Cal Has Season-Ending Surgery

September 23, 1999 / 12:23 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Cal Ripken underwent back surgery Thursday, ending his 1999 season nine hits short of 3,000 but giving baseball's Iron Man hope he can continue his career without pain.

The hospital said the 90-minute operation by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Henry Bohlman, director of University Hospitals' Spine Institute, accomplished its goal, "to relieve pressure on the nerve roots located in Ripken's lower back."

"Dr. Bohlman and Orioles team physician Dr. Michael Jacobs, who observed the surgery, said Ripken is expected to make a full recovery," the statement said.

University Hospitals spokeswoman Eileen Korey said Ripken had requested that no further information about the operation be released. She did not know how long the Baltimore Orioles third baseman would stay in the hospital.

Speaking in Baltimore, general manager Frank Wren said he was optimistic Ripken would be back next year.

"From our standpoint, it went very well," Wren said. "We expect a full recovery and expect to see him at third base on opening day 2000."

The 39-year-old Ripken, who set a major league record by playing in 2,632 straight games, went on the disabled list for the first time in his 18-year career this season.

He first went on the DL on April 20 because of a bad back, missing three weeks, and was again sidelined after experiencing more back pain Aug. 1.

Ripken returned a month later and hit his 400th career homer on Sept. 2. He had been hot at the plate ever since, raising his batting average to a career-high .340, and at 2,9991 hits looked to be a lock to join the 3,000-hit club.

Had Ripken not missed Baltimore's final 12 games, he would have likely joined Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs this year as the newest players to reach 3,000 hits. It would have been the first time three players reached the milestone in the same season.

"I feel bad that Cal's hurt because I wanted him to get 3,000, but he'll get it next year," Orioles manager Ray Miller said.

But even though Ripken had been playing well, the pain in his back never subsided and he finally decided this week that surgery was his only option.

The surgery ended a bittersweet and emotional '99 season for Ripken, whose father, Cal, died of lung cancer in March. His father's death weighed heavily on Ripken, who said he had trouble concentrating in the ensuing weeks, especially at the ballpark where the senior Ripken coached and managed the Orioles.

"I had to meet a lot of professional and personal challenges," he said last week. "When you look back, will it be a season to remember? I guess in some ways it would be, but for the most part, it represents something of a loss as well as something of a gain."

Ripken voluntarily ended hi consecutive games streak on Sept. 20, 1998, asking Miller to take him out of the lineup 30 minutes before a game against New York. A two-time AL MVP, Ripken played in his 17th straight All-Star game this year.