Cal Ripken Jr. became a viral floating head

This should be his plaque in the Hall of Fame

February 11th, 2021

Name an accomplishment and most likely Cal Ripken Jr. has done it. Big leaguer? Yep. Hall of Famer? Check that off. Floating head that appeared in a Zoom background and has gone viral? Well, actually, yeah, he's done that too.

OK, this probably requires some explanation. Ripken's wife, Judge Laura Ripken, was being sworn in to Maryland's Court of Special Appeals on Monday. So, as is customary, she invited her husband and Orioles legend into the room.

"Joining me here today in our home office is my husband, Cal, who has been my biggest fan, the most wonderful husband imaginable and the best person I know," Ripken said.

The only problem? Because Laura was using a background that transformed her home into a courtroom, well, Ripken's body was cut off. So, just like the lawyer cat, it was the Iron Man's turn to go viral.

However, he has no reason to feel embarrassed. Rather, Ripken has joined a long line of floating heads in popular culture.

He could play one of the ghosts from "A Christmas Carol," appearing to give Scrooge a dire warning from beyond the grave. He could be the new Zordon in a "Power Rangers" reboot:

He would also do great as the floating head should "Zardoz" need a technological facelift.

And hey, it doesn't look all that different from the scoreboard image when Ripken tied Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record, does it?

If you would like to add your own Ripken head to your next work call, please enjoy a hastily made JPG. Just add Cal to whatever background image you usually use and enjoy having the specter of baseball greatness join your next meeting: