Henderson Hasn’t Lost His Confidence

Rickey Henderson might not have enough left to re-energize the listless Dodger offense, but the future Hall of Famer figures to make things more interesting at Chavez Ravine.

“I still feel I can play the game the way Rickey played before,” said Henderson, who started in left field and went one for four batting leadoff Thursday night in a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. He struck out twice.

The Dodgers signed the 44-year-old Henderson, who was playing for the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League because they have the worst offense in the National League and he’s considered the best leadoff batter in baseball history.

Henderson could be competing for playing time with center fielder and leadoff batter Dave Roberts, on the disabled list because of hamstring problems.

Roberts will begin a rehabilitation assignment Monday.

Henderson said he’s simply happy to be back in the major leagues.

“Basically, we talked about [the fact that] this club hasn’t been scoring enough runs,” Henderson said of his conversation with Manager Jim Tracy. “That’s basically one of my fortes, knowing how to score runs.”

*

Pitcher Kevin Brown said the latest tests performed on him did not show further damage to his lower abdominal strain. The Dodgers plan to activate him from the disabled list Saturday to start against the Cardinals.

*

A specialist determined that Ron Coomer’s headaches and vision problems are the result of a muscular problem in his jaw.

*

Outfielder Chin-Feng Chen and pitcher Alfredo Gonzalez were optioned to triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Henderson and Jeromy Burnitz on the 25-man roster.

*

With 148 1/3 innings this season, Hideo Nomo is guaranteed of making at least $8 million next season.

An $8-million club option for next season became guaranteed when Nomo pitched at least 360 combined innings in 2002 and ’03. After pitching six innings against the Cardinals, Nomo has already worked 368 2/3 innings during that span.