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That's all, folks Ripken 0-for-3, left on deck in final game
Updated: Sunday October 07, 2001 4:43 PM
BALTIMORE (AP) -- David Cone wasn't about to groove a pitch to Cal Ripken in the Iron Man's final game. He figured Ripken wouldn't want it that way. Ripken went hitless in his last major league game, closing out his Hall of Fame career in a 2-for-48 skid as the Boston Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 5-1 victory Saturday night. Batting against Cone, Ripken lined to left in the second inning, hit a popup to short in the fifth and a fly ball to center in the eighth in the final at-bat of his career. "I challenged him all night. I wanted to go at him hard with good fastballs," Cone said. "He swung the bat pretty well. The first time up, he hit the ball pretty hard. If he got a little lift, he probably would have hit a home run."
Cone wanted to make Ripken earn a hit. "That's the way he played the game," Cone said. With fans chanting "We want Cal," Ripken was left on deck when Brady Anderson struck out against Ugueth Urbina to end the game. Asked if he considered walking Anderson to allow Ripken one more trip to the plate, Boston manager Joe Kerrigan said, "No, not really. I think the integrity of the game is what Ripken stands for. When you mess with the integrity of the game, I don't care what the circumstances are, that's not what the man over there represents." A sellout crowd of 48,807, including former President Clinton and major league commissioner Bud Selig, attended the game. Many of the fans missed several innings standing in long lines to buy souvenirs and programs to mark the occasion -- the 3,001st and final game for Ripken. The crowd collectively stood and cheered each time Ripken came to the plate, but the Orioles' 41-year-old third baseman couldn't reward them with one final hit. After he entered the dugout after his final at-bat, he emerged to the cheers of the crowd and waved in appreciation. The horrid skid dropped Ripken's batting average to .239, the worst of his career over a full season. He hit .128 in 23 games as a rookie in 1981. Cone (9-7) took a one-hitter into the eighth inning, but yielded two singles and a walk to load the bases. He then struck out Tim Raines Jr. and retired pinch-hitter Tim Raines Sr. on a grounder. Cone allowed one unearned run and three hits in eight innings. The right-hander was 0-5 with a 6.10 ERA in his last six starts. Jeff Conine hit a sacrifice fly in the Baltimore first, but Dante Bichette put Boston up 2-1 with a two-run homer off rookie Rick Bauer (0-5) in the second. Jose Offerman hit a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 4-1. Joe Oliver, who got three hits, doubled in a run for Boston in the ninth. Notes: Home plate umpire Eric Cooper left with a strained Achilles tendon. ... Boston won the season series 10-9. ... Orioles reliever Buddy Groom got one out in the ninth, giving him 70 appearances over six straight seasons, an AL record.
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