Ripken in the Minors.com

Welcome to Ripkenintheminors.com, where Cal is always in the Minors! This site was developed in an effort to provide Ripken fans and collectors with information on Cal's baseball cards produced while in the Minor Leagues. From Bluefield to Rochester, this is your minor league home for all things Cal Ripken, Jr. On this site you will find information about the 4 minor league sets that produced a card of Cal Ripken, Jr.:

1) 1980 WBTV Charlotte Orioles Team Issue (Blue)

2) 1980 Charlotte Orioles Police Issue (Orange)

3) 1981 TCMA Rochester Red Wings

4) 1981 WTF Rochester Red Wings

Information can be very tough to find on these team sets. With that being said, this site was developed in an effort to provide information received from other Ripken collectors and from personal experiences and research. It is our hope that visitors to this site will also pass on any information they have to be shared with fellow collectors.

In addition to information about Cal's minor league cards, you will receive information on how to differentiate between an authentic and counterfeit 1980 WBTV Charlotte O's Ripken and 1981 WTF Rochester Ripken. You will also find information on past sales of minor league memorabilia related to Cal's stops in Bluefield, Miami, Charlotte and Rochester.

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On May 3, 2009, Lot 1232 concluded for Cal Ripken Jr's 1981 Rochester Red Wings road uniform. The final bid was in the amount of $9,000. Below is the item description. For more information about REA, please visit http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/index.html

Rare and historically significant 1981 Rochester Red Wings road jersey worn by Cal Ripken Jr. during his final season in the minor leagues. Graded A10 by MEARS. While we cannot be certain, we believe this may be the earliest surviving Cal Ripken Jr. professional baseball jersey known to exist, as we have never seen or heard of an earlier example. If it's not, it's close! (Ripken only played four years in the minor leagues.) This jersey originates from a gentleman named Phil Tellgren, a longtime employee of the Rochester Red Wings, who was the team's visiting clubhouse manager in 1981. Accompanying the jersey is a letter from Tellgren detailing the jersey's history, as well as a separate one-page letter from the Rochester Red Wings, typed on official team stationery and signed by Wendy Morrissette, Director of Merchandising, confirming the fact that Tellgren "purchased an authentic Cal Ripken Rochester Red Wings Jersey during the 1981 season." In addition to the two letters, Tellgren has provided numerous other materials, including team photos, media guides, and copies of his league and press passes that corroborate his years of employment with the Red Wings.

The gray knit jersey is lettered "Rochester" across the front and features the number "5" (Ripken's uniform number while with Rochester) on both the left breast and the reverse. All letters and numbers are appliquéd in blue on white tackle twill. Both a "Wilson 42" label and a "Jim Dalberth Sporting Goods" tag (local Rochester retailer) appear in the collar. The jersey is all original, with no alterations, and, as stated by MEARS in its accompanying letter, "exhibits optimal, perfect game wear." Furthermore, MEARS states that the jersey style has been photo matched to a 1981 minor-league baseball card of Cal Ripken Jr. picturing him as a member of the Rochester Red Wings. Included with the jersey are a pair of matching gray knit pants that were also obtained (at a later date) from Tellgren, and which are accompanied by a separate notarized letter from him. Located in the waistband of the pants are a "79" year tag, a "Wilson 34" label and a "Jim Dalberth Sporting Goods" tag. As noted in Tellgren's letter, these pants were issued in 1979, but as is the practice in the minor leagues, the pants were also used in subsequent seasons. Written in black laundry pen on the interior pocket is "Rip 5" along with two other crossed out numbers (jersey numbers of players who previously wore the pants; supporting the fact that these pants were worn by different players over the course of several seasons). The pants are all original, with no alterations, and display moderate wear, including light soiling on both legs. Tellgren states in his letter that players normally received three pairs of pants during the season, two for game use and one for batting practice. The batting practice pants were always the oldest and were normally heavily worn with many team repairs. The fact the offered pants are in good condition indicates that they were almost certainly a pair of Ripken's gamers during the 1981 season.

