If it was 15 minutes before batting practice, Richie Bancells knew where he had to be. It was time for Cal Ripken Jr.’s unspoken appointment.
As Ripken marched his way to a record 2,131st consecutive game that will have its 25th anniversary celebrated Sunday at Camden Yards, Bancells served as the Orioles’ head athletic trainer through much of The Streak and beyond. If Ripken was playing, he needed his ankles taped, and he was always playing.
“I could almost not even have to look at the clock,” Bancells recalled this week from his Parkton home. “If it was gonna be a 4:30 [batting practice], at 4:15, he’d plop himself on top of that taping table.