The date was September 20th, 1998. The place was Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD. The New York Yankees were in town to visit the home town Orioles, and Cal Ripken decided to do something he hadn't done since May 29th, 1982.

He took the night off.

Ripken heads to dugout
Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
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And by walking into manager Ray Miller's office that night and saying "it's over", Ripken ended a major league record streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. His manager couldn't believe his ears. It had been over 16 years since Ripken took a day off. His replacement in the lineup that day, rookie Ryan Minor, just recalled from the minor leagues at the beginning of September, thought it was a prank being played on him. But it wasn't a rookie prank, Ripken simply felt it was time. And he wanted the streak to end as quietly as it began. No announcement was made to the press, he simply was not in the line-up, and would not appear as a pinch hitter, or as a defensive replacement simply to keep "The Streak" alive.

Red Sox v Orioles X Ripken
photo courtesy of Getty Images/Ezra Shaw/ALLSPORT
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When his opponents that night realized what was happening, they paid him the respect he had earned every day for 16-and-a-half seasons. The Yankees, from their side of the field and in the dugout, tipped their hats and applauded their ling time rival. And when the fans at Camden Yards realized what they were witnessing, they gave Ripken the biggest ovation he had ever received.

For not playing.

And with that, what might be the greatest accomplishment in the history of sport was over, as quietly as it began on May 30th, 1982. And that is exactly how Cal Ripken wanted it.

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