1981 was Ripken's only season with the Rochester Red Wings, Baltimore's Triple-A affiliate. Although he was just three years removed from high school, Ripken was the Orioles' number-one prospect and it did not take him long to impress Red Wings manager Doc Edwards. On April 21, following a game in which Ripken hit three home runs, Edwards returned to his office and sent a note to the Orioles brass. It simply read "Can't miss." Edwards obviously knew talent, as Ripken led the team in nearly every offensive category that summer including batting average (.288), home runs (23), and RBI (75). In a foreshadowing of things to come, Ripken also played in all 114 games for the Red Wings before being called up to the Orioles on August 8th. The memory of that day remains one of Ripken's most vivid memories. As he later recalled, "It was 2 a.m., and we'd just gotten off the bus from a game in Syracuse. Doc called me into his office and said, 'You're going up.' I said, See you later.'" When asked about that moment, years later, Edwards remembered it exactly as Ripken had, adding, "I knew he wouldn't be back." Edwards, of course, was right, as Ripken embarked on one of the greatest Major League careers in baseball history. A perennial All-Star for twenty-one seasons with the Orioles, Ripken is best remembered today for breaking in 1995 Lou Gehrig's long-standing record of consecutive games played. He is also one of only 27 players to have reached the 3,000 hit plateau and his 431 lifetime home runs ranks him among the top 50 all-time. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007 in his first year of eligibility. The jersey is graded A10 by MEARS. This is the only Cal Ripken Jr. minor league jersey and one of only ten gradable Cal Ripken Jr. jerseys listed in the MEARS census. It is also one of only four to merit a grade of A10. This is both an exceptional and extremely historic jersey dating from Ripken's final minor league season. LOA from Troy Kinunen/MEARS. Reserve $2,000. Estimate (open).

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2/22/09

Robert "Cat" Whitfield was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 21st round of the 1977 amateur entry draft and would play in the O’s Minor League system from 1978-1983. In the 1980 Spring Training, Cat beat out Cal Ripken, Jr., for the everyday starting shortstop position with the AA Charlotte O's. During the 1980 Southern League Championship campaign, Cat would play 122 games, all at shortstop. It would not be until Cat got married during the 1980 season that Cal Ripken, Jr., would see action at shortstop. On August 15, 1980, Cat handled 16 chances at shortstop without an error. Injuries would limit Cat to 96 games over the 1981-1983 seasons in Charlotte.

Growing up, Cat pitched three no hitters in succession in Babe Ruth competition. He graduated in 1974 from Charleroi (PA) High School and earned three Baseball Letters before attending Garret Community College in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Cat graduated from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia, with a BS in Health & Physical Education. Cat would be chosen to the West Virginian Collegiate Athletic Conference All Star Team. In 2002, Cat became the first baseball player to be inducted in Alderson-Broaddus College Sports Hall of Fame. Cat also has the distinction of being a teammate to two different athletes in 2 professional sports Halls of Fame. In addition to playing baseball with Cal Ripken, Jr., Cat played American Legion baseball with Joe Montana.

RITM is pleased to announce that Cat Whitfield has agreed to a Question and Answer session. This session will take place in February/March 2009. The interview will be posted on www.ripkenintheminors.com once it has been completed. RITM thanks Cat for his willingness to share his recollections. A special thank you also goes out to Bill Haelig for his assistance in arranging this interview.

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February 15, 2009

In the winter of 2006, Freed-Hardeman University (Henderson, TN) was gracious enough to offer press credentials to ripkenintheminors.com for their annual benefit dinner featuring Cal Ripken, Jr.  The event was chronicled in an entry on the PSA Message Board:

 http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=554556&highlight_key=y&keyword1=hero

Although the media session was short, RITM did have the great pleasure of speaking with Cal about the site and inquired about the possibility of one day being able to ask him a few questions about his minor league days.  The timing was not the best considering the fact that Cal had an upcoming appointment with the Hall of Fame. It would not be long afterwards that Cal would be announced as a goodwill ambassador for the United States.

Those who follow Cal understand that he isn’t known for taking days off. With that being said, timing becomes everything. This past January, RITM was introduced to John Maroon, President of Maroon PR, who handles all public interview requests regarding Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ripken Baseball. This introduction was arranged by Glenn Valis of Ripken Baseball. Due to the scheduling restraints John offered the opportunity to correspond with Cal through the e-mail. Taking Cal’s schedule in consideration, a four part question was forwarded to Cal through Maroon PR:

"What was your favorite memory and biggest challenge/obstacle at each of your minor league stops?"

