MLB/ Ripken to visit Japan as U.S. sports ambassador

November 04, 2011

BALTIMORE -- Former Baltimore Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr. will lead baseball and softball clinics in Japan as part of his upcoming nine-day trip as a sports diplomat on behalf of the U.S. State Department.
Ripken will be joined by former Orioles teammate Brady Anderson at the clinics in Tokyo, Takarazuka, Kyoto and Ofunato of Iwate Prefecture, a city still recovering from the March earthquake and tsunami.
Japanese baseball great Sachio Kinugasa will also join the pair in Tokyo and Ofunato.
The trip will run from Nov. 8-16.
Ripken earned the nickname "Iron Man" for playing in 2,632 consecutive games. Along the way, he broke the Major League Baseball record held by Lou Gehrig (2,130) and the mark in Japan set by Kinugasa (2,215).
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS