Before Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. could break Lou Gehrig’s historic consecutive games played streak, he would have to tie him. That’s exactly what Ripken did when he suited up for the 2,130th consecutive time on September 5th, 1995 against the California Angels. This is the very helmet worn by Cal during the pre-game when he tied Lou Gehrig’s historic consecutive games streak on September 5th, 1995. This helmet has been photo matched by Resolution Photomatching to an image from the July 28th, 1995 game. It’s likely that Cal wore this helmet for the weeks leading up to the historic “2130” game.

This size 7 3/8 helmet was manufactured by American Baseball Cap Co. of Media, PA and is all-black. The Orioles bird logo is affixed to the front of the helmet and Ripken’s number “8” is affixed to the top brim with two orange dot stickers, one on each side of the number. The back of the helmet has an orange “8” sticker, along with the “ABC” logo sticker and the “125th ANNIVERSARY” MLB sticker. The inside of this helmet has a tan pad that goes along the head band and a pad on the top of the crown. The size 7 3/8 sticker, WARNING sticker and AUTHENTIC DIAMOND COLLECTION sticker are all affixed on the inside crown. The underside brim has a yellow sticker that reads “005.001.013 2130 helmet bag19”. This helmet displays outstanding use with numerous abrasion marks and stains and has been signed by Ripken in bold silver marker on the top brim above his number. Ripken also inscribed “2130” and “9-5-95” on the top brim.  This helmet comes directly from the personal collection of Cal Ripken, Jr. and a signed LOA from Cal will accompany this historic helmet. There is also a LOA from Resolution Photomatching (426978), who have matched this helmet to an image from the July 28th, 1995 game against the White Sox in Baltimore.