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Notebook: Death exposes imposter

Associated Press Baseball cards of major league player Bill Henry are shown next to an undated photograph of a man with the same name, Bill Henry, and his wife Elizabeth. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
Associated Press Baseball cards of major league player Bill Henry are shown next to an undated photograph of a man with the same name, Bill Henry, and his wife Elizabeth. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Everyone in Lakeland, Fla., knew Bill Henry as an old major league pitcher – at church, around the golf course and certainly at home.

The 83-year-old didn’t like to boast, but he had stories. The boys at The 19th Hole lounge at the golf course where the 6-foot-2 lefty retired had to pry for nostalgia, but Henry knew his stuff – his appearance in the 1961 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds, the 1960 All-Star selection, the 16 seasons in the majors.

But it turns out the Lakeland man was not the Bill Henry who played major league ball, and the tales he spun are unraveling a week after his death following a heart attack.

The former reliever by the same name is alive and well in Texas – stunned someone had claimed his accomplishments for decades. The 79-year-old learned of the impostor after The Associated Press distributed a short obituary. The death – and the bogus history – originally was reported in The Ledger, the local newspaper.

Beavers keep name

Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson has decided not to change the Triple-A team’s nickname.

“We were not going to change the name just for the sake of change,” Paulson said. “It’s clear that there are strong feelings about the Beavers’ name, and that’s a great thing.”

Clearing the bases

Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees received a cortisone injection in his sore right elbow. … Carlos Delgado will be sidelined for a week to 10 days with a strained muscle in his right hip, a significant blow to the New York Mets as they try to protect first place in the N.L. East. The slugging first baseman hurt himself on an awkward swing during an 11-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. … Carl Crawford of Tampa Bay was suspended for two games and fined by the commissioner’s office after he was ejected earlier this week. The All-Star left fielder planned to appeal the penalty, making him eligible to play until a hearing is held. … Baseball steroids investigator George Mitchell wanted to speak to 45 current or former players as of last month, according to a letter written by a players’ union lawyer, The New York Times reported.