Ripken tied Kinugasa's record of playing in 2,215 consecutive games Thursday night, going 1-for-4 in the Baltimore Orioles' 10-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals. With Kinugasa watching from the stands at Kauffman Stadium, Ripken equaled the mark set by the Japanese third baseman from 1970 to 1987.
Ripken, who broke Lou Gehrig's major league record of 2,130 successive games last September, can surpass Kinugasa on Friday.
Ripken and Kinugasa held a joint news conference after Thursday's game, and the soon-to-be former record holder had nothing but praise for the Baltimore shortstop.
''I sensed in Cal the same attitude toward baseball - a sense of joy and devotion to the game - that I had,'' Kinugasa said through an interpreter. ''That's the kind of thing that made it possible for him to break the record.''
The celebration marking the event was decidedly less fanatical than last year, when President Clinton joined a sellout crowd at Camden Yards to watch Ripken top Gehrig's hallowed record. During the record-breaking game, Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro pushed Ripken out onto the field and goaded him into taking a victory lap.
There were only 20,108 fans in attendance Thursday. In the middle of the fifth inning, when the game became official, the crowd stood and cheered for 2 minutes, 15 seconds. Ripken doffed his cap, waved to the fans and then got back to business.
He did, however, appreciate the warm applause from the road crowd.
''It makes you feel great. I really felt like a member of the Kansas City Royals tonight,'' he said. ''Given the score, I almost wish I was.''
Ripken said long ago that he recognized Kinugasa's mark as the real world record, but his teammates found it difficult to get excited over the thought of seeing him shatter the Japanese mark.
''Last year, the whole country was rooting for him. It was kind of like a New Year's countdown, with the whole nation watching,'' Palmeiro said. ''The media hasn't built this one up nearly as much. To be honest, I didn't know if it was today, tomorrow or the next day.''
With Ripken, virtually every day is the same during baseball season. The shortstop walks on the field every night planning to play nine innings and believing his presence in the lineup will help the Orioles win.
He has never entered a game with the sole intention of keeping his phenomenal consecutive games streak alive, and probably never will.
Injuries, including broken ribs, a broken left wrist and a fractured shoulder blade, sometimes forced Kinugasa to keep his streak alive with one obligatory trip to the plate. In nearly 100 games, his playing time consisted of one pinch-hitting appearance.
The remarkably injury-free Ripken may one day be caught in a similar situation, but he says he won't take an at-bat merely to keep his run of consecutive games intact.
''That would be a real contradiction because that's not what the game is all about. That's not what I've been all about,'' Ripken said. ''I come out to play. I come out to start the game and I come out to finish the game.''
Ripken, in a rare moment of introspection last week, said he thought the end of his streak will come by virtue of a managerial decision - that day when his boss figures there is a better player to put in the lineup.
When that happens, Ripken will dutifully find a place on the bench. He will be prepared to play the role of a pinch hitter, but won't take the at-bat just to add another notch to his record.
''If it was necessary for me to pinch hit because maybe the manager wants to use you to try to win the ballgame, then I guess it would continue that way,'' he said. ''But I don't understand just going out there for a token appearance just for the sake of keeping the streak alive. I just play the game one way - that's to try to win the game.''
Ripken needn't worry about being put in a position to come off the bench anytime soon. Manager Davey Johnson said Thursday that he's never considered giving his shortstop a day off.
''He's a big exception to the rule that says a player at a demanding position needs a rest now and then,'' Johnson said. ''You generally consider giving a guy a day off if you think he needs it, but his drive amazes me. It's really not something I've ever had to think about.''
By The Associated Press