Baseball Capsules: Henderson, Rice inducted into Hall of Fame

The former left fielders were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday along with the late Joe Gordon, and Henderson, baseball's all-time leading base stealer, was briefly overcome before evoking some hearty laughs.

"My journey as a player is complete," Henderson said. "I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time, and at this moment I am very humbled."

Born in Chicago on Christmas Day 1958, Henderson moved with his family to California when he was 7 years old and became a three-sport star at Oakland Technical High School. Football was his forte and he received numerous scholarships. He was persuaded to turn them down for a shot at baseball.

"My dream was to play football for the Oakland Raiders," Henderson said. "But my mother thought I would get hurt playing football, so she chose baseball for me. I guess moms do know best."

Henderson led the AL in steals 12 times and holds the record for steals with 1,406, runs scored with 2,295, unintentional walks with 2,129, and homers leading off a game with 81.

He said he owed much of that to a trick played by his former Babe Ruth coach, Hank Thompson.

"He tricked me into playing by coming to pick me up with a glazed donut and a cup of hot chocolate," said Henderson, who played for nine teams during his 25-year career. "That was the way he would get me up and out of bed."

Henderson said a high school counselor who needed players for the baseball team provided even more spark.

"She would pay me a quarter every time I would get a hit, when I would score or stole a base," he said. "After my first 10 games, I had 30 hits, 25 runs scored and 33 steals. Not bad money for a kid."

Henderson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics on the fourth round in 1976 and made his major league debut with Oakland in late June 1979. It was a day Henderson said he would never forget.

"That was the most thrilling time of my life," Henderson said, remembering former As owner Charlie Finley. "Charlie, wherever you're at, and that donkey, I want to say thank you for that opportunity."

When Finley hired Billy Martin as manager in 1980, Henderson had the perfect partner in crime. "Billyball" — the aggressive attack Martin relished — helped catapult Henderson to stardom.

Just the thought of that time forced Henderson to halt briefly in his speech when remembering Martin, who was killed in a car crash on Christmas 1989.

"Billy always got the most out of me," he said. "Billy, I miss you so much and I wish you were here today."

In 1980, Henderson became the first AL player to steal 100 or more bases in a single season with 100 to break Ty Cobb's record of 96 steals in 1915. Two years later he set the modern major league record for stolen bases with 130, breaking former Cardinals star Lou Brock's mark of 118.

While Henderson, now 50, was just the 44th player elected to the Hall in his first year of eligibility, Rice had to wait until his final year of eligibility to be selected.

"It doesn't matter that the call came 15 years later," Rice said. "What matters is that I got it.

"It's hard to comprehend. I am in awe to be in this elite company and humbled to be accepting this honor. I cannot think of anywhere I'd rather be than to be right here, right now, with you and you," Rice said, pointing at the 50 Hall of Famers on stage behind him and then at the fans. "Thank you."

Playing at a time when offensive numbers paled in comparison to the past two decades, the so-called steroid era, Rice batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs from 1974-89. He drove in 100 or more runs eight times, batted over .300 seven times, and topped 200 hits four times. And he's the only player in major league history with at least 35 homers and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).

And he's known for a long time the reason he had to wait so long.

"The media often asked me about my players (teammates)," Rice, now 56, said. "I refused to be the media's mouthpiece. I came to Boston to play professional baseball, and that's what I did. And I did it well."

The day's most poignant moment came at the end of the acceptance speech given by Gordon's daughter, Judy. Gordon died in 1978 at age 63 and requested that he not have a funeral.

"We consider Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame as his final resting place, a place he'll be honored forever," Judy Gordon said, tears welling in her eyes. "

Gordon won the 1942 AL MVP, beating out Triple Crown winner Ted Williams, and was an All-Star nine times in 11 seasons, leading the league in assists four times and in double plays three times. Nicknamed "Flash" because of his quick feet, Gordon was the first AL second baseman to hit 20 home runs in a season — he did it seven times — and still holds the league mark for career homers by a second baseman (246).

Notebook: Dwight Evans: Rice induction long overdue

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Jim Rice had one Hall of Fame endorsement a long time ago. The problem for Rice was, former teammate Dwight Evans doesn't have a ballot.

After 15 years of waiting, Rice was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday with Rickey Henderson and the late Joe Gordon.

