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Posted By	Discussion Topic: Padres Sign Rickey Henderson
Froy King Shit *board owner*	posted on 03-19-2001 @ 10:46 PM
O&A Board Veteran Registered: Feb. 01	PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -- Rickey Henderson and the San Diego Padres agreed on a one-year deal Monday that will pay him $250,000 if he makes the club. Henderson, the career steals leader who is closing in on other marks, was at the Padres' complex, general manager Kevin Towers said. The rest of the team had the day off. ``I know there was a Rickey sighting,'' Towers said. Henderson spent about three hours at the Padres' complex, but not before getting lost on his way to Peoria, where he went through spring training with the Padres in 1996 and `97. ``They done built new freeways,'' he said. ``I had to flag a guy down on the highway and ask him, 'Am I going the right way?' '' Henderson took about 100 swings in the batting cage and ran some sprints in the outfield. He hadn't taken batting practice off a machine in 2 1/2 weeks, he said, but has been taking 300 swings a day off a batting tee with the ball on a string. ``I've always thought spring training was too long as it is. I just need enough to get my timing down,'' he said. Henderson is closing in on two major records. He is three walks short of breaking Babe Ruth's career record of 2,062 and needs to 68 runs to top Ty Cobb's record of 2,245. He also is 86 hits shy of 3,000. Henderson was ignored by teams all spring before the Padres, one of his many former teams, offered him a minor league deal. Henderson, 42, will have to play his way onto the team. If he does, he'll make $50,000 more than the major league minimum. The contract doesn't include any incentives for playing time, just the standard Padres package for things like making the All-Star team or winning a Gold Glove, Towers said. San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said he envisions Henderson as a backup outfielder or pinch-hitter, but certainly is not ruling out a starting spot in the lineup for the man considered the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. ``He's a winning player. He's the type of guy that will help the other players,'' Bochy said. Henderson was not re-signed by the Seattle Mariners after last season and has played for seven teams in a 22-season career that has included four stops in Oakland. He said he's willing to come off the bench for the Padres and never demanded a long-term contract. ``You can't tell me I'm wrong or you go get all the bench players from every team and we're going to have a tryout,'' he said. ``In a tryout out of all the teams, I'm not going to be one of the ones that leaves.'' Henderson said there's one thing that no one can take away from him. ``Wherever I went, that team won. I don't care if they were in last place; they won when I got there. I don't want to project anything, but I'll say even a team like this, I don't believe we ain't going to win.'' Henderson began his career with his hometown Oakland Athletics in 1979. ~Matt/Froy from Jersey Official Protector of Gay Marco & SwampJunk...if he ever decides to post. Also providing total immunity to Fayth
RandomNY	posted on 03-20-2001 @ 2:52 PM
Psychopath Registered: Sep. 00	Does San Dieago have a nice poker table for RICKEY.. Since Rickey's team won't win if Rickey isn't playing.

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