The Iron Fan comes sliding in

When a Cal Ripken admirer leaves Indonesia and travels halfway around the world this week to see the famous Orioles player in one of his final series, running the bases takes on international flavor.

By DAVE SCHEIBER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 23, 2001

[Times photo: Fred Victorin] Twelve-thousand miles later, Ray Katkish is only a few feet away from his idol.

ST. PETERSBURG -- In the top of the second inning, as Cal Ripken stepped toward home plate for the first at-bat of his Florida farewell tour, the Trop began to rock. Baseball's Iron Man turned his gaze to the cheering Devil Rays crowd behind him and gently doffed his cap.

Only a few yards away, in a front-row seat near the Baltimore on-deck circle, the Iron Fan stood and soaked in the moment.

There wasn't a Ray in the place with a more amazing tale of perseverance Tuesday night than the one with the surname of Katkish.

An overseas resort industry executive, now based in Singapore, Raymond Katkish had just flown 39 hours straight, traversing 12 time zones and 12,694 miles, to watch the Baltimore Orioles great in one final series.

"The way I see it, traveling around the world is frankly nothing compared to what he has done for the game of baseball," said Katkish, sitting with his girlfriend, Karen Sanders, who lives in Daytona Beach. "If Cal Ripken can play (an all-time record) 2,632 consecutive games and be named the All-Star Game MVP for the second time -- at age 40 -- then coming all this way is the least I can do to let him know I appreciate everything he has done in his career."

Katkish's baseball-star trek, boldly going where no fan has gone before, may seem just a tad impulsive. But to the 40-year-old Maryland native, attending the three-game series at Tropicana Field -- culminating tonight at 7:15 with a special Ripken pregame ceremony -- wasn't simply a flight of fancy.

A seasoned traveler who will log 200,000 air miles on business this year, Katkish is getting to spend a few days with his sweetheart, Sanders. And he will combine the visit with meetings at his Miami corporate headquarters before completing his 25,388-mile round-trip excursion next week.

This journey with its Rip fan wrinkle -- very likely the longest ride to a baseball game in history -- began Monday in Bali, Indonesia.

The day started with a wake-up call from a hotel operator at 6 a.m. Bali time (6 p.m. Sunday Eastern Daylight Time, if you're keeping score at home). After responding to his constant deluge of company e-mails, a quick workout and breakfast, Katkish held a 10 a.m. meeting, squeezed in a 12:30 business lunch, checked out at 4, and dashed off to the Bali airport to catch a 5:25 p.m. flight on Singapore Airlines.

He landed at Singapore at 7:55 p.m. (7:55 a.m. Monday Eastern time) and -- after a 3-hour, 40-minute layover -- jetted off on the 6,532-mile flight to Amsterdam. To get in the proper frame of mind, he watched the in-flight baseball movie, For The Love Of The Game, starring Kevin Costner as an aging pitcher who still has the magic touch. "It was just the right movie to get in the spirit of things," he said.

Katkish landed at 6:50 a.m. (just past midnight Tuesday EDT), had time to splash some water on his face, then reboarded his flight for the 4,109-mile jaunt from the Netherlands to Chicago, where the highlight was a bowl of tomato soup and crackers amid some fitful naps.

He hit at O'Hare at 10:05 a.m. Central time, killed three hours, and grabbed a United flight that arrived in Tampa at 4:25 p.m. -- completing the voyage 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Katkish raced to get his baggage, grabbed a rental car and made it to the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, checking in by 5:45 p.m. An hour later, showered and looking like he had stepped off the fairway instead of the airway, he was in his choice seat with Sanders.

Barely three hours earlier, the man who inspired the trip had stood within an arm's length of the seats as he learned of Katkish's efforts to make the game.

Ripken paused as he absorbed the mind-boggling details of the journey. Then, with the humility that has become his trademark, he talked of the trip as a tribute to baseball, not to him.

"It shows a passion for the game, similar to how I feel about the game," he said, seconds after facing a media barrage in a special mid afternoon press conference. "Sometimes it gets in your blood, and you love it so much that you're willing to do almost anything -- including getting on a plane in Indonesia and Singapore and travel all the way here. That says a lot about how he feels about baseball. I think it's really cool."

Still, it says a lot about how Katkish feels about Ripken, too. He owns no Cal posters or memorabilia (other than a videotape of Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games mark at 2,131 in 1995.) He didn't come to town hoping to snag an autograph, nor did he bring a camera to take snapshots of the historic occasion.

"I'm not following him around or anything," Katkish said. "I just have a genuine respect for him, as I think anyone who's a true baseball fan does. I just wanted to be here because I feel a connection."

Maybe it's because they were both born in 1960, both come from Maryland, both grew up loving baseball -- even though one played it considerably better than the other. Maybe it's because Katkish has spent the past four years living far away from the States -- able to tune in Orioles games only over the Internet or view taped ESPN games. Ripken represents a link to a familiar world.

"His book came out in 1997 when I was working in Kenya, and Karen Fed Exed it to me, and there was just something about reading that book that made me feel much closer to home than I had in a very long time," said Katkish, a graduate of the University of Maryland who later lived 10 years in Orlando.

Katkish says Ripken's book The Only Way I Know gave him insights into the value of perseverance, and how mastering fundamentals applies to any business, including running resorts. In a job that often demands long hours, seven-day weeks and endless travel, he says he feels a kinship in their work ethic. "I strive to live up to his standards in the way I do my job," he said.

He also exhibits similar modesty. Katkish figured he would just slip in and out of St. Petersburg unnoticed. His girlfriend, however, notified the St. Petersburg Times, and then confessed the deed to Katkish once he arrived at the hotel. "I'm really kind of embarrassed; I didn't do this for publicity at all," he says.

Katkish says he has made some other unusual trips, like once climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. None compares to this one, though the first game of the series didn't go so well for the O's -- an 8-4 loss.

Katkish sat stoically as Ripken struck out and grounded out twice, but savored his late single -- somehow managing to stay awake and focused.

"There was some inconvenience in getting here," he said, heading toward his hotel entrance at 11 p.m. -- some 53 hours since the wakeup call in Bali. "But it's worth every bit of it."

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