Iron streak: cast iron memorabilia honors Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s streak

Modern Casting, Sept, 2007 by Shannon Wetzel

That the cast iron Cal Ripken Jr. memento be a number makes sense. Ripken's career is defined by numbers. Two thousand, six hundred and thirty two, for example, is the number of consecutive games he played in Major League Baseball. He played in 19 All-Star games. Forty-six thousand, two hundred and seventy-two fans were at Camden Yards Sept. 6, 1995, when Ripken surpassed Lou Gehrig's record 2,130 consecutive games played. The Streak, which began May 30, 1982, eventually ended Sept. 20, 1998, and earned Ripken a reputation as baseball's Iron Man.

Baltimore residents and Ripken fans George and Cathy Lips found themselves contemplating the Hall of Famer's feat a few years ago. Why hadn't anyone linked his Iron Man status with an iron collectible? Convinced they were on to a winning idea, the couple, both of whom had careers in publishing, decided to make a go at cast iron.

"Iron just is a natural material for the Iron Man," George Lips said. "If he were nicknamed the Oak Man, we'd make it out of oak."

And why not symbolize Ripken's career with the uniform number he wore for 20 years as a Baltimore Oriole?

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"Originally we thought of doing a statue, but after visiting some local baseball museums, we were disappointed in how other statues looked--more like GI Joe dolls," Lips said. "Ripken's number 8 is everywhere, and it made sense as a good introductory product."

The introductory product turned into the main item after the idea was presented to Ripken's licensing company, IronClad Authentics, and met with an enthusiastic response. The Lips' venture culminated on July 21, when Ripken appeared on QVC, shortstop turned pitchman, selling the limited edition IronEight collectibles.

The Lips began shipping the product to fans around the country a few days later, with great relief. Two months prior, they were staring at high quality packaging and approval from Major League Baseball but had no castings--and no metalcaster.

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The Game Plan

When the Lips received the go ahead from Ripken's representatives to produce and sell the IronEight collectibles a couple of years ago, it was time to go metalcaster-shopping. George Lips hit the phone and fax machine, cold calling metalcasting facilities he came across via online searches. The going was rough.

"I didn't get very far due to my lack of familiarity with the industry," he said. "I didn't know what to look for or what to ask."

Eventually he hooked up with the John Wright Co., Wrightsville, Pa. Lips and his wife worked with the facility to come up with patterns for the 8s, and in the meantime, the Lips waited for licensing approval from the MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame and IronClad Authentics.

"As the approvals were dragging on, we were running out of time," Lips said. The approvals finally came, but it was bad timing for John Wright Co. The metalcaster wouldn't have enough time. "By this time, we had all the packaging, approval, marketing--everything but the product."

Lips was in the bottom of the ninth and needed a run. He called up Cumberland Foundry, a small ferrous job shop in Cumberland, R.I., that might be able to accommodate extra work with a short time frame.

Cumberland Foundry's jobs tend to fall within the pump, machine tool and pulp paper making industries, but at times it works on ornamental projects, such as decorative air conditioning grates, ornamental fence posts and sculptures.

"When we called them up, they immediately grasped the situation," Lips said.

"I told him we weren't going to be the cheapest, but his main issue was timeliness, and we could get it to him on time," said Al Lucchetti, president of Cumberland Foundry.

It was early June, six weeks to a product launch to be held in conjunction with Ripken's induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame July 29. Using patterns produced by Bay State Cast Products, Springfield, Mass., Cumberland Foundry quickly got to work.

"We were close to the line, but they are done," Lips said. The first shipment of finished products were shipped to QVC Aug. 7 for customer orders.

The Windup

The IronEight series of collectibles consists of six products. The 8s are replicas of the home and away uniform numbers on Ripken's Orioles jerseys. Two sizes of 8s, which match the numbers on the front and back of the uniform, are sold. The larger one, measuring a little more than 8 in. tall, comes as a plaque and replicates the uniform number on the back of the jersey. The smaller, 4-in. 8 can stand on its own and matches the 8 on the front of the jersey. The castings are powder-coated and then silk-screened for a two-dimensional look, like what you'd see on a letterman's jacket. Ripken's signature is laser-etched on the back, along with the MLB hologram. Raw cast iron 8s are also available for those who prefer the look of the metal.

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The castings are made of Class-25 gray iron and feature stitching marks along the sides. Although the casting itself was fairly simple, because it was an ornamental piece, special attention had to be given to the surface finish.