Byline: Steve Campbell
COOPERSTOWN Cal Ripken is about to go where no major-league player has gone before, and he admittedly is running scared.
Not by the prospect of waking up too sick to get out of bed, let alone take his customary spot at shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles; not by the possibility of tearing up a knee or an ankle with one misstep before he can make history; not by visions of a serious accident driving his daughter to school or heading to the ballpark; not by any of the million things that could cause a man to miss one just one day of work.
No, what scares Ripken is confronting the man whose record for endurance he will break tonight. What scares Ripken, what causes him to retreat, is anything having to do with Lou Gehrig. No offense, but Ripken doesn't want to learn about Gehrig, to get to know him. Not now.
People assume just the opposite. They give him books about Gehrig, photos of Gehrig, baseball cards of Gehrig, newspaper clippings about Gehrig, magazine stories about Gehrig.
They mean well, so Ripken accepts the offerings politely. Then he sets them aside in a box.
``As a baseball fan, I'm curious about every baseball player but Lou Gehrig,'' Ripken said. ``I'm a little fearful of …
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