Ripken casts a long shadow.(Brief Article)

Troy Glaus and Manny Alexander should talk. They've both played behind Cal Ripken, which means they've both played in the shadow of the legend.

Alexander labored for years as the shortstop of the future in Baltimore.

He might have had a much brighter career if anything like a future had existed for any Orioles shortstop other than Cal. Alexander's light still might shine--he's still playing--but he didn't get into more than 100 major league games until 1998. By then he was 27 and with the Cubs.

Now the Angels' Glaus is waiting his turn behind Cal in a different way. Glaus already is the best third baseman in the American League. He led the league in home runs (47) and set an A.L. record for home runs by a third baseman last year (46; one came as a DH). But Ripken won the popular vote as the All-Star starter last summer, will again this year and likely would have in the years to come for as long as he wanted to play. Adding insult to last season's All-Star injury, A.L. manager Joe Torre selected Travis Fryman to start when Cal couldn't play.

No one is going to begrudge Cal his spot in the All-Star lineup this year, especially not after he announced last week that he finally will call it quits at the end of the season. But for crying out loud, Ripken is hitting only .215 and isn't even a full-time player in Baltimore.

Glaus will make the All-Star team as a reserve, as he did a year ago.

But will anybody notice? Will anybody be satisfied with anything less than a Ripken tour de force in his last Midsummer Classic?