Nostalgia Not in Boskie’s Vocabulary

Shawn Boskie, who starts against Baltimore tonight, has a videotape of the game he pitched in Camden Yards on Sept. 6, when Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games record of 2,130, but he hasn’t watched it.

“I can remember clearly everything that happened,” Boskie said. “Maybe one day, 40 years from now, it will be neat to watch.”

The 22-minute standing ovation for Ripken, his spontaneous victory lap around the field, the three solo home runs Boskie gave up--one to Ripken--in a 4-2 loss. . . . it’s all fresh in Boskie’s mind.

“It was a madhouse, and it was an honor to be a part of that,” Boskie said, “but it never became something I was proud of. I wanted to win and I wanted Ripken to go 0 for 4.”

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Baltimore Manager Davey Johnson said he’s “toying” with the idea of temporarily moving Ripken to third, a position he hasn’t played in 14 years.

With starting third baseman B.J. Surhoff and backup Jeff Huson on the disabled list, Bobby Bonilla, who has a sore ankle, has played third the last two games.

But Johnson might insert Manny Alexander at short and move Ripken to third until Surhoff returns.

Ripken, who was pulled for Alexander in the seventh inning Monday night, did not seem thrilled with the potential move but chose diplomacy over controversy. “I’m on the record as saying I’ll do whatever is needed to help the club,” he said.

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Lee Smith, who pitched a scoreless ninth Monday, has given up two hits and no earned runs in six innings since coming off the disabled list April 22. . . . Third baseman George Arias, sent to triple-A Vancouver May 10, went four for five with a homer and six RBIs in Vancouver’s 16-4 victory over Albuquerque on Sunday to raise his average to .450.