IN: Hasan ibn Ali ibn Muhammad (c. 846 - 874) was the 11th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam, after his father Ali al-Hadi. He was also called Abu Muhammad and Ibn al-Ridha. Because Samarra, the city where he lived, was a garrison town, he is generally known as al-Askari (Askar is the word for military in Arabic). Al-Askari married Narjis Khatun and was kept under house arrest or in prison for most of his life, until, according to some Shia sources, he was poisoned at the age of 28 on the orders of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tamid and was buried in Samarra.

Hasan al-Askari was born during a period when his father Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam, was suspected of being involved in a conspiracy against the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. There is doubt as to whether al-Askari was born in Medina or Samarra. According to authentic shia hadith he was born in Medina on the 8th of Rabiul Akhar 232 Hijri (4 December 846 AD) and died in Samarrah Iraq on the 8th of Rabiul Awwal 260 Hijri (4 January 874) aged 28. The period of his imamate was 6 years. He was taken along with his family to Samarra in the year 230, 231 or 232 A.H., and was kept there under house arrest. In Samarra, al-Askari spent most of his time reading the Quran and the Sharia. According to Donaldson, al-Askari must also have studied languages, for in later years it was known that he could speak Hindi with the pilgrims from India, Turkish with the Turks, and Persian with the Persians. According to Shia accounts, however, it is part of the divine knowledge given to all Imams to be able to speak all human languages. It is said that even as a child, al-Askari was endowed with divine knowledge. One day a man passed by him, and saw that he was crying. The man told him he would buy a toy that he might play with. "No!" said al-Askari, "We have not been created for play." The man was amazed at this answer and said, "Then, what for have we been created?" "For knowledge and worship." answered the child. The man said "Where have you got this from?" Al-Askari said, "From the saying of God, Did you then think that We had created you in vain." The man was confused, so he said, "What has happened to you while you are guiltless, little child?" al-Askari said, "Be away from me! I have seen my mother set fire to big pieces of firewood, but fire is not lit except with small pieces, and I fear that I shall be from the small pieces of the firewood of the Hell." Al-Askari's mother, as in the case of the majority of The Twelve Imams, was a slave girl who was honoured after bearing children with the title Umm walad (mother of offspring). Her given name was Hadith, though some say she was called Susan, Ghazala, Salil, or Haribta. Al-Askari had other brothers, and among them was Ja'far who was also known as Ja'far al-Zaki or Jaffar-us-Sani. His other brother was Husayn, and together he and al-Askari were known as "as-Sibtayn", after their two grandfathers Hasan and Husayn, who were also called as-Sibtayn.

What did the man ask him?

OUT: "What has happened to you while you are guiltless, little child?" al-Askari said, "Be away from me! I have seen my

IN: 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.

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 to third base, 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." 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. 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. He was named an All-Star after the season. His performance earned him a brief call-up to the Charlotte Orioles of the Double-A Southern League; Ripken batted .180 in a month with them, albeit with three home runs. Ripken began 1980 with Charlotte. His manager at Charlotte, Jimmy Williams, predicted him to set the team home run record, and Ripken did not disappoint. At season's end, he had 25 home runs, besting the previous record by four. He also had 28 doubles, 78 RBIs, and a .492 slugging percentage. Ripken was named an All-Star while helping Charlotte win the Southern League championship. In 1981, Ripken was added to Baltimore's 40-man roster. He attended spring training with the Orioles, but was sent to the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League to start the season. At Rochester, Ripken played in the longest professional baseball game. Ripken started at third base and played all 33 innings against the Pawtucket Red Sox (which featured another future Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs) in a game that took parts of three days to complete. Ripken hit 23 home runs for Rochester while batting .288 with 75 RBIs in 114 games. He was named the International League Rookie of the Year.

How did he perform in the florida state league?

OUT:
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.