#Orioles legend Cal Ripken reveals details of cancer battle

Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. announced he was diagnosed, and has since recovered, from prostate cancer.

The legendary former Oriole told reporters on the Zoom call that he underwent surgery to remove the cancer in March and has received a clean bill of health.

“The surgery couldn’t have gone better,” the 59-year-old Ripken said. “The outcome couldn’t have gone better, and I’ve resumed doing everything I did before. It’s [been] a pretty miraculous few months.”

The announcement was part of a availability with Ripken in advance of the 25th anniversary of his record-setting 2,131st consecutive game in September. During a routine checkup, it was suggested he get a biopsy which led to the disease being discovered.

“My PSA was just inching up a little and there was movement in my PSA, which was well within my norm,” the 59-year-old Ripken said on Thursday. “For someone my age it wasn’t really alarming. There could be other reasons why it comes up. Simply you could be riding a bike more than you were before and you’re sitting on your prostate and it causes your reading to be higher. So just as a precaution I went to a urologist, and the urologist did a few more tests to determine whether I needed a biopsy, and those tests came back iffy.

“The recommendation was to do a biopsy, which we did in mid-February, and it came back that I had prostate cancer. It was in the early stages, and trying to get around that news and what it means … They say it’s a slow-moving cancer and you don’t have to make a really quick decision and all those things. The answer to do surgery was, it was the right decision to make and that was the easy part of it. But then getting yourself ready to do it was another one.”