Rest in peace to the man of steel, Ricky Henderson❤️
24 comments
Somebody tell the Olerud story.
Always my favorite player. I bet I liked Rickey more than Rickey liked Rickey.
Rickey still say Rickey was the greatest, just ask Rickey and Rickey tell ya Rickey was the greatest
My GOAT don’t @ me
Damnit, I forgot he passed away. No wonder I’ve seen so much Ricky stuff today. RIP
Going to have to rewatch Harold Reynold’s stolen base story.
Ricky’s book Off Base: Confessions of a Thief was the first sports related book I read as a kid. Not only did Rickey leave me with lasting memories of his excellence on the field, he lead me to spending hours reading sports history and information I still remember today.
Thanks Rickey, for all the memories.
Rickey could’ve written this post
Feels like yesterday wtf. No way it’s been a year since he passed.
Still hard to believe he is gone. Rickey was a great player and a great character. As he told many reporters when asked who his favorite player is, obviously, Rickey Henderson.
Imagine Rickey with today’s rules, it would be absolute madness.
“Somebody asked me did I think Rickey Henderson was a Hall of Famer. I told them, “If you could split him in tow, you’d have two Hall of Famers.” The greatest base stealer of all time, the greatest power/speed combination of all time (except maybe Barry Bonds), the greatest leadoff man of all time, one of the top five players of all time in runs scored…yeah, I would think that might make a man a Hall of Famer. Without exaggerating one inch, you could find fifty Hall of Famers who, all taken together, don’t own as many records, and as many *important* records, as Rickey Henderson.”
– Bill James, “The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract” (2001)
BTW, if you haven’t ever read the book (because it came and went before you were born or were reading baseball books), grab it if you can. It’s the best historical reference for baseball you will ever find. His “Win Shares” calculations are the foundation upon which WAR would be built. You might not agree with the calculations, but it does give a good approximation of the value a player provided.
As well, he goes over the top 100 at every position in the history of baseball (at the time), and reviews every single decade of baseball. It’s chock full of stories, trivia, essays, jokes, and information. I’ve read the book front to back at least 10 times.
Ricky gone. 😔
I still don’t believe it.
The third image is actually insane. Look at the stretch and drive so low to the ground. You simply don’t see that.
even dead, Rickey likes it when people talk about Rickey
As a kid, Rickey coming back to Oakland halfway through ’89 season was one of my happiest baseball related memories (I still have the Chronicle’ s sports page for that day). You just knew it was going to be our year.
With today’s limits on throwing over to first and larger bags Rickey would averaged 100 swipes a year, easy.
RIP 🐐
FJF
Greatest player of all time. RIP
It’s weird but hearing of his death was the first time in like 6 years that I had cried. IDK what hit me about it or if there is something else underlying, but I really am gonna miss Rickey being Rickey.
I still refuse to believe this. He was too fast for death to catch him.
I will go to my grave convinced that if any other person on the planet was on second base, Joe Carter doesn’t hit the walk off homer. He was in Mitch Williams’ kitchen in a big way.
Rickey is the player above all others that I wish I was able to watch in their prime
24 comments
Somebody tell the Olerud story.
Always my favorite player. I bet I liked Rickey more than Rickey liked Rickey.
Rickey still say Rickey was the greatest, just ask Rickey and Rickey tell ya Rickey was the greatest
My GOAT don’t @ me
Damnit, I forgot he passed away. No wonder I’ve seen so much Ricky stuff today. RIP
Going to have to rewatch Harold Reynold’s stolen base story.
Ricky’s book Off Base: Confessions of a Thief was the first sports related book I read as a kid. Not only did Rickey leave me with lasting memories of his excellence on the field, he lead me to spending hours reading sports history and information I still remember today.
Thanks Rickey, for all the memories.
Rickey could’ve written this post
Feels like yesterday wtf. No way it’s been a year since he passed.
Still hard to believe he is gone. Rickey was a great player and a great character. As he told many reporters when asked who his favorite player is, obviously, Rickey Henderson.
Imagine Rickey with today’s rules, it would be absolute madness.
“Somebody asked me did I think Rickey Henderson was a Hall of Famer. I told them, “If you could split him in tow, you’d have two Hall of Famers.” The greatest base stealer of all time, the greatest power/speed combination of all time (except maybe Barry Bonds), the greatest leadoff man of all time, one of the top five players of all time in runs scored…yeah, I would think that might make a man a Hall of Famer. Without exaggerating one inch, you could find fifty Hall of Famers who, all taken together, don’t own as many records, and as many *important* records, as Rickey Henderson.”
– Bill James, “The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract” (2001)
BTW, if you haven’t ever read the book (because it came and went before you were born or were reading baseball books), grab it if you can. It’s the best historical reference for baseball you will ever find. His “Win Shares” calculations are the foundation upon which WAR would be built. You might not agree with the calculations, but it does give a good approximation of the value a player provided.
As well, he goes over the top 100 at every position in the history of baseball (at the time), and reviews every single decade of baseball. It’s chock full of stories, trivia, essays, jokes, and information. I’ve read the book front to back at least 10 times.
Ricky gone. 😔
I still don’t believe it.
The third image is actually insane. Look at the stretch and drive so low to the ground. You simply don’t see that.
even dead, Rickey likes it when people talk about Rickey
As a kid, Rickey coming back to Oakland halfway through ’89 season was one of my happiest baseball related memories (I still have the Chronicle’ s sports page for that day). You just knew it was going to be our year.
With today’s limits on throwing over to first and larger bags Rickey would averaged 100 swipes a year, easy.
RIP 🐐
FJF
Greatest player of all time. RIP
It’s weird but hearing of his death was the first time in like 6 years that I had cried. IDK what hit me about it or if there is something else underlying, but I really am gonna miss Rickey being Rickey.
I still refuse to believe this. He was too fast for death to catch him.
I will go to my grave convinced that if any other person on the planet was on second base, Joe Carter doesn’t hit the walk off homer. He was in Mitch Williams’ kitchen in a big way.
Rickey is the player above all others that I wish I was able to watch in their prime
Right before his birthday… RIP GOAT