On February 14, Cal’s four part response was returned! RITM thanks Cal Ripken, Jr., for his willingness to take a few moments to offer his recollections on his minor league days from 1978-1981. In addition, thank you to Glenn Valis of Ripken Baseball and John Maroon of Maroon PR for their help in making this happen. You can read Cal's responses at the following link: http://www.ripkenintheminors.com/intcalripkenjr.htm 

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 December 9, 2008

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August 25, 2008

On May 18, 2007, RITM reported that PSA had slabbed a counterfeit 1981 WTF Rochester Red Wings card #1 of Cal Ripken, Jr. as authentic. In the process of writing the article, a second counterfeit slabbed authentic by PSA was discovered. Although a small sample size at the time, the discovery confirmed that counterfeits made up 8.6% of the total PSA 9 population of this card as of May 2007.

Although PSA reimbursed the 2 collectors for the fake Ripken cards, minor league collectors of Cal couldn’t help but wonder how much of the PSA population was polluted. Three months later, new concerns came after RITM interviewed Steve Kozel, who produced the cards in 1981 under the name WTF Company. In the interview, Kozel expressed concerns over the legitimacy of the PSA 10.

“It looked too good. Remember I used shrink wrap on every set. Ripken was the first card in the pack. No way any 10s are going to come from those. The set was printed at a little place with old equipment. By the time someone made me aware of it the auction was over. I never found out who won it. It blows my mind that someone counterfeited my set.” (Source: http://www.ripkenintheminors.com/intstevekozel.htm)

Over the weekend of August 22, 2008, Don Allen, Jr., a collector of Ripken memorabilia, contacted RITM with concerns over the legitimacy of a 1981 WTF Rochester Red Wings card #1 of Cal Ripken, Jr. In the process of confirming the authenticity of his card, a discussion took place over the concerns of the possibility of the PSA 10 being a fake. Fortunately for the collecting community, Don has been able to put a year old concern to rest. In the process of archiving past sales of Ripken memorabilia, Don archived the sale and image of the PSA 10 Ripken. In an auction that included 33 bids the card sold at auction (Ebay 1011172701) for $4,025 on October 7, 2001.

Sleep well, PSA (and fellow collectors); the card appears to be authentic.

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January 21, 2008

In a hobby that tends to have more questions than answers, PSA pledged today to do its part in clearing the air on 1980 Charlotte O’s minor league trading cards.

Up until today, the PSA flips contained two inaccuracies, one on each of the WBTV and Charlotte Police slabs. The inaccuracy involving the 1980 WBTV blue bordered set involved the slab posting card numbers. In all reality, there is no official checklist. We know this for two reasons: First, seven cards in the set do not have a number on the back of the card (O's Logo Header, Team Card, The Pepper Girls, Marshall Hester, Doc Cole, Minnie Mendoza and Jimmy Williams). Second, there are three cards in the 28 card set that have numbers higher than 28 (#30 Don Welchel, #31 Will George, & #32 Edwin Neal).

The inaccuracy on the Charlotte Police slabs could be found in the words, TEAM ISSUE. According to an insert from the 1980 Charlotte O’s program, "every child 14 & under who enters with a paying adult gets a free set of cards" on the night of May 30, 1980. This insert also confirms that the set given out that night was the WBTV set. The 1980 Charlotte Police set is a parallel of the WBTV team issued set that was given away at the park in the summer of 1980 with a couple of exceptions: First, the orange set contained 3 fewer cards than the blue set (28-25). Second, and most significant, was how the orange set was distributed. While the blue WBTV set would be given away as a complete set at Crockett Park, the orange set, which was produced in much smaller quantities, would be given out one or two cards at a time by officers of the Charlotte Police Department. It is worth noting that sources inside the Charlotte O’s organization have gone on record as saying that the Charlotte Police cards were never distributed inside Crockett Park.

Instrumental in the changes taking place was Susan Blanco of the PSA Research Department, who was given the assignment from PSA President Joe Orlando. In a message that contained the new labels for the 1980 Charlotte issues, Susan reiterated that PSA "understands the importance of this" and that PSA wants "to give you the best service that we can provide". The attention to detail will be welcomed. With this change, PSA will be the only third party grading service of the "big three" (SGC, BGS) that currently contains accurate information on the slabs of both 1980 issues.

Thank you for visiting our site! If you have any additional information, or if you have a question, please feel free to send an e-mail at any time to ripkenintheminors@hotmail.com. Have a great day!

 visitors since October 19, 2006