Cal Ripken Jr reveals he was peeved at Alex Rodriguez during last All-Star Game for pushing him to shortstop


The MLB All-Star Game in Seattle on Tuesday marked the first time the event was held in the city since 2001. In that event, baseball legends Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn both said goodbye to fans as they made their last appearances at the “Midsummer Classic.”

Ripken ended up hitting a home run and being named the game’s MVP. When he checked into the game at then-Safeco Field, fellow All-Star Alex Rodriguez moved over to third base and allowed Ripken to play his primary position of shortstop.

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A-Rod and Cal Ripken Jr in 2001

Cal Ripken Jr., right, asked to move to the shortstop position by Alex Rodriguez, left, during the first inning of the baseball All-Star game July 10, 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle. (JOHN MABANGLO/AFP via Getty Images)

On Tuesday night, before the All-Star Game began, Ripken and Rodriguez recalled the epic moment. The Baltimore Orioles star said he was pretty peeved at A-Rod for the move.

“Well, now that you brought it back up, I was kind of pissed at you, to be honest with you,” Ripken said on the broadcast before the game.

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Cal Ripken Jr in July 1995

Cal Ripken Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles, during the 1995 All Star Weekend on July 10, 1995 at The Ballpark at Arlington in Arlington, Texas. (Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

“… I hadn’t been over there in a while. I got this big old glove on my hand that they made that they called humongous. I go, ‘How am I going to go back over there and turn a double play?’”

Ripken said he was mic’d up at the time and had “to choose my words very carefully” as Rodriguez pushed him over.

The two-time MVP retired from the sport after the 2001 season. He was a 19-time All-Star and hit the mark in consecutive seasons from 1983, when he won his first MVP award, to 2001. He also broke Lou Gehrig’s ironman streak of most consecutive games played with 2,216.

Cal Ripjen Jr in Baltimore

Cal Ripken Jr., #8 of the Baltimore Orioles, poses for this portrait before the start of a Major League baseball game circa 1995 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

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The Orioles great finished with 431 home runs in his career while batting .276 with a .788 OPS.

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