The 25 Best Rickey Henderson Stories
By Mike Silva ~ December 3rd, 2008. Filed under: Mike Silva.
Regardless of your thoughts about Rickey Henderson, there are two indisputable facts: 1) He is a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer and 2) He could make your scratch your head with some of his quotes.
The site Fan IQ has come up with the The Definitive Rickey Henderson: The 25 Best Stories of “Rickey Being Rickey.”
Yankees fans probably remember when Rickey was upset with his “socks” and Mets fans remember him and his poker partner, Bobby Bonilla. Fans of both teams can’t say they didn’t see the greatest leadoff hitter of all time. As a matter of fact, the 1999 Mets don’t come near the playoffs without Rickey setting the table. It was one of the best offensive performances by a Met this side of Jose Reyes.
Go to Fan IQ and take a read, buy here are two of my favorites out of the 25:
1) During one of his stays with Oakland, Henderson’s locker was next to Billy Beane’s. After making the team out of spring training, Beane was sent to the minors after a few months. Upon his return, about six weeks later, Henderson looked at Beane and said, “Hey, man, where have you been? Haven’t seen you in awhile.”
2) In the early 1980s, the Oakland A’s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.
Give an assist to Chicago Norm at Newsday’s Final Score for finding this great piece.
