“Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?” Or Willie Mays, Hank Aaron or Ernie Banks for that matter?

I don’t know how many times I’ve hummed that classic Simon and Garfunkel tune as I scan the sports pages these days. Murder, rape and sexual misconduct have crept their way into the sports landscape.

But just when it seemed like the police lineup had replaced the starting lineup as a sports staple, It happened. It being Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played.

Ripken’s string of playing in 2,131 straight games has provided baseball with a silver lining to confront the dark cloud that has hung over it since last season. If Cal Ripken Jr. did not exist it would probably be inevitable for baseball to invent him.

Some casual sports observers have questioned the hype that has surrounded Ripken’s streak. Ripken’s streak is phenomenal. In my opinion, what happened two nights ago is the greatest accomplishment in baseball since Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run mark of 715 over 20 years ago.

In this era of players switching loyalties and teams at a whim, Ripken has played in every Baltimore Orioles game since May 30, 1982. In addition, Cal went 5 1/2 seasons without missing one single inning.

These are not the only major accomplishments of Ripken. He is a two-time American League most valuable player and is a 13-time All-Star participant.

What baseball players receive the most publicity these days? Darryl Strawberry, Jose Canseco and Deion Sanders. This is a joke because none of the so-called stars have appeared in half as many All Star games combined as Ripken.

Do you realize it took Ripken 2,131 games to garner as much publicity as one cocaine-induced motorcycle escapade by Darryl Strawberry?

Much of the problem with baseball is that most of the best players do not receive the majority of the publicity. This is due to many reasons.

Ken Griffey Jr. is arguably the most talented baseball player since Willie Mays. Statistics have proven that Ken Griffey Jr. has accomplished more before the age of 25 than the “Say Hey Willie” guy.

Unfortunately, Griffey plays for the small-market Seattle Mariners. Seattle may have been the center of the music industry for the past several years, but as major multi-media centers go, Seattle has nothing on New York or Chicago.

Part of the reason players like Griffey and Ripken do not receive half as much publicity they deserve is their own doing.

The only thing they do is play better baseball than anyone has in the past 20 years. This is not enough in today’s sports media.

Ripken refuses to toot his own horn. Being outside of a major media center, it has taken more than just being the best player in baseball for Ripken to receive any publicity.

Twenty years from now baseball fans will probably reminisce about the accomplishments and talents of such players as Ripken and Griffey, but ironically these players receive half as much hype as their less talented teammates in today’s media.