ANGELS NOTEBOOK : RIPKEN LOVES BEING ON CONTENDER, CANNOT GUESS HOW STREAK WILL END.

The streak is intact and he won't have to move to third base, but those aren't the reasons why Cal Ripken is enjoying this season so much.

It's what he sees when he looks at the standings: Ripken's Baltimore Orioles were tied with the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East entering Friday night's game against the Angels at Anaheim Stadium.

``Contending makes it real fun,'' said Ripken, whose Orioles finished two games below .500 and 13 games out of first place last season. ``You're supposed to ask yourself what you can do every day to help us win. But when you're winning you don't have to ask that. . . . It makes the season go by fast. It makes everyone happier in the clubhouse and to go on road trips.''

Ripken's consecutive-games streak hit 2,203 Friday and he shows no signs of slowing down. He entered having hit safely in seven of the past eight games, had his first three-home run game Tuesday and became the Orioles' all-time home-run hitter by getting his 334th on Wednesday.

Best of all for Ripken, the controversy over manager Davey Johnson's proposal to move him to third base has died down with the imminent return of regular third baseman B.J. Surhoff off the disabled list.

``Really, the whole thing was blown out of proportion,'' he said. ``We were only looking for options with B.J. out. Now that he's close to being back it seems the window (of opportunity) has closed.''

He was hoping the hoopla surrounding the streak would have died down by now, but he discovered in spring training and is reminded by the legions of autograph seekers whenever the Orioles visit a new town that he remains a center of attraction.

So how does he see the streak ending?

``I have no idea,'' he said. ``It's something that's inevitable. You know it's going to happen. Like anything else, you just deal with it. I don't even know which way would be the most ideal way to have it come to an end.''

Pitching shuffle: As expected, Angels manager Marcel Lachemann moved right-handed rookie Shad Williams to the bullpen to make way for Mark Langston.

Williams, who went 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in two starts after Langston underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on May 8, will be used in long relief and as a spot starter.

``He can do a lot of things,'' Lachemann said. ``He's got a young arm. Those guys always fit into the spot starter category.''

The decision was between right-hander Jason Grimsley and Williams, but Grimsley apparently settled the issue by pitching his first major-league shutout on Tuesday.

Mark Eichhorn, a right-handed long reliever, also was activated from the disabled list. To make room for Langston and Eichhorn, left-hander Brad Pennington was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore left elbow and right-hander Todd Frohwirth was designated for assignment.