IN THE JR. CIRCUIT, RIPKEN CONTINUES STARRING ROLE.

Byline: Murray Chass The New York Times

Ken Griffey Jr. stood behind the batting cage on Tuesday evening, chipper and content as he accepted congratulations for winning player- of-the-week honors and dealt with the line of inquisitive reporters that never seems to end in his presence.

On this day, though, the line of questions did evaporate. Baseball's original Junior, gray and a little bald, but still a magnetic attraction in his own right, was about to begin his official press briefing.

``Hey, mister, I'm running for president, but they want to talk to you!'' Griffey joked as reporters moved hastily to where Cal Ripken Jr. sat for a first-game-of-a-series media ritual that grew out of his chasing down of Lou Gehrig's Iron Man record a year ago.

Ripken, eloquent as usual in a tizzy of attention, not only answered one or two questions about The Streak - 2,205 consecutive games and counting - but he also commented on the latest distraction in baseball's most orderly, predictable life: the notion that his manager, Davey Johnson, might shift the long-time shortstop to third base.

But Johnson had told Ripken way before Tuesday night's game that the thought of moving him to another position for the first time since 1982 was less than fleeting. It had flown.

Continuity was restored. Little did Ripken's audience realize just how much that means to Ripken. For after making his 2,174th straight start at short, all Ripken did was hit a career-best three home runs in the game and drive in a career-high eight runs.

As if Cal needed icing on such a day, the man who started at third - last name Ripken, first name Billy - also homered, giving baseball's most celebrated family this side of the Griffeys four home runs and nine RBI in a 12-8 victory over Seattle that propelled Baltimore into a first-place tie with the Yankees in the American League East earlier this week.

As for Cal, if you think that the bat didn't feel quicker and the ball look bigger given the circumstances, consider what Ripken said before his monster night, regarding a potential move to third:

``You try to prepare mentally for the game that you come out and play. And it's a whole lot easier knowing where you are going to play. So yes, it probably occupied some time in my mind, thinking what it would be like to try to go over what the responsibilities are and how they are different.''

Hard as it is to believe, the man who chucked aside Gehrig's seemingly immovable record last September actually seemed a little lost and, dare we say, vulnerable, at that moment. Which raises the question as to why Davey Johnson would even think of rearranging his infield, and why he would do so publicly, roiling Ripken's world for a week.

Was Johnson crazy? Knowing Johnson, he was. Like a fox.

When the manager first speculated on the move a week earlier, the Orioles were more than a little banged up and short on infielders, what with the starting third baseman, B.J. Surhoff, on the disabled list. But they were also 24-19 and genuinely headed in the right direction for the first time since early April, when they appeared invincible.

Still, Orioles teams in recent years have had a way of becoming complacent, no matter where they stood in the standing. And postseason visits ceased after 1983. So Johnson, perhaps remembering that some of the best moves a manager can make are none at all, stirred things up just by musing.

In effect, Johnson applied a prod, not necessarily just to Ripken, though the shortstop is an historically slow starter. (Ripken was hitting .250 with 22 RBI and three home runs before Tuesday's game.) As Johnson was quick and proud to point out before the pasting of the Mariners, ``I think everybody, since this has come up, has played well.''