BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Parrish Ready for Henderson Challenge

MINNEAPOLIS —  Angel catcher Lance Parrish joked that if Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock’s stolen base record against him, “it puts me in the record book somehow.”

Still, Parrish would rather not make his mark in baseball history that way.

A strained left calf muscle kept Henderson out of Oakland’s series against the Seattle Mariners this weekend, leaving him one steal short of Brock’s 938. It’s not clear whether Henderson will play Monday, when the A’s open the Angels’ home season with a four-game series, but Parrish hopes Henderson is there.

“It’ll add a little excitement to things,” said Parrish, who last season threw out 55 of 117 base stealers, the best percentage of caught-stealing to steals among AL catchers. He was also one of five AL catchers to throw Henderson out stealing in 1990.

In his career, Henderson has stolen 32 bases against Parrish and two off John Orton--it couldn’t be determined how many times they had thrown him out--and he succeeded on eight of nine attempts against the Angels last season.

Henderson has stolen more bases with Floyd Bannister pitching (16) than any other pitcher. He has stolen one on Monday’s starter, Kirk McCaskill, one on Mark Langston, who will start Tuesday, and four on Jim Abbott, Wednesday’s starter. Scott Lewis, Thursday’s starter, has never faced the A’s.

“I take it as a challenge any time anybody runs against me,” Parrish said. “He’s stolen a lot more off me than I’ve gotten him, but I’ve gotten him a few times. It’s not like I don’t think I can.”

Luis Polonia, who misplayed two fly balls into triples Friday and was charged with an error on another play, wasn’t in the lineup Saturday. However, Manager Doug Rader said he had long ago planned to give Polonia the day off in order to get Dave Gallagher a start in left field.

Dave Parker also sat against left-hander Mark Guthrie, and Parrish was the designated hitter as Orton caught. Max Venable is scheduled to play today to give Dave Winfield a rest.

“I’ve got a 25-man roster and I’m going to use all 25 players,” Rader said. “We’ve gotten all the pitchers in and by (Sunday) all the players will be in. I’ve just got to get Jackie (Howell) in there.”

Polonia was glad to be a spectator. “Sometimes after a day like that, you need a day off to get your mind straight,” he said.

Reliever Bob McClure pitched two simulated innings, an exercise he will repeat Tuesday. McClure is on the disabled list because of a torn shoulder muscle, and it’s doubtful he will be ready when he’s eligible to be activated on Thursday.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said. “He used all his pitches and had control problems, which you’d expect from somebody who hadn’t faced hitters for a while. But it was a good start.”