When the Orioles finished their 2006 home schedule with a 6-3 loss to Minnesota on Sunday, Tyler was there, working his job as the umpires' attendant. Fans know him as the guy who runs out to hand the home-plate umpire baseballs when needed, and Tyler's now been doing it a very long time.

The 82-year-old Tyler has not missed an Orioles game since the start of the 1960 season. His Ripkenesque streak has now grown to 3,727 consecutive games. Simply put, he's not missed a game in Ripken's lifetime. The Orioles legend was born in August of 1960, and set a Major League record by playing in 2,632 consecutive games from 1982-1998.

"We both know who the true "Iron Man" is in Baltimore," Ripken said in August 2004 when Tyler was honored with the team's Herb Armstrong Award, given to non-uniformed personnel who've made a significant contribution to the ballclub, community or sport of baseball. But Tyler has a remarkably similar outlook to Ripken, who constantly played down his streak by saying he was just going to work every day.

"I just get up and go and end up there, and then I go home," Tyler said after Sunday's game. "Sometimes, I wonder myself what moves me."

Tyler has long enjoyed working with the umpires. He's in charge of getting everything ready for the men in blue to come to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and call the games. The umpires' dressing room is down a narrow hallway that leads right out on to the field behind home plate, and Tyler works hard to get everything in place.

The pride he takes in his job is a big reason he does not want to miss a game any time soon.

"I wouldn't want [the umpires] to come and find me not there," Tyler said. "The balls are rubbed, the shoes and clothes are ready and hanging there when they come. They're just nice people, and I sort of like it."

Tyler was a long-time worker in the Maryland state government before retiring in 1988. One of the more interesting parts of his streak is that he did the first 28 years of it while working full-time during the day, something made even more interesting by the fact that the Harford County resident has 11 children.

But after retiring from the government, Tyler was able to eventually join the Orioles in a full-time capacity.

"It's Major League Baseball, and I'm in the dugout or on the field all the time during games," Tyler said. "I like the game, and I like the sport."

Tyler has also been able to make this more of a family affair as two of his sons are clubhouse managers at Oriole Park. Fred Tyler -- who played baseball against Ripken in his younger days -- is the visiting clubhouse manager, while Jimmy Tyler does the same job for the Orioles.

"That's pretty nice for me," Tyler said. "Working with your own kids, people sort of think it's something nice. And it is."

Tyler works long, long days when the Orioles are at home. He'll punch in at 11 a.m. for night games that usually start at 7:05. He'll often leave a few hours after the game, working 14-hour days on a regular basis.

The main thing that Orioles fans see Tyler do is hand the baseballs to the home-plate umpire when needed. For many years, Tyler sat on a stool near the backstop ready to run out and hand the umpire the balls. Baseballs are important, for obvious reasons, and that's why the Orioles and Tyler make sure that six dozen baseballs are always at the ready during games.

But Tyler's location got changed before the 2005 season because the Orioles moved the backstop about eight feet closer to home plate. That would have pushed him too close to the field, so Tyler shifted to a position standing in the Orioles dugout.

Tyler said he thought it was kind of funny that fans were asking him questions about the streak during Sunday's home finale. To him, it's just a job where, after all these years, he still has a whole lot of fun.

"The streak never really enters my mind," Tyler said. "But all day Sunday, people were asking what the number was and would I sign a ball?"

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.