Just Rickey Henderson Being Rickey




Rickey Henderson is the greatest base stealing artist of all-time. Nobody is close and nobody will ever challenge Rickey. When it comes to baseball, Rickey is like Madonna or Elvis or Ali. He’s known by one name. Rickey’s last name is superfluous.

Just Google the name Rickey. It will auto fill his last name automatically. There is no more meaningful justification today than that.

In baseball, the most meaningful act is to score runs. 

Rickey has accomplished the baseball equivalent of the prime directive more than any player in history. It’s another of Rickey’s records that will be unchallenged.

Rickey is Major League Baseball’s greatest leadoff hitter. It’s a position that is traditionally meant for a speedster with a premier ability to get on base.

Rickey had an eye for the strike zone like an owl has an eye for prey. In 24 seasons, Rickey got on-base over 40% of the time.

Rickey wasn’t just a base stealer and on-base machine. Rickey hit almost 300 home runs in Rickey’s career. 81 of them were leadoff home runs and, of course, are the most all-time by a lot.

Rickey is a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer. Rickey is a 10 time All Star and an American League Most Valuable Player and is the recipient of two World Series rings.

What sets Rickey apart is that Rickey is one of the preeminent characters of the game.

Rickey has a propensity of referring to Rickey in the third person. A lot has been reported and some, or all, may be true. Whatever the case may be, when legend is better than the truth, print the legend.

Late in his career, Rickey personally would call teams looking for a position. Among the stories is a voice mail Rickey left for a general manager: “Kevin, this is Rickey, calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

When Rickey got traded to the Yankees, a reporter asked him what he thought about the Yankee tradition and playing in the same stadium as Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle: “Rickey don’t care about that. It’s Rickey time.”

One of the best ones is: “Rickey don’t like it when Rickey can’t find Rickey’s limo.”

That one is my favorite. 

An umpire called a strike when Rickey was at bat. Rickey disagreed, turned and looked at the ump and said: “Maybe so, but not to Rickey.”

Another beauty was when Rickey bought a ranch. When asked about it, he said: “Rickey got a big ranch. Rickey got a big bull and horses. Rickey got chickens and everything. And Rickey got a 20-gallon hat.”

I’ll end this with some words of motivation. Rickey Henderson considered himself the greatest of all-time. So, if you feel a little run down, remember Rickey.

Once when Rickey struck out, he walked back to the bench and said: “Don’t worry Rickey. You’re still the best.”


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