"Rickey is so very, very, very humble."

Maybe it's just me...but there sure seemed to be an awful lot of fanfare surrounding the Oakland Athletics retiring Rickey Henderson's number on Saturday.

I get the former teammates and family being present. They helped make Rickey, um...Rickey.

I totally understand the podium so Henderson can speak to the sold out crowd of 35,067 in attendance.

Current Oakland superstar Jason Giambi presenting him with a uniquely crafted crystal trophy, I can accept that, too.

But the fireworks, Henderson walking down the red carpet extending from centerfield to the infield and the subsequent gold base that welcomed him...that might have been a little much. Add to that the fact that Oakland kicked off Rickey Henderson Month (yes, August is officially Rickey Henderson Month in Oakland) and...wow.

And I like the guy...a lot!

To hear Henderson's entire speech from Saturday and to witness the fanfare firsthand, head on over to MLB.com.

In case you were wondering, Henderson became the fifth Oakland player to have his number retired by the team, joining Dennis Eckersley (43), Rollie Fingers (34), Catfish Hunter (27) and Reggie Jackson (9).

Thoughts about Rickey being Rickey

With all the Hall of Fame talk there has been the last week or so...I've found my favorite Rickey Henderson tribute and it came from none other than Kevin Kaduk over at Yahoo.

Two years ago, when the Hall of Very Good was just some random Myspace posts tossed out willy nilly to whoever would read them, I shared some of my own memories about Rickey Henderson.

Today...I've kicked the cobwebs off that post and thrown it back up here on the interwebs for you to read. Again.

Enjoy!

I'm on a baseball kick…it's true. Even more true…I like stats and I love comparing them.

I had a conversation over the weekend about who I thought was the "best ballplayer" I had ever seen. Now granted…I started watching baseball in 1981, but still, the choice was an easy one.

Rickey Henderson.

Here's the thing about Rickey that is the most fun to point out…people HATED him.

He was arrogant, self-centered and flashy. He was the first player that I remember to play wearing an earring, Oakleys AND a Jheri-curl…all at the SAME TIME!

Rickey's Hall of Fame credentials are unmatched when it comes to current players that are eligible for the Hall, but have yet to get in. Even better…he hasn't OFFICIALLY retired! Yet…Henderson stands to be the first player elected to the Hall WITHOUT having retired. Sure, some players didn't retire and made it in due to death (I'm looking your way Roberto Clemente)…but never (that I know of) has someone who hasn't retired been selected.

Statistician Bill James was asked if he thought Henderson was a Hall of Famer…his famous reply was "if you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers." As a baseball fan and memorabilia collector…that makes my lone run-in with Rickey all the appropriate. I was waiting for the Yankees bus to show up outside the Pfister in Milwaukee when, long before the bus showed up, Rickey showed up in a taxi. On his left arm was a white girl…on the right, a black girl.

Apparently Rickey found a way to make himself two Hall of Famers…at least for one night.

Another great Henderson story comes from one of his FOUR stints with the Oakland A's. Team bookkeepers could not account for a ONE MILLION DOLLAR discrepancy in their finances. Eventually, this was traced to Rickey…he had a check for one million buckos framed and hanging on his wall.

Classy.

Let's look into the stats. Sure, Rickey was an All-Star in ten of his first twelve seasons, the MVP of the 1990 season (he SHOULD have been the MVP in 1981 as well) and the career leader in runs and steals…but the guy was more of a stud than even those stats imply.

Here's a gem. On July 29, 1989, Henderson stole FIVE bases off of Randy Johnson. This ended up being Rickey's career high (Henderson had eighteen FOUR steal games during his career), and one shy of the single-game steal record. Add to that…he was 0-0 in the game with four walks.

By the way, Rickey used to hold the record for most walks in a career too…that was until the world decided to stop pitching to Barry Bonds.

In 2002, Henderson suited up for his eighth team (he played for nine), the Boston Red Sox. Incredibly, from 1979-2001, Rickey Henderson had stolen more bases than the Red Sox had managed over the same time span: 1,395 steals for Rickey, 1,382 for the Boston franchise.

Not surprisingly, Henderson is one of two players to have stolen bases in four separate decades, along with Ted Williams. Strangely, Williams only had 24 stolen bases in his entire career.

In 1982, Rickey swiped 130 bases…good for the most in a season. That season he had more steals that EIGHT American League teams did as a team! Currently, Kenny Lofton is the active leader for stolen bases…a mere 800 behind Henderson. Lou Brock, the former record holder for steals in a career…is 500 behind Rickey.

Steals aside…Henderson also had 81 lead-off home runs. Think about that for a second…27% of Rickey's home runs led off a game.

