Say hey everybody,

I'm a rookie and have been wondering for a long time why the heck Cal Ripkin Jr. is a hall of fame shoe in?

I don't really understand what makes him such an amazing player that he should be in the HOF. When I read through his lines am I missing something?

He's a career .276 hitter, .340 OPS, yeah I understand the 3184 hits is usually an automatic HOF stat, but what makes him so special.

Fielding he was always talked of as a great, but he only has two gold gloves. Yeah I know he has a .976 fielding percent, but for 21 years only two gold gloves does not look that good.

The streak, don't go there, it was garbage, we all know by the last couple of years he wasn't of value offensively to the team, defensively yes, but no in the batter's box. He was kept in because no one wanted to hurt the nicest guy in the game (besides Tony Gywnn) by making him sit out. Don't count 1994 on the batting box (he wouldn't have maintained that especially with the bookends of his performances of 1992-93, 95-98).

I'm sorry I sound like such a rube, but I really do like Ripkin, I just don't think he is a HOFer. I know there are some great defensive HOFers who made it in solely on defense (Scooter), but they really aren't HOFers either.

Someone help me out, give me a reason to cheer louder than usual next year when Cal gets up for his speech in Cooperstown.

PS-Next year will be my fourth induction in a row, how far do I have to go to break the streak for most inductions attended by a Baseball Fever member? This year was amazing, Buck O'Neil's honor and grace was the star of the show.