"I couldn't be happier. He's finally being recognized," Evans, who played alongside Rice in the Boston Red Sox outfield during Rice's entire career, said prior to the ceremony. "I spent the entire 16 years with him. I think this is 10, 12 years too late."

Evans said he felt steroids helped keep Rice out of the Hall until his final year of eligibility.

"Steroids played a lot in the escalation of the stats," Evans said. "The stats are all padded. Finally, it's been exposed the last two or three years. They said, 'This guy did it on his own and he should be recognized for it.' I truly believe that's what has happened here. It's too late, but it's happening."

Rice played at a time when offensive numbers paled in comparison to the past two decades, the so-called steroid era. He batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs from 1974-89. He also drove in 100 or more runs eight times, batted over .300 seven times, topped 200 hits four times, and is the only player in major league history with at least 35 homers and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).

STEWART'S FRIEND

Former Oakland A's ace Dave Stewart is one of Rickey Henderson's best friends — and biggest supporters.

Henderson, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, led the AL in steals 12 times and holds the major league record for steals with 1,406, runs scored with 2,295, unintentional walks with 2,129, and homers leading off a game with 81.

"There's no words to describe him," Stewart said. "He's one of the top four or five players to ever play, in my opinion. He's a Hall of Famer for the problems that he created. He represented a run standing at the plate. He was dominating."

FLASHY GORDON

Joe Gordon was inducted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, and his daughter, Judy, gave a glimpse of the man they called "Flash."

Gordon won the 1942 AL MVP, beating out Triple Crown winner Ted Williams, and was an All-Star nine times in 11 seasons with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians, leading the league in assists four times and in double plays three times. He was the first AL second baseman to hit 20 home runs in a season — he did it seven times — and still holds the league mark for career homers by a second baseeman (246).

Gordon grew up poor, working with brother Jack in copper and gold mines in Arizona before his parents split and his mother moved the family to Oregon.

Gordon, who earned his nickname because of his quick feet, learned baseball on the sandlots of Portland. And he was a man of many talents, on the field and off: ventriloquist, calf roper, rodeo horse rider, pilot, and fly fisherman.

"At the University of Oregon, amazingly, dad competed in baseball, football, soccer, track and gymnastics," Judy Gordon said. "And he was so good of a golfer he shot par-72 the week before he died."

Gordon died in 1978 at age 63.

AROUND THE HORN

Former New York Yankees star and longtime broadcaster Tony Kubek received the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting. Nick Peters received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. Peters, a San Francisco native, has covered more Giants games than anyone in a career that spanned 47 seasons (1961-2007). ... Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson was named after singer Ricky Nelson, whose 1961 song "Traveling Man" could have been written about baseball's all-time stolen base leader. Henderson played for nine teams in his 25-year career. That ties him for second all-time among Hall of Famers with Goose Gossage and Hoyt Wilhelm, behind only Dan Brouthers. Henderson played four stints with Oakland, one of four players in major league history to play for the same team on four different occasions. ... There are 289 elected members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Baseball Writers Association of America has elected just 108 candidates. ... Jim Rice is one of 47 Hall of Famers to play his entire career with one team.

-- John  Kekis

National League

"I feel really good," the three-time Cy Young Award winner said Sunday. "That's the news here."

The 37-year-old's first minor league rehab start in preparation for a comeback with the Philadelphia Phillies was cut short by rain, yet the right-hander remained on track for a return with the World Series champions after an abbreviated appearance for the Class A Clearwater Threshers.

Martinez worked 1 1-3 innings before the Florida State League game against the St. Lucie Mets — the Advanced-A affiliate of the team the eight-time All-Star played for from 2005-08 — was stopped because of a downpour.

He felt it was "interesting" that his initial rehab outing would come against farmhands from his old team and was disappointed the day ended with him moving indoors to pitch three simulated innings instead of facing batters.

"I wasn't going to approach these kids like kids. I was going to approach them like they're big leaguers," said Martinez, who was immediately placed on the disabled list with a shoulder strain after signing a $1 million, one-year contract this month.

"When you're coming off an injury you just work on the things that you really need. If it's arm strength, you just throw fast balls, regardless of what happens. When you're healthy, and you don't have to worry about all those things, you pitch. And I wanted to pitch today. I wanted to go after those kids."

Martinez, who sat out the first half of this year after going 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA in 20 starts for the Mets last season, hit a batter and allowed one bloop hit during a 20-pitch first inning that was delayed more than 30 minutes by an early afternoon storm.

