Cal Ripken, Jr. My Story

New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1999 Adapted by Dan Gutman from Ripken's autobiography The Only Way I Know. Illustrated with color photos. First edition, first printing. Signed by Ripken on the title page. Publisher's slate paper-covered boards, with titles in gold foil to spine; in its original black and orange dust jacket, with photo of Ripken attributed to Walter Iooss to front panel, lettered in white, blue, white, black, and orange. Fine book; fine unclipped dust jacket. Overall, a clean signed copy. Baseball great Joe Torre said, "Cal is a bridge, maybe the last bridge, back to the way the game was played." The most apparent way in which (truncated) Cal Ripken Jr. was a throwback player was his enormous toughness, seen in his record streak of 2,632 consecutive games played (Lou Gehrig holds second place, with 2,130 consecutive games). Ripken began the streak on May 30, 1982, and, after an incredible sixteen seasons, ended it voluntarily on Sept 20, 1998, the last home game of the season. In his twenty-one years with the Baltimore Orioles, Ripken was selected to nineteen All-Star games, earned two AL MVP awards, and won a World Series title in 1983. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007 with the sixth highest voting percentage of all time (98.5%).. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Dust Jacket Included. (Inventory #: CRJMB001)