Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League will include National Champion Maryland Orioles

February 7, 2005

Several of Maryland’s top amateur baseball teams announced today that they have joined together to establish the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. The teams were given approval to honor Cal Ripken, Sr. through an agreement with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.

The Maryland-based collegiate wooden bat league will be comprised of six teams: Bethesda Big Train, College Park Maryland Bombers, Maryland Redbirds, Rockville Express, Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts, and Youse's Maryland Orioles.

The teams will play a 40-game regular season starting on Friday, June 10 with the Maryland Orioles visiting the Big Train at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda. The league All-Star game will be played on Monday, July 18 at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, MD. League playoffs will be held August 4-9, alternating between Blair Stadium in Silver Spring, MD and Povich Field.

''Dad was always happiest when he was in uniform and on the baseball field,'' said Bill Ripken on behalf of the Ripken family. ''He spent the better part of his life dedicating himself to helping young baseball players develop and reach their potential, so it is a natural fit for his name to be associated with a league in which the players are striving to get to the next level.''

''We are very pleased and proud to be able to honor Cal Ripken, Sr., one of the nation’s and state of Maryland’s most admired baseball coaches,'' said league commissioner William Spencer. ''We are working to build a strong community-based league. Baseball fans across the state are in for a great treat – summer nights of family fun with baseball at its most genuine at ballparks right near home.'' Big leaguers like Mark Teixeira (Texas Rangers) and Gavin Floyd (Philadelphia Phillies) have played for wooden bat summer teams in Maryland in recent years prior to signing professional contracts.

The new league will be open to college eligible players 22 years old and under. The teams will recruit top local players and will recruit nationally. The teams will house players coming from out of the area with host families for the two-month season. All six teams are sponsored by community-based not-for-profit organizations.

The Bombers, Orioles, and Redbirds played in the Eddie Brooks Division of the Maryland State Baseball Association, a Baltimore area wooden bat league, in the 2004 season. The Big Train and Thunderbolts previously played in the Washington-based Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League. The Rockville Express will begin its first year of operations in 2005. The Maryland Orioles won the All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) championship in 2004 and 2003. The Bethesda Big Train won the Griffith League championship in 2004.

The league hopes to expand to additional communities throughout Maryland in future years. In 2005, the six teams will play home games at these ballparks: Bachman Field, Glen Burnie, MD (Youse's Maryland Orioles), Blair Stadium, Silver Spring, MD (Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts), Knights Field at Montgomery College, Rockville, MD (Rockville Express), Shipley Field at University of Maryland, College Park, MD (College Park Maryland Bombers), Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, MD (Bethesda Big Train), and Towson University in Towson, MD (Maryland Redbirds).

Cal Ripken, Sr. signed his first professional contract in 1957. Over the next 37 years, he served as player, coach, and manager within the Baltimore Orioles’ organization, including the 1988 season when he managed his sons Cal, Jr. and Bill. Cal, Sr.’s passion for teaching the craft of baseball ran deep and was passed on to his children. He died in 1999. The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation was founded in 2001 by the Ripken family.

Former Major Leaguer Billy Ripken poses with Cal Ripken, Sr. League Commissioner Bill Spencer of Baltimore.