Also, his career total of 297 is more than some notable Hall of Fame outfielders (Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Hack Wilson, Robin Yount and Kirby Puckett).

His 3055 hits rank 20th all-time. The only three players with more hits that aren't in Cooperstown…Pete Rose, Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn.

I'll stop now, but suffice it to say…Rickey SHOULD garner the highest percentage of votes since George Brett and Nolan Ryan in 1999.

Make some room up on the wall

It appears as though making it into the Hall of Fame is not the only excitement Rickey Henderson is going to have this season...the Oakland A's are planning on retiring his jersey number. Here's a story that appeared over at the San Francisco Chronicle.


"In another sign the A's are preparing to retire Rickey Henderson's jersey number, catcher Kurt Suzuki switched from No. 24 to No. 8 this spring.

A's equipment manager Steve Vucinich said there has been no official decision about retiring Henderson's number and noted that the team waited until the year after Dennis Eckersley was elected to the Hall to retire the closer's No. 43."

Read the rest of Susan Slusser's column HERE!

It's official, Rickey's the greatest...Rice too!

I'll have more later, but THIS is what MLB.com has to say about Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice making it in.

In 2009 it's Henderson, Rice and "The Ram"

I suppose that it’s purely coincidence that on the same night Mickey Rourke wins the Best Actor Golden Globe…plenty of players that shared the same heyday as the fictional Randy “The Ram” Robinson went to bed wondering when and if their phone is going to ring.

Today is the day for some. It is the culmination of a career, validation of a job well done and for most…a heartbreaking “thanks for playing” consolation prize.

We know one guy that is in for sure…Rickey Henderson.

Fans of the greatest leadoff hitter EVER can make their reservations for the weekend of July 24, because Henderson is poised to garner the most votes when the Hall of Fame ballots are counted and made public. For the record, Cal Ripken Jr. got the most votes (537 in 2007) while Tom Seaver had the highest vote percentage (98.8% in 1992).

My guess is Henderson eclipses them both. But who else deserves to share the podium with Henderson?


It’s been 20 years since Cooperstown has opened its doors for a leftfielder (Carl Yastrzemski was elected in 1989), will the Hall welcome TWO this summer?

With Dennis Eckersley (2004), Bruce Sutter (2006) and Goose Gossage (2008) making it in in three of the last four years...does another reliever get enshrined?

Will the Hall welcome a pair of pitchers with a staggering 575 wins between them?

Yes…no?!? I don’t know to be honest. I mean, I have an idea as to who MIGHT make their way in…but I also have my opinion as to who I would vote in if given a vote.

YES.

Rickey Henderson.
No questions asked…the guy could have written his speech 10-15 years ago.

Jim Rice.
Is it conceivable Rice has finally changed the minds of those 16 writers that keep him from getting in last year? Possibly. Bert Blyleven was the sexy pick of all the bloggers and writers out there and fell short…something tells me that this year’s darling (Rice) will no longer be the bridesmaid.

Harold Baines and Andre Dawson.
Again, like Rourke’s character in “The Wrestler”, both had tremendous success in the late 80s and early 90s and have terrible, terrible knees. I would vote for both for different reasons. Baines was the pre-eminent DH of his time and as I’ve said before…if you’re going to include the DH as a position, you’ve gotta include a DH in the Hall. I put “The Hawk” in simply on his own merit. He was every bit the player Jim Rice was and as equally feared.

Lee Smith.
I met the guy last April and the man is intimidating as all Hell. Lee seemed bigger than life standing next to me (I'm 6'4") and shaking his hand was like grabbing a tractor tire. I can only imagine what it was like having him throw something in your direction from sixty feet, six inches. His 478 saves was pretty good too.

NO.

Jay Bell, Mark Grace and Matt Williams.
The trio that helped bring a championship to Arizona in 2001 is going to have to buy their admittance to the Hall just like you and me.

The Cousins Vaughn…Mo and Greg.
I loved them both. Along with Dante Bichette…I think a majority of the fantasy league teams I put together between 1998-2003 contained one if not all three of them.


Ron Gant, Jesse Orosco and Dan Plesac.
One of these guys is a two-time 30/30 club member. Another one is the all-time leader in games pitched. The last one once signed a card for me outside County Stadium. Combined, they won’t be lucky to get enough votes to stay on the ballot a year from now to see Ray Lankford, Kevin Appier and Mike Jackson also not get elected.

Mark McGwire.
I’ve heard all the OPS arguments, but take away his tremendous home run total and all you’ve got is a guy who played in a ton of All-Star games and had precious little to show for it.

