BALTIMORE -- Contrary to popular opinion, Cal Ripken Jr. believes his record of 2,632 consecutive games played can be broken.
"People say it's an unbreakable record, but because I did it, somebody else can do it," the Hall of Fame shortstop said Tuesday at Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles were commemorating the 20th anniversary of Ripken besting Lou Gehrig's streak.
"Used to be that you were expected to be out there every day," Ripken said. "Nowadays it's not as much, but things go in cycles. You see a lot of players that want to test themselves and play 162. To me, if one person figures it out that they can play 162 and they can finish really strong in September, then they've answered the question. Then it's just a matter of doing it over and over again until you get to that point. So yes, I think it can be broken. I don't know who, though."
The player with the longest current streak is Manny Machado. Including Tuesday night's start against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles third baseman has played in 132 consecutive games.
Because Baltimore will be on the road in Toronto on Sept. 6 -- the date Ripken actually played his 2,131st consecutive game to pass Gehrig back in 1995 -- the Orioles moved up the anniversary celebration.