Continuing a Heritage of Helping

In 2001, brothers Bill and Cal Ripken, Jr. Co-Founded the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation as a tribute to their father’s devotion to teaching life skills and lessons through sports.

Bill Ripken

On July 11, 1987, Bill began his 12-year major league career when he was called up by his hometown Baltimore Orioles. The day would make history as the team was managed by his father, Cal Ripken, Sr. and one of his teammates was shortstop and brother, Cal, Jr. It would mark the only time that a father managed two of his sons in the big leagues at the same time and would cement the Ripkens as one of the great baseball families in the game's rich history. Bill would go on to play with the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Detroit Tigers as well. Following his retirement from playing, Bill, along with his brother Cal, established Ripken Baseball and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, and he was inducted into the Maryland Sports Hall of Fame. 

Through Bill's work with the business and Foundation he earned a reputation as one of the game's finest teachers. He also helped produce several Ripken Baseball instructional products with his brother including the bestselling book Play Baseball The Ripken Way and an instructional DVD series entitled Baseball The Ripken Way. He recently wrote his own book, State of Play, The Old School Guide To New School Baseball which was published in February 2020. In 2009, Bill served as First Base Coach for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic.

Bill has been an integral part of the MLB Network since its beginning in 2009. He has been nominated for an Emmy Award three times in the Outstanding Sports Personality - Studio Analyst category, winning the coveted national honor in 2016. His regular "Bill's Blackboard" studio segments on the network are regarded as must-see TV for baseball fans everywhere. 

Bill resides in Maryland with his wife, Candace, they have four children Miranda, Anna, Reese, and Jack.
 

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 with the third highest voting percentage in history, Cal Ripken, Jr. is baseball’s all-time Iron Man. Now Cal is using the platform that baseball has provided him to help grow the game he loves worldwide. As owner of Ripken Baseball, he owns one minor league club and three world-class youth baseball facilities. In 2001, Cal and Bill Ripken established the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation in memory of their father.

Cal’s role as an ambassador for the game was taken to a new level in August 2007, when he was named American Public Diplomacy Envoy by the U.S. State Department. In this role, he has traveled worldwide teaching baseball to children and representing the United States. In 2008, Cal went to Nicaragua with former Orioles teammate Dennis Martinez, to visit with kids in Managua, Leon, and Granada. And in 2011, Cal and former Major League Baseball center fielder with the Baltimore Orioles, Brady Anderson, traveled to Japan as sports diplomats. While in Japan, Cal and Anderson led baseball and softball clinics in Tokyo, Takarazuka, and Kyoto. Currently, Cal has been named as a special senior advisor by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to grow youth playing baseball.

Over the years, Cal has also become a best-selling author. His past works include The Only Way I Know, Play Baseball The Ripken Way (with his brother Bill), Parenting Young Athletes The Ripken Way, Get in the Game: Eight Elements of Perseverance that Make the Difference, and The Longest Season, a children’s book. His first novel, Hothead, hit bookstores in 2011 and reached #5 on the New York Times best-seller list. Co-authored with Baltimore Sun columnist Kevin Cowherd, this book was the first in a series of baseball-themed novels for middle school kids. The second book in the series, Super-Sized Slugger, hit the shelves in March 2012 and the third installment in the series, Wild Pitch, was released in March 2013. Cal’s newest children’s book, Out at Home, was released in March 2015.

Cal resides in Annapolis with his wife, the Honorable Laura Ripken.