In the 20th round of baseball’s amateur draft, the Baltimore Orioles chose a rangy high school senior who happens to play a little basketball.
With a last name like Ripken, why wouldn’t they?
The Orioles chose Ryan Ripken, a Gilman High School player and the son of their Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. This season, Ryan Ripken hit .377 with 25 RBI and 20 runs scored; he was 4-1 with a 2.30 ERA as a pitcher.
He intends to play for South Carolina, the two-time defending collegiate champion, and, as the 612th pick, there’s a chance he’ll never play for the Orioles.
Still, it makes for a nice story, given that he’s the nephew of another former Oriole, Billy Ripken, and the grandson of a former Orioles manager, Cal Ripken Sr.