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The 25 best Rickey Henderson stories....
1) In June 1999, when Henderson was playing with the
Mets, he saw reporters running around the clubhouse
before a game. He asked a teammate what was going on
and he was told that Tom Robson, the team’s hitting
coach, had just been fired. Henderson said, “Who’s
he?”
2) Rickey... on referring to himself in the third
person:
“Listen, people are always saying, ‘Rickey says
Rickey.’ But it’s been blown way out of proportion.
People might catch me, when they know I’m ticked off,
saying, ‘Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?’
They say, ‘Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey
for? Why don’t you just say, ‘I?’ But I never did. I
always said, ‘Rickey,’ and it became something for
people to joke about.”
3) 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.
4) In 1996, Henderson’s first season with San Diego,
he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat.
Steve Finley said, “You have tenure, sit wherever you
want.” Henderson looked at Finley and said, “Ten
years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”
5) This one might be my second favorite. This wasn’t
too long ago, I think it was the year he ended up
playing with the Red Sox. Anyway, he called San Diego
GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: “This
is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to
play baseball.”
6) This one happened in Seattle. Rickey struck out and
as the next batter was walking past him, he heard
Henderson say, “Don’t worry, Rickey, you’re still the
best.”
7) Rickey once asked a teammate how long it would take
him to drive to the Dominican Republic.
Moments after breaking Lou Brock’s stolen base
record, Henderson told the crowd – with Brock mere
feet next to him – “Lou Brock was a great base
stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.”
9) Henderson once fell asleep on an ice pack and got
frostbite – which forced him to miss three games — in
mid-August.
10) A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s
estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were
taking steroids was accurate. His response was, “Well,
Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right
there.”
11) Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s career record for runs
scored with a home run. After taking his usual 45
seconds or so around the bases, Rickey slid into home
plate.
12) On being Nolan Ryan’s 5,000th career strikeout:
“It gave me no chance. He (Ryan) just blew it by me.
But it’s an honor. I’ll have another paragraph in all
the baseball books. I’m already in the books three or
four times.”
13) San Diego GM Kevin Towers was trying to contact
Rickey at a nearby hotel. He knew Henderson always
used fake names to avoid the press, fans, etc. He was
trying to think like Rickey and after several
attempts; he was able to get Henderson on the phone.
Rickey had checked in under Richard Pryor.
14) I didn’t believe this one at first. However, I
emailed a few contacts within the Sox organization and
they claim it actually happened. This is priceless, it
really is.
The morning after the Sox finished off their 2004
World Series sweep against St. Louis, Henderson called
someone in the organization looking for tickets to
Game 6 at Fenway Park.
15) The Mets were staying in a hotel less than a mile
from Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. While some players
walked, most took the team bus. A few minutes after
they arrived — again it was less than a mile – the
last players off the bus noticed a stretched limo that
had just pulled up.
Of course, Rickey emerged from the back seat.
16) A reporter once asked Rickey if he talked to
himself, “Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind
myself of what I’m trying to do. You know, I never
answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?”
17) OK, I know everyone has been waiting for it. Alas,
according to both parties involved, it’s not true. I
wish it were. Heck, both Rickey Henderson and John
Olerud have said they wish it were true. But it just
didn’t happen.
The story went that a few weeks into Henderson’s stint
with the Mariners, he walked up to Olerud at the
batting cage and asked him why he wore a batting
helmet in the field. Olerud explained that he had an
aneurysm at nine years old and he wore the helmet for
protection. Legend goes that Henderson said, “Yeah, I
used to play with a guy that had the same thing.”
Legend also goes that Olerud said, “That was me,
Rickey.”
Henderson played with Olerud on the Blue Jays and the
Mets.
18) Rickey was asked if he had the Garth Brooks album
with Friends in Low Places and Henderson said, “Rickey
doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”
19) During a contract holdout with Oakland in the
early 1990s, Henderson said, “If they want to pay me
like Mike Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.”
20) In the late 1980s, the Yankees sent Henderson a
six-figure bonus check. After a few months passed, an
internal audit revealed the check had not been cashed.
Current Yankees GM Brian Cashman – then a low-level
nobody with the organization – called Rickey and asked
if there was a problem with the check. Henderson said,
“I’m just waiting for the money market rates to go
up.”
