Into it: Cal Ripken

... Reading?

A lot of business books, including Jack Welch's Winning. When you first start going on speaking tours, you find that the values you're aspiring to are shared by other people, but they communicate them differently. So books like that give you some perspective. I read Sports Business Journal and The Wall Street Journal – I know the value of being current. I also revisit The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand, regularly. I'm captivated by the philosophy, the concept of doing it all for yourself.

... Listening to?

If I'm on a plane, and I'm tired of listening to books on tape, I'll put Earth, Wind, and Fire on my iPod, or Barry White. When I have my kids in the car, it's Top 20 radio. Just by osmosis, I'm learning some of the artists, and the newer stuff out there. On my own, I'll listen to XM satellite.

... Watching?

I haven't been to the theater in ages. But I watch movies on DVD as a form of relaxation. You can turn your mind off. I have The Departed queued up, and I was watching the old Star Wars trilogy the other day. And for personal reasons, I love Bull Durham. [The director] Ron Shelton used to play for my dad in '70, '71. The movie takes me back to the feeling of the minor leagues.

•Cal Ripken's new motivational book, "Get in the Game," (Penguin) is out now.