Backboard to backstop everything is relative

New Rays pitcher Mark Hendrickson says life in the NBA isn't much different than the majors.

Mark Hendrickson has set picks for Allen Iverson. He has tried to block a Michael Jordan dunk. He has taken a charge from Shaq.

Those experiences, he figures, will help him . . . strike out Derek Jeter in Yankee Stadium with the bases loaded.

Confused? Hendrickson isn't. Not anymore. Not since he swapped his hightops for cleats.

After four seasons in the NBA, the 6-foot-9 left-handed Hendrickson stepped off the hardwood in 1999 and onto a pitcher's mound. And now Hendrickson, acquired by the Devil Rays last week from Toronto in the deal that sent Joe Kennedy to Colorado, has but one clear goal: become known as a pitcher instead of the answer to a trivia question.

"I try not to think about my (NBA career) because I don't want the only reason people know me is because I played two sports," Hendrickson said. "I want to be known as a good pitcher."

Still this is hard to ignore and not put at the top of Hendrickson's resume: He is only the 10th to play in the NBA and the major leagues.

"That's phenomenal when you think about it," college basketball analyst Dick Vitale said. "To get to the highest level of one professional sport defies the odds. But to do it in two sports? Incredible."

Vitale remembers Hendrickson as a gritty, two-time All-Pacific 10 forward at Washington State who had 43 double doubles in 108 games. What Vitale didn't know was that Hendrickson spent the spring blowing away hitters in the Pac-10. His mid 90s fastball was the reason Hendrickson was taken in six major-league drafts.

But when the 76ers made Hendrickson the 31st pick in 1996, he headed for the NBA. Two years later, he started pitching in the minors for the Blue Jays.

"In my mind, I always believed baseball would be my meal ticket," Hendrickson said. "But my goal back then was to play both sports, to be a two-sport star."

It didn't happen. It couldn't happen. The demands of being a top-notch pitcher required more than the three months a year Hendrickson dedicated to baseball. His NBA career barely treaded water as he bounced from Philadelphia to Sacramento to New Jersey to Cleveland in four years, averaging 13 minutes with 1.2 points and 2.8 rebounds.

The money was the same, about $300,000 as a major-league rookie or an NBA journeyman.

"I needed to make a decisionI said, "Let's pick a sport, don't look back, let it go.' I chose baseball."

He doesn't regret any of it.

Hendrickson, 29, worked his way up from the minors and made his major-league debut with the Blue Jays on Aug. 6, 2002. Last season, his first full one in the majors, Hendrickson made 30 starts with a 9-9 record and a 5.51 ERA in 1581/3 innings.

Rays manager Lou Piniella has Hendrickson penciled in as the No. 4 starter.

"I was curious as to see how my arm would hold up over a whole season and I think I did all right, but I know I have to get better," Hendrickson said. "I had some ups and downs and gled with consistency. But the thing I learned is that baseball, the everyday life, was mentally draining more so than it was playing a season in the NBA."

But his NBA experience - money, dealing with the media, lots of travel, swanky restaurants, five-star hotels - paved the way for his rookie tour around the majors.

"Playing in the NBA," Hendrickson said, "helped me with everything off the field in the big leagues."

And even a little between the lines. Facing A-Rod in the middle of a jam isn't much different than being isolated against Kobe on the baseline. Pressure is pressure whether it's Fenway Park or Madison Square Garden.

"I think those experiences in the NBA have helped me get ready for some of the challenges I have faced and will face in the majors," Hendrickson said. "But while I might be used to the lifestyle, I still have to become more consistent on the field. I have some unfinished business in baseball."

Hendrickson expects the same questions in the Tropicana Field clubhouse that he has heard everywhere else.

What's it like to cover Jordan? What is Iverson really like? How tough is Karl Malone?

"I'm okay with it; I don't mind," Hendrickson said. "I know someday I'll look back and think, "Wow, I played two sports at the highest level,' and I'll really appreciate it. For now, my motto is: I want to see how good Mark Hendrickson can be.

"As a baseball player, that is."

RAYS SIGN TWO: The Rays reached one-year deals Friday with pitcher Rob Bell and newly acquired infielder Geoff Blum to avoid arbitration.

Blum, acquired last week from Houston, is expected to see the bulk of starts at third base, while Bell is in the running for a spot in the rotation.

That leaves only one arbitration-eligible player before tonight's midnight deadline to tender offers. That player is second baseman Marlon Anderson, who likely won't be tendered and will be allowed to become a free agent.