COMMENTARY : Putting Ripken at Third a Big Error

Sometimes you miss the big picture. Sometimes, in a moment of temporary insanity, you have a lunatic brainstorm. Sometimes, you think, “Why not move Cal Ripken to third base and put Manny Alexander at shortstop.” Sometimes, on your really bad days, you even say it to Cal, then tell a bunch of reporters.

At the moment, baseball doesn’t have a great deal to offer us. Unless you like antisocial sluggers who might hit 62 home runs. Taken in the perspective of this whole century, the game may only provide one sight that qualifies as indelible and of permanent value: Ripken playing shortstop for the Orioles.

Someday, in the Hall of Fame, in the introductory hallway that holds a dozen or so display cases of the men and deeds that most define the game, we will find Ripken playing shortstop. He won’t be batting. He won’t be running the bases. He won’t be giving that killer hometown boy, blue-eyed smile. He’ll be turning a double play or diving parallel to the ground or throwing over the top from the hole. The Hall is big on verisimilitude. They’ll get it right.

Now, if only the Orioles’ current brain trust of Davey Johnson, Pat Gillick and Peter Angelos could be trusted as much. When you’re panicky, when you’re not sure what to do and only see problems, sometimes you forget what still works. Ripken at shortstop is the heart of the Orioles, if heart they have.

On Monday night, Johnson, the Orioles’ manager, said he was “toying” with the idea of moving Ripken to third so he could put Alexander at short while the Orioles recover from a bevy of injuries. Asked point blank if the switch might be permanent, Johnson said that was a possibility.

Johnson also hedged, saying: “I wouldn’t want to hurt Cal in any way. . . . If he doesn’t buy it, I’m not going to shove it down his throat. . . . He’s the heart of my ballclub.”

Nonetheless, Johnson definitely left the door ajar to a permanent switch of Ripken to third base.

That door should be slammed shut with maximum force. If Johnson’s foot still happens to be in the door jamb, that’s his problem. He put it there.

Tuesday night, Ripken said: “Throughout my career, whatever I’ve been asked to do, I’ve done. It’s not always the responsibility of the player to understand.” That’s public. Privately, he’s steamed. Was he hotter when his father was fired as manager or former owner Eli Jacobs low-balled him in early contract talks? It’s a toss-up. Now, far more than then, he really is correct to feel aggrieved.

Ripken has started every game at shortstop for the Orioles since July 1, 1982. And he’s a better defensive player now than he was then. As recently as last month, Ripken was continuing a streak of 74 straight errorless games. Watching him play the position--physically dominate the job--is a joy.

Nobody should move Ripken from shortstop until one of three things happens. Ripken asks to switch; Ripken loses his skills; a fabulous young shortstop like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter or Ray Ordonez arrives.

Orioles assistant general manager Kevin Malone points out that using Alexander at shortstop on a temporary basis for a few weeks might “create marketability” for his skills and “help you make a trade for a pitcher like Kevin Appier.” Johnson also maintains it’s time to find out all about Manny.

Bananas. Everybody knows Manny Alexander will turn out to be Spike Owen. At best. More likely, he’s Mike Gallego. Decent glove, weak bat.

The Orioles’ additional motives are thinly veiled. They have a new front office and a new manager. The new guys think they should set a new tone. Right off the bat, while their credibility is high, both Gillick and Johnson want to show who’s boss. Which, generally speaking, is a good idea.

But this is going a bridge too far. It’s one thing to ask Bobby Bonilla to DH or Kent Mercker to go to the bullpen. Ripken already has played this good soldier game better than any Oriole. He didn’t whine about being pinch-run for or even about batting seventh. He just went out and got four hits.

However, the Orioles should understand that asking Ripken to switch to third base--even “temporarily”--attacks the core of his baseball identity. When you ask a star of this magnitude to make a late-career switch of this importance, the writing is usually already on the wall. No matter what everybody says on Day 1, the guy almost never switches back.

Make no mistake, Ripken the Shortstop might keep on being an all-star for years--on merit. On the other hand, the day Ripken moves to third base, he loses enormous stature as a player. Suddenly, better hitters--Matt Williams, Ken Caminiti, Robin Ventura and Jim Thome--are the kings of the position while Ripken becomes an afterthought among True Stars.

The Orioles’ new brain trust is right in trying to get the team to be more unselfish. They’re right to prod and poke at the Bonillas, Mussinas and Ripkens to give a little more. And, by and large, the players have responded.

Ripken is one of the few people in sports who has consistently stood for something better than the next day’s final score. The symbolism of his streak and the substance of his character deserve respect.