Associated Press
Baseball notebook …
OAKLAND, Calif. ó Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson is getting his due from the Oakland Athletics.
The A’s will retire Henderson’s No. 24 jersey during a pregame ceremony Aug. 1, deemed “Rickey Henderson Day” by the club in tribute of the career leader in runs scored and stolen bases.
Henderson, 50, spent the majority of his 25 big league seasons ó and some of his best years ó with Oakland, which selected him the fourth round of the 1976 amateur draft.
Henderson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 26. He will be the fifth Oakland player to have his number retired, joining pitchers Catfish Hunter (No. 27), Rollie Fingers (34) and Dennis Eckersley (43), and outfielder Reggie Jackson (9).
TWINS
MINNEAPOLIS ó Minnesota Twins starter Glen Perkins was still sick when he arrived at the ballpark Thursday and will not start against the White Sox on Friday.
Perkins missed his scheduled start on Wednesday against the Yankees after waking up with an illness. Manager Ron Gardenhire says Perkins met with a doctor on Thursday and received some medicine to treat the illness.
After Anthony Swarzak started in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday night, Francisco Liriano moved up a day in the rotation to face the Yankees in the series finale on Thursday.
Nick Blackburn also will move up a day to open the three-game series against Chicago on Friday. The Twins hope that Perkins will be ready pitch on Saturday.
ORIOLES
BALTIMORE ó The Baltimore Orioles have a legitimate rookie of the year candidate, only it’s not the guy many figured would be putting up lofty numbers during his first season in the big leagues.
Nolan Reimold is the Orioles’ most productive rookie, though it was former first-round pick Matt Wieters who arrived in Baltimore on May 29 amid a wave of publicity and high expectations.
Wieters is batting .267 with three home runs and nine RBIs. Reimold, a talented left fielder who never played above the Double-A level before this season, is fourth on the Orioles with nine home runs had has 23 RBI. He is batting .264 and owns a solid .341 on-base percentage.
“He doesn’t chase a lot of bad pitches, he’s got very good poise, he doesn’t get caught up in all those things. He just wants to play and hit and swing the bat,” manager Dave Trembley said. “He hits with power, yet he hits the ball the other way and he’ll take a walk. He just got a lot better quicker than a lot of people thought.”
Reimold batted .321 in spring training and hit four homers in only 28 at-bats. But he was demoted to Triple-A Norfolk in March and wasn’t even the first outfielder recalled by Baltimore after the regular season began.
BLUE JAYS
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Toronto third baseman Scott Rolen, who has hit safely in 25 straight games, is out of the starting lineup for Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay.
Rolen is normally rested when the Blue Jays play a day game following a night game.
Over his career-high 25-game run, Rolen is hitting .390 (41 of 105). The team record is 28, set by Shawn Green in 1999.
Also, Toronto manager Cito Gaston will miss at least the first two games of a weekend series that starts Friday at Baltimore to attend funeral services for his sister. Bench coach Brian Butterfield will manage the Blue Jays while Gaston is away.
MARLINS
PHOENIX ó Florida Marlins reliever Burke Badenhop left Thursday night’s game with a left knee contusion after being hit by a line drive off the bat of Arizona’s Gerardo Parra.
Badenhop collapsed to the mound, where he remained for several seconds. The ball appeared at first to hit Badenhop in his throwing arm. He was attended by the trainer and eventually walked off, favoring his left leg.
X-rays were negative.
PEDRO MARTINEZ UPDATESANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic ó Pedro Martinez says his agent is negotiating with the Philadelphia Phillies, trying to get the pitcher back into the major leagues.
Martinez said the Phillies have been scouting him in his native Dominican Republic.
“The Phillies saw me this past Tuesday in a simulated game and I felt very good with my fastball and all my pitches,” Martinez said Thursday.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. denied reports a deal was done, but confirmed the team’s interest in the three-time AL Cy Young Award winner.
“He has not been signed,” Amaro said before the NL East-leading Phillies played Cincinnati on Thursday night. “We’ve seen him pitch. He’s not in town.”
The 37-year-old Martinez is reported to have worked three innings in a simulated game against a Phillies summer league team, with his fastball clocked at up to 93 mph.
METS
NEW YORK ó Fernando Martinez is the latest New York Mets player to go down with an injury. The rookie outfielder was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with inflammation in his right knee. The move is retroactive to July 4.
The Mets recalled infielder Argenis Reyes from Triple-A.