Cal Ripken, Jr. (born 1960) holds many records in professional baseball, but it is his breaking of Lou Gehrig's record of 2,131 consecutive games played that especially endears him to his admirers, who call him the "Iron Man" of baseball. The perseverance, endurance and everyday work ethic that Ripken has exhibited throughout his 17 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles has made him one of the most popular professional athletes in all of sports.

Calvin Edwin Ripken, Jr. was born on August 24, 1960, in the small Maryland town of Havre de Grace to Calvin, Sr. and Viola Ripkin. His father had been with the Baltimore Orioles as a minor-league catcher since 1957, and after a shoulder injury dashed his hopes of a major-league career, the elder Ripken stayed on with the club as a coach and manager at both the minor and major-league level. While the family made their home in Aberdeen, Maryland, Ripken's...