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Then & Now: Cal Ripken Jr.
SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- In 1995, baseball "Iron Man" Cal Ripken Jr. slammed through legend Lou Gehrig's "unbreakable record" of 2,130 consecutive games played. Today, Ripken is retired from Major League Baseball, but he is still very much a part of the game, as host of a baseball show and owner of a minor league team. "It's been a great run, a fabulous career," he told a crowded stadium at his retirement. "I do feel like Lou Gehrig in many ways: that I am the luckiest guy on the face of the earth." Ripken was born into a baseball family. His father, Cal Ripken Sr., was a staple of the Baltimore Orioles organization for more than 36 years, hustling around the bases and team dugout as a player, coach, manager and scout. And his brother, Bill Ripken, was the team's second baseman in the late 1980s. Over the years, Ripken built a reputation as a solid player with a sense of allegiance. Like his father before him, he remained with the Orioles for his entire Major League career. A perennial favorite with the fans, Ripken's work ethic and energy were legendary. At one point he played five seasons without missing a single inning; he is one of only seven players to date with 400 home runs and 3,000 hits under their belts. Ripken led the Orioles to a World Series championship in 1983, picking up an American League MVP award in the process. And after breaking Gehrig's record in 1995, Ripken continued his own streak, donning his No. 8 uniform for a total of 2,632 consecutive games before the streak ended in 1998. When the "Iron Man" retired from Major League Baseball in 2001, his beloved team was no longer in contention and the nation was still reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11. Ripken's final game had been postponed, but that didn't stop fans from crowding into Camden Yards on October 6 to see Ripken perform one last time. A sellout crowd of more than 48,000 fans, including former President Bill Clinton and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, urged the Orioles on as they faced the Boston Red Sox. Despite a lackluster performance from Ripken, fans cheered each time he walked onto the field or stood over home plate wielding a bat. Today, Ripken, 44, lives in Maryland with his wife, Kelly, and their two children, Ryan and Rachel. But baseball's "Iron Man" is still very much a part of the family business. He owns a minor league baseball team, the Aberdeen IronBirds -- a Maryland-based affiliate of the Orioles. Also, he and his brother, Billy, are hosts of a baseball talk show on XM Satellite Radio, where they gab about such things as batting averages and Little League performances -- and even steroid use. "I know that [steroid use in Major League Baseball] is a big issue," Ripken told CNN in a recent interview. "If you look at it from a broad standpoint, you say, 'God, this is a lot of negative news, and it can't be good for the sport.' Maybe this is a process that baseball has to [go through] to kind of cleanse itself. "But Billy and I ... we're teaching baseball, and we're right down here at the minor league level, and there's nothing wrong with the game. The game is beautiful." The family also founded the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, a nonprofit organization that makes baseball and softball programs available to underprivileged kids. In addition to offering clinics, the foundation presents coaching and mentoring workshops, and awards equipment grants. "If I am to be remembered," he said at the time of his retirement from Major League Baseball, "I hope it's because by living my dream I was able to make a difference." 
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