01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 26, 2005

BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Don't count Kevin Millar among those athletes who are unhappy when they get moved around. Actually, it's just the opposite. Millar is thrilled to be in the lineup, regardless of where he has to play in the field.

Millar and Red Sox manager Terry Francona can joke about it, as they did last night when Francona shifted Millar from his usual first-base spot to left field. Manny Ramirez, who had started each of the first 19 games in left, served as the designated hitter, and David Ortiz took over at first.

"I just love playing. I want to play somewhere," Millar said. "I don't care where it's at."

Francona knows he can kid with Millar. And he did just that in explaining the shift.

"Millar knows that the more Manny wants to DH, the more precarious his playing time is, so we're kind of counting on Millar to handle that part of it," Francona said. "He's not going to get slower. He's already slow."

Francona felt Ramirez, who was named the American League player of the week for the 12th time in his career for hitting .364 (8-for-22) with four home runs, 10 RBI and eight runs scored in Boston's last seven games, needed some rest.

"He's just kind of banged up," Francona said of Ramirez. "He got hit (with a pitch). He's got his (tight) quad. The other thing is he's played every game, too. We need to try to take care of these guys. He's a really good player. You don't want to run him into the ground. (But) I don't really like it when he doesn't play, so we do the best we can."

"I've played left field a zillion times," Millar said. It is not nearly as tough an assignment as playing right, especially in Fenway, Millar noted.

"I played right last year and got overexposed out there when Trot (Nixon) was hurt," he said. "It doesn't bother me anywhere." He used the switch to politic for other work.

"I love third base. I want to play third base before this year is over," he said. "I used to play like 15 games a year (at third) with Florida. With Boston I haven't gotten anything over there."

In Fenway, playing left is not a major challenge, Millar feels.

"I enjoy it. I don't have a lot of speed or huge arm strength. (Here) you don't have to cover a lot of ground or make a huge throw. I can stop the running game a little bit from second base," Millar said. "In a regular field, the third-base coach is usually waving them around until I prove that I can throw somebody out. Here, we don't get hurt by putting somebody like myself out there in left field, I think."

"Manny's played every game," Millar noted. "Other than Johnny Damon, who's got a body like a gazelle, sometimes you need a day off."

The changes did not have a major impact on the game.

Keeping Millar's bat in the lineup helped offensively. Millar had a line-drive hit-and-run RBI single in the first. He nearly hit Edgar Renteria, who breaking from second to third. On defense, Millar was fine in left, but Ortiz made an error on a ground ball by Geronimo Gil in the second.