The scene was extraordinary in its ordinariness.
Here is a bona-fide, undeniable, should-be-unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer on deck.
Here is the man credited with helping save post-strike baseball for simply never sitting.
Here is the man who bought the challenge to put more fannies in the seats at Lake Olmstead Stadium.
And here was Cal Ripken Jr. literally sitting his fanny in one seat after another in Augusta's little minor league ballpark.
"It's a little tight behind home plate," he said. "If I were sitting at a game (here), that wouldn't be an appealing seat for me."
The whole scene was - in a one word - quaint. Which is exactly the same word the former Baltimore Orioles ironman/shortstop used regarding his first impressions of Augusta and the minor-league franchise his company is responsible for as of Oct. 1.
"It looks like a ballpark," Ripken said of the 10-year-old home of the GreenJackets. "It takes you back a little ways. It makes you feel like you are going to a ballgame."
OK, so it's not the most glowing praise for the place he'd seen only in pictures before Thursday. It was kind of like asking somebody about a blind date and they emphasize the "great personality."
But Ripken is entering the latest challenge for his baseball enterprise with a can-do attitude that is desperately needed in Augusta.
"There's a lot of potential and I'm excited," he said.
GreenJackets and Augusta sports fans as a whole should be the most excited. Ripken might turn out to be the best thing for baseball in Augusta since Ty Cobb passed through.
Much as Ripken is considered a savior for Major League Baseball after the strike-ruined 1994 season, he represents the same thing here. His inexorable roll toward Lou Gehrig's ironman streak of 2,130 consecutive games played didn't really "save" baseball as much as it reinvigorated it. It made disenfranchised fans turned off by greed want to watch the game again just to see him play.
Similarly, minor league baseball in Augusta doesn't need "saving." It's not dead. Just a touch on the inanimate side.
Attendance for GreenJackets games in 2005 was its lowest in 11 years - since immediately before Lake Olmstead Stadium opened. Something is needed to restore the enthusiasm.
Ripken is that booster shot. He is to the GreenJackets what Steve Spurrier is to the South Carolina Gamecocks - the best person to take the program the next step.
Ripken wants to market the GreenJackets to those who haven't already discovered the minor-league experience in Augusta.
"From what I understand the baseball team is loved here and has a nice little following," he said. "We want to get out and spread the word and put some of our grass-roots initiatives into it and show the value of coming out to the ballpark. We sell it as opposed to opening up the doors and let people come in."
So Ripken's first site visit was filled with visions. He sees things his company can do to improve the facilities for both the players who pass through and the fans who he hopes will come again and again. He talked about integrating the fan experience. He talked about building a bond with the community.
Ripken's steely eyes lit up the most when he gazed upon the dilapidated and overgrown youth field sitting directly behind the right-field fence. He talked about building "synergy."
"I really believe that there is a connection between kids playing baseball and a minor league team," he said. "It's grass roots enjoyment of baseball in two different ways and one leads into the other. As a kid you can watch and kind of dream that you can be out there one day.
"If we can go over there and make that connection and improve that field to where kids are playing in it and you can see the kids playing in it from here, that would be a cool thing."
Ripken just being here is a cool thing. That he made his first trip to Augusta and visited University Hospital's cancer center is already one dividend of his purchase.
More will come. With the manpower and resources Ripken Baseball can put into selling the GreenJackets, this marks the franchise's best chance. His name is on the line here.
"You need to form a backbone for success," said Ripken's COO Chris Flannery. "The next few years will be very critical. There's a very committed fan base here that is eager to see what we can do to help improve it."
This community can't expect Ripken to do what he did with his premier franchise in Aberdeen, Md. - which attracts nearly twice as many fans as Augusta in just more than half as many games. He built that hometown team from scratch, pouring heart, money and local connections into what is a miniature replica of the Orioles' Major League Baseball experience.
What Augusta needs is a little love and attention to build a better minor-league experience.
The future Hall of Famer instills confidence that he will do what it takes - even if he has to try out every seat to do it.
"I value comfort in seats," said the shortstop who never sat.
In time, we'll understand Ripken's value to Augusta.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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