BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Umpire Palermo Welcomed Back to Baseball Diamond

Umpire Steve Palermo received a standing ovation when he walked haltingly to home plate before Saturday’s game between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics in Arlington, Tex.

The steps were Palermo’s first on a baseball diamond since a bullet hit his spinal cord when he tried to stop a robbery July 7 in Dallas.

“If I walk away from baseball, that’s one thing. If I believe it’s time to leave the game, that’s on my terms. But I don’t want anyone to take it away from me,” Palermo said.

A golf cart carried Palermo onto the diamond and then, with the aid of canes, he took part in the pregame meeting at home plate.

Greg Riddoch, who guided the San Diego Padres through a troubled but winning season, was granted a one-year contract extension.

“I’d like to have a 10-year contract. You’d like to have more than one year, but right now it’s the agreement that I do it for one year,” Riddoch said.

The Padres clinched third place despite injuries to batting star Tony Gwynn and several pitchers. The Padres have used 22 pitchers, including 13 starters. Andy Benes was the only member of the original starting rotation who did not miss a start.