Report; Cal Ripken Jr. Is Honored at DCA
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Cynthia Harriss hugs Cal
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Cynthia Harriss
Well, thank you Gary. And I want to thank you, Cal. And on behalf of all of your friends here at the Disneyland Resort we’re just thrilled to be here today to celebrate your extraordinary career and extraordinary life. As we prepared for this celebration today we discovered that your life story sounds very much like a Disney fairy tale. Once upon a time a young boy decides to go into the family business which, oh by the way, happens to be major league baseball. He gets drafted by his hometown team goes on to play with his very own father and brother. He remains with that single team for 21 years. And in addition to becoming a baseball hero he meets the beautiful princess and raises the wonderful family. Well this weekend at Edison International Field, baseball fans in Southern California will have three more games to witness that final touch to the Cal Ripken Jr fairy tale, a happy ending. And to ensure that your career visit to Anaheim is a memorable one, Mickey and I would now like to present you with a very special gift.

Cal on behalf of your fans at the Disneyland Resort it is our pleasure to present you with one-of-a-kind piece of art that we had commissioned especially for you by one of our very own Disney artist, Scott Westmoreland.

And now baseball fans of all ages, it is my honor to introduce the man of the hour, Number 8 for the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr.

Cal receives his piece of art before the "ifornia" has magically disappeared
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Cal Ripken
Thank you. Thank you very much. Ah, wow! My first trip to Southern California included a trip over to Disneyland. And I guess it is only fitting that on my last trip to Southern California I spend my time out here. Rex Hudler reminded me about the lap around the stadium in 1995. I did get quite a few high fives running around the ballpark. Someone did fall out of the stands and I had to wait to give them a high five. I don’t think his arm was broken when I did it though. Then it just dawned on me, I’ve hit a few home runs, contributed some runs, I’ve got some big hits, I made all those high fives out there on the night of the celebration, but I don’t think my wife ever gave me a high five. Until I told her I was coming here today. She was so overjoyed she jumped up. That’s my memorable high five. I thought I’d share that with you. I won’t go any further than that.

Oh, wow. It ... has been one fabulous storybook career. I’ve always grown up to be an Oriole. I’ve lived around Baltimore. I kept my fingers crossed that I’d be drafted and then after you get drafted you keep your fingers crossed that you can make it. And then you can have a long career and just enjoy baseball. This is my 21st year so I think I’ve got a long career and its time for me to move on and do something else. I have a little baseball left in me. I hope you come out and see the games in Anaheim. I’ve been to a few cities. Let’s see Chicago, Atlanta, Florida and I just came from Texas and the celebrations of baseball and the celebrations of my last game there have been overwhelming. Somehow I managed to hit a home run in the last game of those series. Don’t know if I’ll be able to do it this time or not. But I’ll certainly swing for the fences though. I think I ran out of things to say up here. I’d like to go around and ride some rides today, save my energy for the game. But I’d like to thank Disney. It’s a terrific celebration. It’s a terrific park. Thank you. Thank you, Mickey. I’d just like to say thanks for all your support. Thanks again.