Star career. Cal talks with warmth of his mentors and teammates, and with honesty of the Orioles roller-coaster ride from the pennant to a lamentable 0-21.
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