Video blog: Sight of ravaged Japanese region hits home with Ripken (updated)

By Pete Kerzel

Orioles

November 12, 2011, 6:43am

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Seven hours north of Tokyo, lies Ofunato, the area most heavily damaged by March's Japanese earthquake and tsunami. That's where Cal Ripken Jr., on a diplomatic mission sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, and his former Orioles teammate Brady Anderson traveled yesterday to survey the devastation and connect with children from this ravaged region. "I can't fathom what took place here," Ripken said, adding that he was looking forward to conducting a clinic for youths in the area. The Iron Man was particularly struck by seeing one living tree in an area that had been particularly hard hit. Ripken and Anderson shared their thoughts about seeing the damage firsthand in this edition of his video blog. The post was delayed by a day because there is no working Internet in the damaged area.

Update: Ripken's blog about the clinics held for area youths has been posted and is available by clicking here. Below is a video blog from the clinic.

Check back later today for a link to Ripken's written blog about the experience.