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Message: [QUOTE="Phorcys, post: 5310008, member: 5606"] I second the nomination of Cal Ripken Jr. My employer in the 1990s, a bank in Baltimore, sponsored a charity picnic, hosted by Cal at a local park (Patterson Park, if you know Balto). The event was not a fundraiser, indeed wasn’t even open to the public nor publicized, in the least. A couple of members of the press caught wind of the event, but complied with Cal’s request to not take photos. The picnic was solely organized so that 150 less-privileged children could have a cookout on a Saturday and learn a little baseball. I lived nearby, but not being much of a baseball fan (and a Red Sox fan, if anything), I hadn’t planned on attending. Fortunately, however, my supervisor was very persuasive, and successfully convinced me to volunteer at the event. It was a hell of a lot of fun. Patterson is a very popular public park, so Cal’s presence attracted a rather large crowd. He is Baltimore’s son, literally loved by the entire city, even by those who hate sports. (BTW, Mr. Ripken kept insisting I call him Cal, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do so as a lowly college sophomore/bank teller.) Cal had been scheduled to be there for two hours, one hour of coaching tips and demonstrations, and then an hour eating burgers and dogs. He wound up remaining at the picnic for over four hours, fully engaged with the children the entire time. Many of the kids were not much into baseball—they were only attending the picnic because they were members of afterschool programs, local clubs, and the like. But Mr. Ripken’s charm, genuine caring nature, humor (he could be very silly with the littler kids) were infectious. This was at the height of Cal’s career and celebrity, and his “entourage” was frantic for the last two hours, desperately trying to keep him on schedule. But he refused to be torn away from the kids. Cal’s “entourage”, by the way, only consisted of: 1) a driver—who was clearly not also hired as a security guard, given that he was about the size of many of the middle-school kids in attendance, and some of the larger elementary-school kids. 2) a personal assistant; a highly efficient woman of about 30 years old, who was slightly smaller than the driver, so also clearly not hired for security purposes, and 3) a female relative of Cal’s, perhaps a cousin, maybe ten years old. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach