Cal Ripken Leads Off, I Bat Cleanup

Cal Ripken, Jr. led off the NEDA/SEDC Annual Conference this morning and I closed it off at noon. Yep, that Cal Ripken who was 1982 Rookie of the Year, two-time gold glover, two-time MVP, with 3184 hits who played in 19 All-Star Games and went 2,632 games without a miss. That is 17 straight years of not missing a game!

He talked about his Aberdeen Project, an ED project he opened in 2002 that he is doing in the town where he grew up, Aberdeen, MD (population 13,842) (www.ripkenbaseball.com). This minor league ballpark/summer camp/baseball clinic home brought in 1500 summer campers in 2005. His baseball tournament model, which brings in 550 teams, attracted 30,000 people in 2005. He estimates that it has a $13 million impact upon the local economy.

He and his brother own the minor league team in Aberdeen and are in the process of duplicating this project along with ownership of a minor league team in Myrtle Beach. They are looking for other sites around the country to continue to develop the model.

His message of “Get in the game and persevere” resonated with the audience. He listed eight factors that allowed him to achieve his incredible records.

1. Right approach—Be honest. Meet the challenges of the day. Come to the ballpark ready to play every day.

2. Strong will to succeed—It comes from a fire within in the person. Desire.

3. Passion—Love what you do. His Dad told him at an early age, “There are too many people in this world who hate what they do.”

4. Competitive—He loves to compete.

5. Consistent—Solve problems and find solutions quickly.

6. Conviction—Have a thick skin. See thru to the end.

7. Strength—Both mental and physical is needed.

8. Life management—This key manages all of the seven above. You need to achieve balance in your life.

He ended his talk with the quote from Teddy Roosevelt that is shown in the picture below.