"Cal was born with baseball sense, " said Rex Barney, the late public address announcer for the Baltimore Orioles, who had known Cal Ripken, Jr., since the Baltimore Orioles' veteran was eight years old. This two-time winner of the American League's Most Valuable Player award and the Gold Glove award has turned a lifelong study of baseball into a staggeringly successful career, with a playing streak of consecutive games surpassing that of Lou Gehrig.