Rickey's ready

Baseball's all-time stolen base king arrives in Seattle early

Posted: Friday May 19, 2000 11:15 PM SEATTLE (AP) -- Rickey Henderson thinks he's going to be a nice fit in Seattle, a city where he's wanted to play for a long time. "I feel physically good," the veteran left fielder said Friday, arriving just an hour before the start of the Mariners' game with Tampa Bay. "It's a fresh start for me. I know I'm going to get the opportunity to play." Henderson, 41, signed with Seattle on Wednesday night after being released by the New York Mets. He wasn't supposed to be at Safeco Field until Saturday or Sunday but arrived earlier than anticipated. He seemed anxious to show manager Lou Piniella, general manager Pat Gillick, his new teammates and Mariners' fans that he still has a lot of baseball left to play. Henderson wasn't inserted into the starting lineup, but he was on the bench in a Mariners' uniform for the opener of a three-game series. Piniella plans to start him in left field and use him as his leadoff hitter. Mariners' leadoff hitters are hitting .184 this season. The Mariners activated Henderson and optioned right-hander Kevin Hodges, who has been in their bullpen, to Triple-A Tacoma. They had Mark McLemore as their leadoff hitter and Stan Javier in left field. "I know what Lou wants, I know what he expects," said Henderson, who played under Piniella with the New York Yankees when Piniella managed that team from 1986-88. Henderson refused to criticize the Mets or manager Bobby Valentine, with whom he had a stormy relationship this season. But he did say he felt he wasn't given enough of a chance to play left field this season. "I'm not bitter," he said. "I've never been bitter about any of my former clubs." After having a banner year last season when the Mets made it to the NLCS against Atlanta, Henderson slumped this year, hitting .219 with a .387 on-base percentage in 31 games. In New York, he was making $1.9 million. He will cost the Mariners about $150,000 and the Mets will pay him the remainder of his salary. The Mariners' contract with Henderson gives the team an option to keep him at $3 million with a $250,000 buyout by the team if it doesn't want to keep him. "It's great to be in Seattle," Henderson said. "There were times in the past when I wanted to come here, especially when [Ken] Griffey was here." Griffey forced the Mariners to trade him to the Cincinnati Reds in February. The Mariners haven't officially retired No. 24, Griffey's old number, but Henderson won't wear No. 24 here. Instead, he will wear No. 35, the number Henderson wore in his first of four stints with the Oakland Athletics. "Numbers don't really matter," Henderson said.