BALTIMORE -- It figures to be a strange offseason for Cal Ripken, who said Wednesday that he feels "uncomfortable" being thrust into the middle of last week's dismissal of Baltimore Orioles general manager Frank Wren.

	Ripken

Ripken's involuntary involvement in Wren's firing was merely a prelude for what should be a one-of-a-kind winter for the perennial All-Star.

The Orioles third baseman will soon begin an intensive rehabilitation program as a followup to the Sept. 23 surgery on his lower back. He won't be able to stay in shape playing basketball, as is his custom, but will be closely involved in the sport as a minority partner of the Baltimore BayRunners of the new International Basketball League.

"It's an uncertain time for me," Ripken said Wednesday morning, shortly after the news conference to announce his involvement in the IBL. "I've got a lot of work to do to get my back ready. I'm smart enough to know that only time will tell how well I recover."

Ripken proved this season that he can still hit for average and with power, compiling a .340 batting average with a career-high .581 slugging percentage. But surgery ended his year after he pulled within nine hits of 3,000 for his career.

Then, last Thursday, Ripken became an unwitting accomplice to Wren's firing. Among the reasons for the dismissal, cited in a press release, was the fact that Wren ordered the team plane to leave for a Sept. 17 game in Anaheim after Ripken called to say he was running late.

"The Orioles management cannot and will not abide having a general manager operate in such an unreasonable, authoritarian manner and treat anyone in this way, especially someone such as Cal who has done so much for the Orioles and for baseball," vice chairman and chief operating officer Joe Foss said in a new release.

"I'm uncomfortable and feel I shouldn't be in the middle of it," Ripken said, one week after the fact. "It's a situation where I don't feel I belong."

Ripken, 39, won the World Series with the Orioles in 1983 but has not been back since. He doesn't have much time left, and his chances of returning probably were not enhanced by the firing of Wren and manager Ray Miller.

"No one wants to go through changes and instability, but those decisions are made my someone else," Ripken said. "There will be time for me to examine this. I have a much more individual view of the offseason."

Much of his time will be spent working on getting his back in shape and helping promote the BayRunners, who launch their first season Nov. 26.

"My secret wish is that I could have been a basketball player instead of a baseball player," Ripken said. "I won't get to play it much this offseason, so I figure I can watch it close to home. It's mostly about fun, but it's an interesting and creative opportunity to see the business side of sports on a little bit smaller scale."

Ripken would not reveal the percentage of the team that he purchased, nor the price he paid.

"I'm a partner. That's all you get out of me," Ripken said.