Baseball Legend Cal Ripken, Jr., to Speak at SMU Athletic Forum Luncheon
| February 25, 2003 |
Contact: Chris Walker (214)768-2883 SMU Athletic Forum |
DALLAS, TEXAS - The SMU Athletic Forum welcomes baseball iron man Cal Ripken, Jr., to Dallas at noon on Monday, March 3, for the third event of its 14th season. Ripken is the featured speaker at The Texas Rangers Luncheon taking place in the Regency Ballroom of The Fairmont Hotel.
Ripken, who retired from the Baltimore Orioles at the conclusion of the 2001 season after a 21-year big league career, set new standards for his position with a combination of power at the plate and superlative defensive play. He holds the shortstop career home run record with 345 and, in 1990, established season records for his position in both fielding percentage (.996) and fewest errors (3). He was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 1982, the AL Most Valuable Player in 1983, and 1991 and was a 19-time All-Star. He also led the Orioles to the 1983 World Series championship.
Ripken became baseball's "Iron Man" on Sept. 6, 1995, when he surpassed Lou Gehrig's Major League record of 2,130 consecutive games played. Ripken added 502 games to the streak to push it to 2,632 games.
The final luncheon of this season's SMU Athletic Forum lineup features Sugar Ray Leonard at The Guaranty Bank Luncheon on April 8, 2003. All luncheons begin at noon with Scott Murray, Sports Director of NBC 5, as Master of Ceremonies. The SMU Athletic Forum also annually produces the Doak Walker Award, the National College Running Back Award, which was presented this year to Larry Johnson of Penn State, along with the PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award, which was presented to Earl Campbell.