Posts Tagged ‘Ripken’

Cal Ripken Wants To Sell You Beef Jerky

In the style of SI, this weeks sign of the apocalypse…Cal Ripken is selling beef jerky. Now, don’t get me wrong…I love Cal and I love beef jerky but isn’t this a product that’s best left to Jeff Foxworthy?

This isn’t the first time that Cal’s put his name on a questionable product, could Cal interest you in a wool duvet?

This should tell you how low a job in the front office with the Orioles ranks, somewhere below jerky and wool and just above unemployment.

Cheers and Hail

Hello Fatpickled!

Fatpickle’s note: Please welcome JT as a regular contributor to Fatpickled.

Hello, my name is Jason Anton and I am an Orioles fan, Redskins fan, Terps fan….and Miami Heat fan…and I am the newest contributor to the Fatpickled blog! Now before you notice my Miami Heat comment and ostracize me, cast me aside, and mail me the severed head of a random animal please hear me out and understand where I’m coming from.

I grew up in Ocean City, Maryland. A place familiar to many mid-Atlantic regionals as an easy vacation spot and middle ground for ‘Skins, Steelers, Eagles, 76er’s, Wizards, Phillies, and Orioles fans considering it’s pretty close to Philly, DC, and Baltimore (and for some reason there are Steelers fans in EVERY city on the planet…and they always come complete with their own bar of some kind. In OC it’s the Salty Dog Saloon). This alone gives me the right to be an Orioles fan and Redskins fan (the Heat justification will come) but that’s not all that ties me to these teams and vindicates my fandom! See I was born in 1983. Not only did the Redskins win the Super Bowl in ’83 (for the ’82 season) with a heroic performance from Riggins, but the Orioles won the World Series AND Cal Ripken Jr. won the AL MVP award that year.

Speaking of the ‘Skins ’82 season Super Bowl victory, I was there! Now I didn’t have great seats, and I couldn’t actually see the game because my eye sockets hadn’t fully developed yet, but I did eat the nachos…if you follow me. I was born in June. My parents got me a pin to commemorate my attendance that I still have.

Now, my geographic justification and my chronological justification should be enough to qualify me as a blogger on the subject of ‘Skins and O’s. I have been a fan, since birth, of both teams. One of my earliest memories is meeting Boog Powell and it inspired me to be a sub-par 1st baseman throughout my little league career until it was discovered that I threw a wicked side-armed fastball (and then I became a sub-par pitcher). Thanksgiving for my family has always consisted of 2 traditions outside of the food: 1-We watch the original Star Wars trilogy 2-We root for whomever isn’t the Cowboys in the Thanksgiving Day game no matter who it is. I am a diehard lifelong fan and that’s all I bring to the table.

I plan on delivering to you, the loyal Fatpickled RSS subscribers, my insights into all things O’s and ‘Skins. Everything from the great potential of the Orioles outfielders, to how comfortable my wife finds the sweatpants she bought off of Chris Cooley’s website. I don’t do “investigative reporting” because I’m not a fan of “facts.” It’s a lot easier to just make everything up and I think everyone will have a lot more fun that way…just kidding.

Alright this post is getting long so I’ll wrap up. I lived in Florida for a couple of years and that’s where I became a Heat fan. They won the Championship while I was down there and I got swept up in the fever of it all. Also, all anyone ever talks about in Florida is the Gators and ‘Nols. To which I could ever say is: FEAR THE TURTLE! and HAIL!

Here is a picture of my daughter in a LaRon Landry jersey:

Favorite All-Time Baseball Card: Bill Ripken 89 Fleer

This is one in a series of posts that I am writing about my favorite things. What’s your favorite things? Tell me in the comments section or email me from the main page of the site.

I was 14 years old when I heard about the Bill Ripken error card. Was it real, was it an urban legend? Word on the street was there was a Bill Ripken card out there that had a vulgar word written on it. There was no Internet back then to “google” it. There was no EBay back then to purchase it. All you could do was try to find the card in your local card shop (no chance,) or try to find a picture of it in Beckett magazine (if you could find one.)

I opened many Fleer packs that summer, even got a couple Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards…but no B Rip F&*k Face cards. None to be found at Pete’s Card Shop, none at Grandpaw’s Attic (the 2 card shops in my hometown in 89.) But, what would I do if I found one anyway? I could only look… at it’s height the card was going for $500 bucks.

I eventually purchased the card in 2006 for $7 dollars. It’s a mint condition card that I had Billy sign. Eventually, Fleer put out 12 different 1989 Bill Ripken cards, but 1 stood out the most. The mystery surrounding the card and how F&%k Face got on the handle was divulged in this interview with Bill. Yes, on the 20th anniversary of this card, it’s still the best out there. It’s the error card of all error cards. You can have your cards with pieces of uniforms, bats, and bases…give me F&*k Face.

Apologies to Cal’s rookie card, Eddie Murray’s rookie card, and all my signed Nick Markakis cards.

Cheers and Hail

Six Degrees, A Vacation, And A Website

Team USA Can’t Lose

Not with Bill Ripken coaching. This spring Ripken will be where he was born to be, in a dugout surrounded by Major League ballplayers. Ripken was chosen by Manager Davey Johnson to be one of his assistant coaches for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

Team USA Can’t Lose

Not with Bill Ripken coaching. This spring Ripken will be where he was born to be, in a dugout surrounded by Major League ballplayers. Ripken was chosen by Manager Davey Johnson to be one of his assistant coaches for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.