1983 World Series: Ripken's first - and only - title

The Teams
American League: Baltimore Orioles (98-64) - Sixth World Series (Won in 1966, 1970)
National League: Philadelphia Phillies (90-72) - Fourth World Series (Won in 1980)

What Happened
It wasn't quite a subway series, as Baltimore and Philadelphia are in separate states, but with their stadiums sitting only about 100 miles apart, there was definitely a regional feel to the 1983 series.

While the teams were neighbors, they seemed to be going in opposite directions. After winning the World Series in 1980, the Phillies took the unusual step of getting older. After adding former Reds Joe Morgan and Tony Perez - to go along with another former Red, Pete Rose, who was there for the '80 title - the Phillies earned the nickname The Wheeze Kids. Meanwhile, youth led the way for the Orioles. Cal Ripken, Jr., who was named AL MVP, was only 23 years old, while Eddie Murray, MVP in the runner-up vote, was only 27. Win or lose, the future looked brighter for the Orioles, while the Phillies seemed to be in now-or-never mode.

While the Orioles had young offensive stars, it was their veteran pitchers who led the way in the Series. Two solo home runs was enough for the Phillies to win Game 1, but Baltimore got a complete-game three-hitter from Mike Boddicker to win Game 2. Philadelphia got two more solo home runs in Game 3, but Baltimore's bullpen threw five shutout innings, giving the offense enough time to rally for a win. Clutch hitting was at a premium in Game 4, as the teams combined for 14 runners left on base. Baltimore held on to win that one, then got two home runs from Eddie Murray and another from Rick Dempsey to cruise to a series-ending win in Game 5.

The final out was a line drive right to Ripken, which seemed as a symbol for the Orioles' future. He was destined to lead the Orioles to greatness for the next decade. Well, he led them, but not to glory. Ripken played for 18 more seasons for Baltimore, but never again appeared in the World Series.

Defining Game
Game 4 was the only true back-and-forth game in the series, which makes sense considering all the baserunners they had. A Rich Dauer single scored Ripken and Murray to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but the Phillies responded to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The Orioles reclaimed the lead with a bases-loaded walk and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the sixth, then added an insurance run on Dauer's seven-inning single. The insurance came in handy when the Phillies got one run back in the bottom of the ninth, but Morgan ended the game by lining out to second base.


MVP
Rick Dempsey. Though several of Baltimore's hitters had a good series, the normally light-hitting Dempsey stood out. All five of his hits were extra-base hits, including the game-winning double in Game 2 and a home run in Game 5.

Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Philadelphia	2	1	2	4	0
Baltimore	1	4	3	5	5

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

80. 1983 - Baltimore (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
81. 1913 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
82. 1930 - Philadelphia (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-2
83. 1914 - Boston (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-0
84. 1951 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
85. 1939 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-0
86. 1910 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
89. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

September 6, 1995: The Iron Bird

BALTIMORE - The whole thing must have felt at least a little corny. In the middle of the fifth inning of a random early September game in Baltimore, the game was stopped, the fans stood and cheered, and a shortstop took a victory lap. Of course, it wasn't quite an ordinary game. Not with the president and vice president in the stands, and the numbers 2131 showing up on the big warehouse in right field.

Usually, you can't predict when a record is going to be broken. Oriole fans, though, were able to circle September 6 on the calendar as soon as the 1995 schedule was released. That was the day that Cal Ripken would break Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. Baseball officials no doubt circled the date, too, as the 1994 strike had been devestating to the sport. They surely saw Ripken's chase for the record as something that could bring back fan interest. The game was hyped as much as it could be.

Along with bringing back interest in the sport, some people even thought Ripken's streak helped end the strike in the first place. With the start of the 1995 season fast approaching and no end to negotiations in sight, the owners started training replacement players to take the field for the next season. Realizing this would mean the end of Ripken's streak, they asked if he'd be willing to take the field with the replacements. Despite having the blessing of the players' union, Ripken refused, and shortly thereafter, whether coincidentally or not, a settlement was reached.

The strike was the last thing on people's minds on September 6, though. The day started with a festive atmosphere. An overflow, sellout crowd in Camden Yards, an ESPN-record large crowd watching on television, political and sports dignitaries in the stands, and Ripken playing short, trying to act like it was just another game.

Of course, Ripken had a flare for the dramatic, too. The night before, in the game in which he tied Lou Gehrig's record, Ripken had homered to punctuate the evening. Now, stepping up to the plate in the 4th inning, he did it again, sending the crowd into a frenzy with a bomb to left field.

When the Angels went down quietly in the top of the fifth, all eyes turned to the large warehouse just outside right field. As Ripken approached the record, the Orioles had put a countdown on the walls of the warehouse, changing the number after the top of the fifth of each game, the moment it became an official game. Now, as "2,131" appeared, fireworks went off, confetti was thrown into the air, and the fans stood and cheered. And cheered, and cheered, and cheered. In all, it was a 22-minute-long standing ovation, one of the longest ever afforded a single athlete. Ripken was reluctant to acknowledge the crowd, uncomfortable with doing it while there was still a game to play, but his teammates pushed him out onto the field. Then, as Ripken stood outside the dugout waving and acknowledging the cheers, he was playfully pushed again, this time to start a victory lap around the field, high-fiving and shaking hands with fans as he went around.

Ripken's streak continued until 1998, when he voluntarily removed himself from the lineup after 2,632 games. His streak lasted 502 more games than Gehrig's and is more than twice as long as the third-longest streak ever, held by Everett Scott. The longest streak since Ripken's ended was by Miguel Tejada, who played in 1,152 straight games before a broken wrist forced him to the disabled list. Coincidentally, Tejada was playing for the Orioles when his streak ended.