Media Coverage
Agent Attorney Goes to Bat for Ripken, Murray
Shapiro Specializes in Preparing Players for Life After the Game is Over
BY HAL BODLEY
Nestled among a montage of memories and awards on a wall in Ron Shapiro’s sprawling office is a picture of Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken. A few feet away, Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer take up considerable space.
"Cal says much of what he does is because of what he learned from Eddie—playing every day," the soft spoken Shapiro says. "Cal learned that ethic and tradition from Eddie Murray."
That ethic and tradition has put the Orioles’ Ripken on the brink of smashing Lou Gehrig’s all-time consecutive games record of 2,130, probably Sept. 6.
It also helped Murray, now in Cleveland, become the 20th player to collect 3,000 hits earlier this summer.
Ethics, tradition and values are the cornerstone of the 52-year-old Shapiro (pronounced Sha-PIE-ro), one of baseball's most respected agent-attorneys.
It is more than coincidental that Shapiro, who graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1967, might be the only agent to have two players in the Hall of Fame—Robinson and Palmer—and represents two of the game’s top stories this summer.
Most superstar agents get their clients millions of dollars. Shapiro goes beyond that. Because he commands equal respect from the players union and management, he has been mentioned as a candidate for commissioner.
"He’s a solid intellectual doer," Orioles owner Peter Angelos says. "He’s persistent and energetic in everything he undertakes. He understands baseball and it’s problems and doesn’t like the present state of affairs. He would make an excellent commissioner."
Shapiro downplays talk of a major position in baseball, but if he thinks he can contribute, he would accept. "Normally, somebody on the labor side of things is not touted for positions like that," he says. "I guess those who know me know I’ve spent a lot of time in the corporate world. I’ve started and run a lot of businesses of my own."
Besides the law firm and the sports firm, he started Maryland’s major bar review course and legal seminar business, a publishing company and, most recently, organized a negotiations institute.
Interim Commissioner Bud Selig says "Shapiro has been very helpful and constructive in negotiations." Shapiro helped bring both sides together to talk and came up with some compromises.
"The needs of the two sides are so different," Shapiro says. "The bottom line is the future of baseball for both sides is tied to the public acceptance."
Shapiro has enormous influence, as evidenced by his clients. Seldom, if ever, have they had problems off the field. "They’re probably good citizens before they come to (me)," he shrugs.
He represents Kirby Puckett, Willie Randolph, Mark Gubicza, Dennis Martinez and others. He can count Hall of Fame broadcaster Chuck Thompson and Orioles play-by-play man Jon Miller among his clients. Former Orioles third-baseman Brooks Robinson was his first client in 1976.
"What sets Ron apart so much is that he cares so much, not just about my career, but about me, my family and anything that may be affecting my life," Ripken says. "I’m sure he will still be with me long after I retire."
If Shapiro has his way, you’ll never know when he’s negotiating a contract. Ripken’s last contract took 333 days before the five-year, $30.5 million deal was signed in August 1992.
Puckett’s latest deal, signed for $30 million over five years, with a clause that he can become a free agent after 1995. "He wanted to stay in Minnesota and made no bones about it," Shapiro says. "When it looked like it wasn’t going to work out, we went to other cities but did not announce a grand tour. We sneaked in."
Shapiro says that Puckett could have gotten as much as $5 million more in other places. "People may sign for more, but none of them will be as happy as I am 10 years from now," Puckett says. "Ron is like a father to me. He wants to prepare you to live the rest of life after baseball. That’s what makes him special."
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