Opening Day (Orioles 6, Tigers 2)

I watched the rerun on MASN after getting home from work. During the fourth inning, Cal Ripken stepped into the booth to join Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer. He talked about the worst slump of his career going 4 for 55, pick-up basketball games with Jim in the nineties at Bryn Mawr high, the Hall of Fame and new players in the league. "I helped you win some pick-up games," Jim said, referring to basketball. "I know you did," replied Cal like someone who may have remembered the exact score of those games. It also sounded like Jim may have sustained an injury from Cal during one of those sessions. "Basketball was the only thing I chose to do in the offseason to stay in shape. The front office hated it," Cal said. Apparently, Lou Gehrig also played basketball in the off-season to stay in shape. Cal said he was trying not to think about the Induction. He really liked hanging out with Tony Gwynn at a baseball writer's dinner in NY. He talked about Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and David Wright as players who were "interesting to him." Kevin Millar led the inning off with a home run. As they talked, the Orioles slowly put runners on. When Mora launched one toward the left center wall, Cal responded. "Whoa!" He said. "There it goes." Palmer and Cal could barely contain their passion for the Orioles in that moment. Ripken talked about how he missed the crack of the bat.