Henderson, 40-and-over Club Spry in the Spring

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., —  Rickey Henderson isn’t content simply to play left field and bat leadoff for the New York Mets at age 40. He wants to be baseball’s answer to boxer George Foreman.

“I feel like I can play until I’m 50,” Henderson said. “If the good Lord keeps me strong and healthy, I can play that long.”

While the optimism of spring might contribute to Henderson’s long-range plans, he’s not the only major leaguer getting the most from his twilight years. Across Florida and Arizona, camps are full of players old enough to remember the Beatles’ first appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964.

* Tampa Bay third baseman Wade Boggs, 40, needs 78 hits to reach 3,000 for his career.

* Atlanta’s Otis Nixon, 40, will platoon in left field with Gerald Williams now that Ryan Klesko has moved to first base to replace Andres Galarraga, who’s out for the season with a cancerous tumor in his back.

* Gary Gaetti, 40, played alongside both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. This year he’s back with Sosa as third baseman for the Chicago Cubs.

* Outfielder Willie McGee, 40, is back with St. Louis for his 18th major-league season.

* The Baltimore Orioles will have two players approaching middle-age: Reliever Jesse Orosco is 41, and designated hitter Harold Baines turns 40 on March 15.

* Pitcher Orel Hershiser, 40, is trying to win a job as a non-roster invitee in Cleveland.

* Knuckleballer Tom Candiotti and changeup artist Doug Jones, both 41, are still pitching in Oakland. Teammate Tim Raines, 39, is just a pup in comparison. He says he wants to stick around long enough to play with his son, Tim Jr., Baltimore’s sixth-round draft choice in 1998.

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Even with the retirement of Dennis Eckersley, Paul Molitor, Dennis Martinez, Joe Carter, Danny Darwin, Dave Stieb and Jimmy Key, plenty of spring geezers know what it means to be boys of summer. They’re reluctant to leave baseball.

“Quitting or being finished is something you can only do once -- unless you’re Michael Jordan,” Hershiser said.

Money isn’t always a factor in prolonging a player’s career. Raines, who earned $1.3 million for the New York Yankees last year, will make $600,000 with Oakland.

Hershiser turned down a $2 million offer from Florida to sign a minor-league contract with Cleveland. If he makes the Indians’ opening-day roster, he’ll earn $400,000 plus incentives.

“You can only eat steak so often, and you can only have so big a savings account,” Hershiser said.

Hall Hopes

Sometimes the lure of a statistical milestone can keep a player going. Henderson is 167 walks behind Babe Ruth’s career record of 2,056, and 233 runs behind Ty Cobb’s all-time mark of 2,246.

Hershiser is a career 190-133 with Los Angeles, Cleveland and San Francisco. He’s focusing on 200 victories, then 209 --the same as the late Dodgers great and Hall of Famer Don Drysdale.

“People tell me if I get to 200 or 209, I have a legitimate shot at the Hall of Fame,” Hershiser said.