BALTIMORE -- Cal Ripken is ready for the next step in his bid to return in 2001: Talking to management about a new contract.

Ripken emerged from an important September with little back pain and a potent bat, and he's already making plans for offseason workouts designed to get him ready for his 21st season in the big leagues.

"I first had to find out about my baseball side," Ripken said Sunday after the Baltimore Orioles' 7-3 win over New York. "Now that I've found out about my baseball side, and I'm happy with it, the next step is to pursue the opportunity."

Orioles owner Peter Angelos has said he would welcome back a healthy Ripken, and the third baseman certainly appears to fit that description. He hit .282 with two homers and 12 RBI in September after returning from a two-month stint on the disabled list.

He was quite adept in the field, too.

"Early in the month I wasn't sure, I was pretty uncertain. I felt a little rusty, a little tight," he said. "As the month wore on, things were right. The last five or six days things were very, very normal. I moved to my left, moved to my right. I swung the bat really hard, ran the bases. I'm very satisfied with the month."

When Ripken came to the plate in the eighth inning Sunday, the fans gave him a standing ovation that lasted through the entire at-bat. Ripken, who drew a walk, wasn't quite sure whether the fans were saying good-bye or cheering the fact that he will almost certainly return in 2001.

"I didn't want to stand out there and give the impression that I wasn't going to come to the plate any more. To me, it was going to be my last at-bat this season," he said. "I have plans to go to spring training and try again. Now, if something should happen in the offseason during my training that I can't play or I get hurt or I can't move on, then that would be my last at-bat.

"But right now, the plans are to build on what I accomplished in the month of September and test it in spring training."

Orioles manager Mike Hargrove would welcome him back, particularly since Baltimore doesn't have a third baseman in its farm system ready to take over the position on the full-time basis.

"I think what Cal has showed is that when he's ready to play, he can play," Hargrove said.