It was raining again by the time he took the mound for the second inning. After retiring the leadoff batter on a first-pitch fly ball, the right-hander threw three more pitches before play was stopped.

Martinez, who struck out Stefan Welch with a nifty changeup to end the first, threw 14 of his 24 pitches for strikes. He said his next rehab start likely will be Friday for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

"I wanted that second inning to keep going. I started off with three good fast balls. Regardless of what happened, I threw three good fastballs. That was my main idea, to let it go at that moment and work like I was a in a real game."

Clearwater manager Ernie Whitt was impressed with what he saw.

"It's an inning and a third, you really can't judge that," Whitt said. "He did throw one real good changeup to strike out the hitter. That's the changeup that you're used to seeing.

"I'm sure he was a little rusty, too. He hasn't faced a hitter in a while in a live game situation. I think he's going to be fine."

The game was called after a 34-minute delay. Midway through the break, Martinez trotted up the left field line to the clubhouse at the Phillies' spring training home, and finished his work indoors.

"We got the call from Philly and they wanted him to go ahead and finish his pitches in the cage in a controlled situation," the manager said.

Martinez, 214-99 with a 2.91 ERA in 467 career games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, has not pitched in the majors since September.

Fans lined the railing above the bullpen in left field to get a glimpse of the eight-time All-Star warming up.

Some of Clearwater's pitchers were curious, too, getting an even closer look from along the fence inside in the bullpen.

Phillies prospect Dominic Brown started in right field and singled and scored a run in the first inning in support of Martinez, who led 2-0 when the game was stopped.

"Of course it's disappointing when Pedro Martinez is on the mound, a future Hall of Famer most likely," Brown said. "It's great to be out there. It's just humbling to be out there. I'm a little down right now because I wanted to finish the game."

-- Fred Goodall

Rox RHP Corpas hopes to pitch again in September

The Colorado Rockies reliever requested the tiny sliver of bone as a keepsake from his first surgery Friday. He brought it with him in a visit to the clubhouse the next day, showing teammates the chip that was causing so much irritation.

Although Corpas' right elbow remains puffy, he can already bend the arm and touch his shoulder. He's scheduled to have the stitches removed in 10 days and will work on increasing the strength in the elbow. He's hoping to throw sometime in August and has targeted a return in September.

"It's feeling much better," said Corpas, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday.

While inside the elbow, the doctor checked for ligament damage and found nothing. That possibility had Corpas on edge more than the bone spur. The thought of needing Tommy John surgery — like Taylor Buchholz underwent earlier in the season — petrified him.

"Everything is fine," said the 26-year-old Corpas, who's 1-3 with a 5.88 ERA this season. "It's good."

With Corpas' elbow ailing and Alan Embree out after breaking his right leg on a line drive earlier this month, the Rockies went out and bolstered their bullpen. They acquired Rafael Betancourt from Cleveland on Thursday and promoted right-hander Jhoulys Chacin from Double-A Tulsa.

So far, the moves are paying off.

Betancourt has thrown two scoreless innings since joining the club and Chacin pitched a scoreless ninth Saturday night in his major league debut.

Although Chacin was a little nervous when summoned against the Giants, he received a piece of advice from his buddies in the bullpen that calmed him down.

"They told me, 'Hey, when you get out there just do what you know how to do, just throw strikes and make them swing,'" said Chacin, who was awarded the game ball after striking out two and walking one. "So I just wanted to throw it in the zone and make them swing."

By dealing for Betancourt, Rockies manager Jim Tracy now has a reliable bridge to closer Huston Street, who's converted 25 of 26 save chances. It also allows Tracy to switch Juan Rincon back to his more comfortable role of pitching in the seventh inning.

"(It's an) opportunity to move some of the other pieces around to where they make even more sense than where I had them," Tracy said. "But they did a yeoman's job."

The bullpen ran their streak to 11 1-3 innings without allowing a hit Sunday in a 4-2 win over San Francisco, when lefty Franklin Morales and Street each pitched perfect frames.

"The team has done a great job piecing together a bullpen that's really nailing it down," said starter Aaron Cook, who won his seventh straight decision Sunday. "When we hand the ball to our bullpen, we know they're going to get the job done. They're going to be aggressive and throw strikes. The way they've been handling their business has been unbelievable to watch."

-- Pat Graham

Gonzalez extends consecutive games streak