Ripken asks youth about baseball’s steroid problems, By: Pete Iacobelli

06-30-06

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. —With the almost daily talk of steroids in baseball, Cal Ripken Jr. had a basic concern — did the kids think it was OK to use performance enhancing drugs?

So Ripken, a future Hall-of-Famer and now one of youth baseball’s leading champions, asks them whenever he had the chance.

‘‘I kind of wanted to get an idea if, do they think morally, it’s OK, which it’s not,’’ Ripken said Monday. ‘‘And my experience is that 99.999 percent of them come with the answer that it’s wrong.

‘‘So I’m really happy and satisfied with that, knowing when they make choices, they might not make the choice to go in that direction,’’ Ripken said.

Ripken and brother Billy, also a former major leaguer, were on hand to open The Ripken Experience-Myrtle Beach, a $23 million facility that’s as close to a dream complex as these middle-school players might ever had.

Intermixed between the seven existing fields — two more are under construction — are individual batting cages, pitching warmup areas and smaller fields for infield practice.

The facility will host weeklong tournaments for under 11, 12 and 13-year-old classes.

The idea was born from the Ripkens hoping to recreate what they felt walking into Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium for the first time. It generated a lifelong love of baseball they say they’ll never abandon.

‘‘We put a lot of effort into the fields because we want to ’Wow,’ the kids,’’ said Billy Ripken, who played second base alongside his older brother for several seasons in Baltimore.

The fields and walkways were packed with young players clinking bats and charging grounders. ‘‘The best part about walking around was to see the energy of the kids,’’ Cal Ripken said.

Many players and their parents were gawking as Ripken strolled past. The longtime Baltimore shortstop retired in 2001, along the way breaking baseball’s Ironman record of Lou Gehrig with 2,632 consecutive games played. Ripken was also the American League MVP in 1983 and 1991.

And he apparently still has some skills. Ripken was among several dignitaries throwing out a ceremonial first pitch and the infielder was paired up with 13-year-old Alberto Rosende of the Plantation Stars of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Ripken asked Rosende after nearly every pitch if the ball were a strike. Rosende kept telling him yes. ‘‘He’s got a pretty good curve ball,’’ Rosende said afterward.

There were 30 teams from states as far away as Wisconsin and Arizona competing during opening week. Teams are housed at nearby villas. The cost for the tournament is $675 per player and coach.

The Ripkens’ father, Cal Sr., was a longtime member of the Baltimore organization and became the first in major league history to manage two sons. So the Ripkens grew up steeped in the ‘‘

So it was shocking to Cal Jr. when the full force of steroid allegations hit the game. ‘‘We find out it was more problematic than we thought,’’ he said.

Ripken thinks the major leagues and the players’ association have good plans in place to stop future use. ‘‘So from my perspective, I’m satisfied the process will work,’’ Ripken said. ‘‘Unfortunately, I’m sure more stories will come out that have not been told and the sport will have to deal with that.’’

Ripken says plans are in the works for his youth complexes to include wellness discussions like making the right choices.

As his talks with young people proved to him, the game baseball will stand strong through the scandal. ‘‘I think the sport’s resilient, (which) you see the kids at this level and see the honest, pure competition they face,’’ he said