Reds host grand tribute

Major League Baseball is fielding a star-filled lineup to spotlight the first regular-season Civil Rights Game.

Former President Bill Clinton, entertainer Bill Cosby, boxing’s Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, basketball’s Oscar Robertson, baseball’s Hank Aaron and at least three other Hall of Famers are taking part. The weekend’s events include Saturday night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.

The tribute to the civil rights movement also aims to boost baseball’s efforts to increase interest among black youths and to highlight Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

“I feel honored and privileged that my team and my city were chosen to host this,” said Dusty Baker, the Reds’ first black manager.

Frank Robinson, the major leagues’ first black manager, will throw out the first pitch. Another former Reds star, Tony Perez, and Robertson will participate in a round-table discussion today at the Freedom Center.

Ex-Giant Rhodes dies

Dusty Rhodes, who helped the Giants win their last World Series title in 1954, has died. He was 82.

Rhodes died Wednesday of cardiopulmonary arrest at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas. He lived in Henderson, Nev.

Rhodes played with the New York Giants from 1952-57, then appeared in 54 games for the San Francisco Giants in 1959.

Rhodes was 4 for 6 with two home runs in the 1954 World Series, when the Giants swept Cleveland.

Clearing the bases

Philadelphia left fielder Raul Ibanez went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin. John Mayberry Jr., who played for the Spokane Indians in 2005, was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Ibanez’s roster spot. … Detroit placed struggling left-hander Dontrelle Willis on the 15-day DL with an anxiety disorder. … San Diego’s Chris Young (right shoulder inflammation) will be placed on the 15-day DL today. … Sentencing for former Oakland first baseman Troy Neel has been postponed until July 17. Neel had been scheduled to appear in a San Antonio federal court to face sentencing on charges of fleeing the country to avoid paying more than $700,000 in unpaid child support.