Título: Cal Ripken Jr.
Seção: Minor league career
Background: Ripken was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, the son of Violet "Vi" Ripken (nee Roberta) and Cal Ripken Sr. He has German, English, and Irish ancestry. Though the Ripkens called Aberdeen, Maryland, their home, they were often on the move because of Cal Sr.'s coaching duties with the Baltimore Orioles organization. Cal Sr., in fact, was in Topeka, Kansas with one of his teams when his son was born.

Conteúdo: Ripken was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the second round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft 48th overall. Despite a story written by SABR, Ripken was selected with the Orioles' predetermined draft pick, not through a forfeited pick from the Boston Red Sox after the Sox selected Dick Drago in the 1977 re-entry draft. The Orioles would select catcher Cecil Whitehead with the pick they received from Boston two picks after Ripken. On deciding to go straight from high school to the professional level, he said, "When the colleges started coming around, Dad and I talked about mostly whether I was going to pursue a career in baseball. If I had the ability, the feeling was to get on with it, and if it didn't work out, start over again in college at 25 or 26." Ripken played both pitcher and shortstop in high school; in fact, the Orioles were the only team not just interested in his pitching ability. The Orioles decided to start him playing shortstop in the minor leagues, deciding it would be easier for him to transition back to pitching if necessary than it would be for him to start hitting again.  To begin Ripken's minor league career, the Orioles assigned him to the Bluefield Orioles of the rookie Appalachian League. He batted .264 with 63 hits, 0 home run, and 24 RBIs, failing to make the league's all-rookie team. In 1979, Ripken moved up to the Single-A Miami Orioles of the Florida State League. Shortly into the season, Miami manager Lance Nichols decided to move Ripken

user: How did he do in the minor league?

assistant: Ripken was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the second round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft 48th overall.

user: How did his team perform?

assistant: He batted .264 with 63 hits, 0 home run, and 24 RBIs, failing to make the league's all-rookie team.

user: What did he do after failing to make the rookie team

assistant: In 1979, Ripken moved up to the Single-A Miami Orioles of the Florida State League.

user: How did he perform in the florida state league?

assistant: saying, "Cal was having some problems at short, so naturally I decided to shift him to third ... Third base was a perfect fit for Cal and our team.

user: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

assistant: On July 2, Ripken hit his first professional home run, a game-winner in the 12th inning against Gary Abone of the West Palm Beach Expos.

user: Did he make any other homeruns

assistant: Ripken batted .303, hit five home runs, led the league with 28 doubles, and had 54 RBIs while playing in all 105 of Miami's games.

user: What some of his other scores?

assistant: He also had 28 doubles, 78 RBIs, and a .492 slugging percentage.

user: Any other records?

assistant: Ripken did not disappoint. At season's end, he had 25 home runs, besting the previous record by four.