Cal Ripken Jr. and the Baltimore Orioles celebrated Saturday's 30th anniversary of his breaking the Major League Baseball record for consecutive games played with his 2,131st appearance in a row.

The 65-year-old Hall of Fame shortstop and third baseman recalled memories of his "Iron Man" effort to break the old consecutive games mark of 2,130 that had belonged to New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig.

"The memories that happened that night are crystal clear," Ripken said. "A lot of the things that you do on the baseball field, it's amazing how that comes back to you."

Ripken, who stretched his record run to 2,632 games before voluntarily halting the streak in 1998, said it seldom seems like three decades have passed since his historical moment.

"In most ways, no, but when I get up in the

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