Ripken Fans Pack Brick Roy Rogers To Meet Baseball Icon

BRICK, NJ — If you took one glance at Casey Pringle, there was no doubt where his baseball loyalties lie: Baseball cap, baseball jersey, infant son in a matching oneside, all in Baltimore Orioles orange. Around his neck hung two baseball game tickets.

"This was 2,131," Pringle said, "and this was his last game," referring to the reason people decked out in Baltimore Orioles hats and shirts had been waiting in a line that snaked around the side of the Roy Rogers in Brick on Monday evening.

Pringle and his wife, Meghan, and their three children — Addy, 4, Layla, 2, and 5-month-old Tyler — had driven down from Manasquan so Pringle could see Ripken, the Orioles' Hall-of-Fame shortstop who set a standard for longevity and work ethic when he set the record for consecutive Major League Baseball games played.

Pringle was 10 when his dad got tickets to see Ripken's historic night in September 1995 where he broke the consecutive games mark of beloved New York Yankee Lou Gehrig. The 22-minute standing ovation at Camden Yards as Ripken circled the stadium greeting fans remains one of baseball's most memorable events.

And Pringle, who had been a fan of the Orioles from the time he could walk, had some of the best seats in the house, he said.

"I was sitting next to Bruce Hornsby," Pringle said, his eyes lighting up at the memory. "He sang the national anthem at the game. that's how great the seats were." He turned over the baseball in his hand that Ripken had just signed for him, showing off another signature. "I got to meet (Hornsby) just recently. So now I have both." Ripken played in a world record 2,632 consecutive games before he voluntarily ended the streak in 1998.

Fans turned out for Ripken's appearance early on Monday, with some arriving at lunchtime to eat and wait. The stop is the first on marketing campaign that has a dual purpose: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Roy Rogers restaurants, which are based in Ripken's home state of Maryland, and promoting the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, which works to implement youth development programs and create parks that directly address the problems facing at-risk youth in distressed communities across the country.

Ripken was only supposed to sign autographs and meet fans for an hour, but he kept going for nearly 90 minutes, and even when he was forced to pull away because of an evening commitment in New York, it was apparent from the look on his face that he didn't really want to leave the 40 or so others waiting in line to see him.

"He's always been very accessible," said Rich Matlock of Brick, who had come with his wife and son, Richie, 9, to see Ripken. A Yankee fan, Matlock said he remembers seeing Ripken play at Memorial Stadium, the Orioles' home before Camden Yards opened in 1992. He also remembered seeing him play in the 1993 and 1994 All-Star games, and had Ripken sign balls from the games.

"I didn't remember that the 1994 game went 14 innings, but he did," Matlock said.

Matlock said it was the way Ripken played the game, "with so much class," that draws fans to him regardless of affiliation. "I'm a baseball fan. This was a chance to see a legend."

CJ Trammell, who is part of the marketing team for Plamondon Companies, which owns Roy Rogers, said they weren't certain what to expect from Ripken's appearance in New Jersey, were Orioles fans are few and far between in a sea of Yankees, Mets and Phillies fans.

"We planned for the busiest day we could possibly expect, and we got that," he said. He wasn't sure whether future appearances would include more time for autographs, given the turnout for the Brick stop. "It was great to see how many people came."

There was one person who was caught off-guard by the hub-bub: One man in his 20s, who says he comes in "all the time" to eat at the restaurant, which has been open since 2015, said he was surprised by the line.

It had gotten quiet by then, with some disappointed fans departing once Ripken left, and most diners finished with their meals.

"I didn't know what was going on. I just wanted to get some food," he said, declining to give his name as he headed out the door and toward the crosswalk at Brick Boulevard to go home. "It was crazy."

Crazy, or perhaps a simple case of respect.

"You are one of the most admired ballplayers ever," a man in his 70s said to Ripken. "There's nobody like you."

Photos by Karen Wall, Patch staff