Cubs to retire Ryno’s number

Ryne Sandberg’s uniform number will be retired in a special ceremony Aug. 28 at Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs-Florida Marlins game.

Sandberg’s No. 23 then will be hoisted on one of the foul poles, joining three other retired numbers: Ernie Banks’ 14, Billy Williams’ 26 and Ron Santo’s 10. Sandberg was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January and will be inducted July 31 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Sandberg, who began his 15-year career in Philadelphia, played 14 seasons with the Cubs, with whom he was named National League Most Valuable Player in 1984, made 10 All-Star Game appearances and won nine Gold Glove awards.

Red Sox get rings against Yankees

The Boston Red Sox will ring in the home portion of their schedule by getting their World Series rings at their home opener April 11 before a full house of 35,000 fans – and the New York Yankees.

“I’m sure I’m not going to help them hand them out,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said to laughter at New York’s camp in Tampa. “But they deserve it. I’m sure they’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. So let them do it.”

Franco still going at 46

The oldest player in the majors shows no signs of slowing down.

First baseman Julio Franco, 46, arrived for the first full-squad workout of spring training, intent on having another productive season for the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves see no reason to keep him away. After all, Franco batted .309 with 57 RBIs last season.

“Julio is so valuable,” manager Bobby Cox said. “He was literally our best hitter last year.”

Franco repeated his goal of playing until he’s 50 – or four more seasons. He turns 47 in August.

“I don’t want to go beyond that,” he said, “but who knows?”

Padres finalize Ashby, Fick deals

The San Diego Padres have finalized minor league deals with right-hander Andy Ashby and infielder-outfielder Robert Fick.

Although both players are at spring training with the big league club, they won’t be eligible to play for the Padres until May 1 because they weren’t offered arbitration and didn’t agree to re-sign by Dec. 7.

Ashby will earn $500,000 in base pay if he’s called up, with a chance to make another $700,000 based on the number of starts he makes. Fick will have a salary of $450,000 if he’s added to the big league roster, with a chance to make another $250,000 in performance bonuses.

Alou announces pitching rotation

Manager Felipe Alou wasted no time announcing San Francisco’s pitching rotation – selecting Jason Schmidt as the opening day starter following the Giants’ first full-squad workout.

Schmidt will be followed by left-hander Kirk Rueter, right-hander Brett Tomko, lefty Noah Lowry and righty Jerome Williams.

“We haven’t done that in three years,” Alou said of his fast decision. “We have five guys and we want them to know exactly what we want them to do.”

Gant involved in fatal accident

Former Atlanta Braves outfielder Ron Gant was involved in a fatal wreck after a pickup truck turned in front of him not far from the Atlanta airport.

Fulton County Police said James Allen, 74, of Douglasville apparently was trying to make a left turn Tuesday afternoon, cut into oncoming traffic and was struck by a sport utility vehicle driven by Gant.

Allen died at the scene. Gant was not seriously injured, and no charges were expected, police spokesman Gary Syblis said.

Vaughn becomes a landlord

Former New York Mets player Mo Vaughn joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a press conference in the Bronx to announce he will buy and renovate two run-down apartment complexes as part of the city’s effort to develop more affordable housing.

Vaughn, who quit playing baseball last year, and his company, Omni New York LLC, will use a $28.6 million loan from the city’s Housing Development Corp. to cover the cost of the project.