Photo: Brad Herson

The Caps got crushed in game one by the New York Islanders, and they did it in front of one of the greatest baseball players of all-time.

Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., the original Great 8, was at Verizon Center last night, sitting in the lower bowl. This was first reported on Twitter by Talk The Red’s Brad Herson.

I just saw Cal Ripken coming out of Caps game. He was wearing an Ovie jersey. Very friendly. — OvechkinCan (@BlaketheMega) April 16, 2015

Cal, now a successful business owner, author, and baseball analyst, did not attend in a business suit or a polo shirt. He wore an old-school Alex Ovechkin jersey and a fedora. How cool is that?

The two gr8’s have some history together.

In 2011, Ripken honored presented Ovechkin with the inaugural “Advocate for Youth Award” during a fundraising event at the Park Hyatt. The night produced the following riveting exchange, via Dan Steinberg:

“Did you choose the number 8?” Cal Ripken asked Alex Ovechkin on Wednesday night. “Um, yeah,” Ovechkin replied. “I didn’t,” Ripken said. “It was just given to me. Thought it worked pretty well, though.”

Other notable famous people at last night’s game include season-ticket holder Pat Sajak and former Terps linebacker Shawne Merriman. They all watched the same awful game as the rest of us.

Full RMNB Coverage of Game One