Ripken Belts 3,000th Hit

April 15, 2000 / 10:44 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Cal Ripken wanted to reach 3,000 hits at home. At least he got it in front of family and friends.

"I don't know the secrets of life," Ripken said. "But it sure means a lot more when you have a family to share it with."

Ripken's teammates were long gone by the time the Baltimore Orioles star finished countless autographs and answering numerous postgame questions at the Metrodome Saturday night.

The two cases of iced champagne sat untouched in the empty clubhouse.

Ripken celebrated instead with his wife, Kelly, and their two children, Rachel, 10, and Ryan, 6, who traveled to Minnesota for the weekend series.

"It was a nice, private moment with my small family," Ripken said Sunday. "We went out to eat. One of my kids fell asleep at the restaurant. I guess they were drained, too."

Ripken was still weary on Sunday, so manager Mike Hargrove gave him the day off.

"I felt exhausted this morning, mentally," Ripken said after signing autographs for more than an hour. "I felt good, I felt relieved, all those things.

"I haven't really reflected on the 3,000 hits. I never played the game for the big, round numbers. They've seemed to accumulate by showing up every day."

Ripken, already renowned for playing a record 2,632 straight games, singled three times in Baltimore's 6-4 victory over the Twins on Saturday night. His historic hit came in the seventh, when he lined a high fastball up the middle off reliever Hector Carrasco.

"I was hoping it would just be a clean hit," Ripken said. "No matter where it was."

When Ripken rounded the bag, the weight of the chase off his shoulders at long last, the first one to greet him was Orioles first-base coach and former teammate Eddie Murray, who got his 3,000th hit at the same stadium in 1995 while playing for Cleveland.

"To meet Eddie at first base, that was a special moment," Ripken said. "He said, `Way to go. Welcome to the club.'"

The 39-year-old Ripken is the 24th member.

Ripken said his father, Cal Sr., who died last year, and Murray were the most influential men in his career, which has included 17 All-Star games, two MVP awards and a World Series title.

"My dad told me the words," Ripken said. "Eddie showed me the way."

Another member of the 3,000-hit club, Twins coach Paul Molitor, congratulated him after a postgame news conference where Ripken's son playfully tussled his father's graying crew cut.

Molitor said he was secretly rooting for Ripken.

"Certain players, because of the way they handle themselves, seeto transcend whatever uniform they happen to be wearing," Molitor said.

Twins manager Tom Kelly thought so, too.

"I didn't like seeing it against us, especially in a crucial part of the game," Kelly said. "But you've got to admire his career. It's an honor to be able to say that I witnessed the hit."

Ripken started the season in a 6-for-35 slump, stoked by a bad back and butterflies, and it was beginning to look as though he wouldn't reach the milestone until the Orioles returned to Camden Yards on Monday for a three-game series against Tampa Bay.

He entered the series four hits shy of the mark, so he flew his wife and two children to Minneapolis just in case.

"So, I guess the trip was worth it, huh?" his wife said as she hugged him Saturday night.

Ripken, who grew up near Baltimore, said that while he was disappointed he didn't get to reach the milestone back home, he was glad that his kids got to see it.

"It's great. Just the mere fact that you share something with them goes a long way," he said. "Hopefully, they'll grow up and love something as much."

Ripken's son rooted wildly after his father's every hit Saturday night before hanging around his father's neck at the postgame news conference and playfully sticking rabbit ears behind his head, oblivious to the cameras.

"He was excited. He has a passion for baseball," Ripken said. "I don't know if it's genetic, but I've had that inside of me for as long as I can remember."