Where's Rickey? Not even his agent knows for sure.
"I really don't know," Richie Bry said Wednesday after American League MVP Rickey Henderson failed to show up at Oakland's training camp on the mandatory reporting day. "I have no more idea than you do."Oakland general manager Sandy Alderson wasn't surprised. He said the club hadn't determined whether or not it would fine Henderson.
"If Rickey is trying to make a statement, I wouldn't have expected him on the first day that he can be fined," Alderson said. "The fact that he's not in camp only means that he can be fined."
The left fielder apparently is upset that the Athletics haven't been willing to renegotiate the four-year, $12 million contract he signed before the beginning of last season.
"It has been intimated to me that's the reason," Alderson said. "I haven't gotten a telegraph."
Oakland manager Tony La Russa maintained his calm approach to Henderson's absence. The A's had requested all players report to camp by Feb. 27.
"I don't personally feel Rickey is shirking his responsibility by not being here," La Russa said.
While Henderson was off somewhere, Jack Armstrong and Joe Oliver of the World Series champion Cincinnati Reds made it clear why they were not in camp. Their contracts were renewed and they say they won't come back until they get better deals.
"The fines will start tomorrow if they're not here," Reds general manager Bob Quinn said at Plant City, Fla. "I'm not going to disclose the amount, but it is a fixed amount of fine. Yes, they know it."
Armstrong was renewed at $215,000 and Oliver at $185,000. They each want about $100,000 more for 1991.