Dave Parker and Alan Trammell.
It’s possible that both “The Cobra” and “Alan” (did the vanilla white Trammell HAVE a nickname?) will take the writers to the limit. The problem is…after 15 years, neither will have gotten any closer to entering Cooperstown.

Bert Blyleven and Tommy John.
These two have 575 victories between them…not too shabby. On the flip side, they have only six All-Star appearances, four 20 win seasons, two rings and NO Cy Young Awards. 48 years in the bigs and that’s the best you can muster?

Which leads me to…

I’M ON THE FENCE…seriously.

David Cone and Jack Morris.
Honestly, I’d put both of these guys in before Blyleven and John. They were winners through and through. The argument is always “Blyleven/John did what they did on teams that didn’t win”. My response…“Cone and Morris MADE their teams winners”. EIGHT times.

Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy and Tim Raines.
If you paid ANY attention to baseball in the 80s…THESE were three of about a dozen or so guys that you would pay good money to watch. Of the three, I think Mattingly is the only one who will have his dance card punched…even if it is by the Veterans Committee.

Based on the breakdown, I guess I’d put in five guys (Henderson, Rice, Dawson, Smith and Baines)…we’ll see soon how the REAL writers do.

Who are YOUR Hall of Fame picks? Let’s hear ya!

"Today...I am the greatest!"

I'm on a baseball kick…it's true. Even more true…I like stats and I love comparing them. I had a conversation over the weekend about who I thought was the "best ballplayer" I had ever seen. Now granted…I started watching baseball in 1981, but still, the choice was an easy one.

Rickey Henderson.

Here's the thing about Rickey that is the most fun to point out…people HATED him.

He was arrogant, self-centered and flashy. He was the first player that I remember to play wearing an earring, Oakleys AND a Jheri-curl…all at the SAME TIME!

Rickey's Hall of Fame credentials are unmatched when it comes to current players that are eligible for the Hall, but have yet to get in. Even better…he hasn't OFFICIALLY retired! Yet…Henderson stands to be the first player elected to the Hall WITHOUT having retired. Sure, some players didn't retire and made it in due to death (I'm looking your way Roberto Clemente)…but never (that I know of) has someone who hasn't retired been selected.

Statistician Bill James was asked if he thought Henderson was a Hall of Famer…his famous reply was "if you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers." As a baseball fan and memorabilia collector…that makes my lone run-in with Rickey all the appropriate. I was waiting for the Yankees bus to show up outside the Pfister in Milwaukee when, long before the bus showed up, Rickey showed up in a taxi. On his left arm was a white girl…on the right, a black girl.

Apparently Rickey found a way to make himself two Hall of Famers…at least for one night.

Another GREAT Henderson story comes from one of his FOUR stints with the Oakland A's. Team bookkeepers could not account for a ONE MILLION DOLLAR discrepancy in their finances. Eventually, this was traced to Rickey…he had a check for one million buckos framed and hanging on his wall.

Classy.

Let's look into the stats. Sure, Rickey was an All-Star in ten of his first twelve seasons, the MVP of the 1990 season (he SHOULD have been the MVP in 1981 as well) and the career leader in runs and steals…but the guy was more of a stud than even those stats imply.

Here's a gem. On July 29, 1989, Henderson stole FIVE bases off of Randy Johnson. This ended up being Rickey's career high (Henderson had eighteen FOUR steal games during his career), and one shy of the single-game steal record. Add to that…he was 0-0 in the game with four walks. By the way, Rickey used to hold the record for most walks in a career too…that was until the world decided to stop pitching to Barry Bonds.

In 2002, Henderson suited up for his EIGHTH team (he played for nine), the Boston Red Sox. Incredibly, from 1979-2001, Rickey Henderson had stolen more bases than the Red Sox had managed over the same time span: 1,395 steals for Rickey, 1,382 for the Boston franchise. Not surprisingly, Henderson is one of two players to have stolen bases in four separate decades, along with Ted Williams. Strangely, Williams only had 24 stolen bases in his entire career.

In 1982, Rickey swiped 130 bases…good for the most in a season. That season he had more steals that EIGHT American League teams did as a team! Currently, Kenny Lofton is the active leader for stolen bases…a mere 800 behind Henderson. Lou Brock, the former record holder for steals in a career…is 500 behind Rickey.

Steals aside…Henderson also had 81 lead-off home runs. Think about that for a second…27% of Rickey's home runs led off a game. His career total of 297 is more than some notable Hall of Fame outfielders (Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Hack Wilson, Robin Yount and Kirby Puckett). His 3055 ranks 20 all-time. The only three players with more hits that aren't in Cooperstown…Pete Rose, Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn.

I'll stop now, but suffice it to say…Rickey SHOULD garner the highest percentage of votes since George Brett and Nolan Ryan in 1999.