21) This is my all-time favorite. Rickey was pulled
over by a San Diego police officer for speeding. As
the officer was approaching Rickey’s car, the window
went down a few inches and a folded $100 bill emerged.
The officer let Rickey and his money head home without
a ticket.
22) When he was on the Yankees in the mid-1980s,
Henderson told teammates that his condo had such a
great view that he could see, “The Entire State
Building.”
23) 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.”
24) To this day and dating back 25 years, before every
game he plays, Henderson stands completely naked in
front of a full length locker room mirror and says,
“Ricky’s the best,” for several minutes.
25) In the last week of his lone season with the Red
Sox, Chairman Tom Werner asked Henderson what he would
like for his ‘going-away’ gift. Henderson said he
wasn’t going anywhere, but he would like owner John
Henry’s Mercedes. Werner said it would be tough to get
the same make and model in less than a week and
Henderson said, “No, I want his car.” Turns out the
Sox got Henderson a Red Thunderbird and when he saw it
on the field before the last game of the season,
Rickey said, “Whose ugly car is on the field?”
1) In June 1999, when Henderson was playing with the
Mets, he saw reporters running around the clubhouse
before a game. He asked a teammate what was going on
and he was told that Tom Robson, the team’s hitting
coach, had just been fired. Henderson said, “Who’s
he?”
2) Rickey... on referring to himself in the third
person:
“Listen, people are always saying, ‘Rickey says
Rickey.’ But it’s been blown way out of proportion.
People might catch me, when they know I’m ticked off,
saying, ‘Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?’
They say, ‘Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey
for? Why don’t you just say, ‘I?’ But I never did. I
always said, ‘Rickey,’ and it became something for
people to joke about.”
3) 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.
4) In 1996, Henderson’s first season with San Diego,
he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat.
Steve Finley said, “You have tenure, sit wherever you
want.” Henderson looked at Finley and said, “Ten
years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”
5) This one might be my second favorite. This wasn’t
too long ago, I think it was the year he ended up
playing with the Red Sox. Anyway, he called San Diego
GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: “This
is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to
play baseball.”
6) This one happened in Seattle. Rickey struck out and
as the next batter was walking past him, he heard
Henderson say, “Don’t worry, Rickey, you’re still the
best.”
7) Rickey once asked a teammate how long it would take
him to drive to the Dominican Republic.
Moments after breaking Lou Brock’s stolen base
record, Henderson told the crowd – with Brock mere
feet next to him – “Lou Brock was a great base
stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.”
9) Henderson once fell asleep on an ice pack and got
frostbite – which forced him to miss three games — in
mid-August.
10) A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s
estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were
taking steroids was accurate. His response was, “Well,
Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right
there.”
11) Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s career record for runs
scored with a home run. After taking his usual 45
seconds or so around the bases, Rickey slid into home
plate.
12) On being Nolan Ryan’s 5,000th career strikeout:
“It gave me no chance. He (Ryan) just blew it by me.
But it’s an honor. I’ll have another paragraph in all
the baseball books. I’m already in the books three or
four times.”
13) San Diego GM Kevin Towers was trying to contact
Rickey at a nearby hotel. He knew Henderson always
used fake names to avoid the press, fans, etc. He was
trying to think like Rickey and after several
attempts; he was able to get Henderson on the phone.
Rickey had checked in under Richard Pryor.
14) I didn’t believe this one at first. However, I
emailed a few contacts within the Sox organization and
they claim it actually happened. This is priceless, it
really is.
The morning after the Sox finished off their 2004
World Series sweep against St. Louis, Henderson called
someone in the organization looking for tickets to
Game 6 at Fenway Park.
15) The Mets were staying in a hotel less than a mile
from Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. While some players
walked, most took the team bus. A few minutes after
they arrived — again it was less than a mile – the
last players off the bus noticed a stretched limo that
had just pulled up.
Of course, Rickey emerged from the back seat.
16) A reporter once asked Rickey if he talked to
himself, “Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind
myself of what I’m trying to do. You know, I never
answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?”
17) OK, I know everyone has been waiting for it. Alas,
according to both parties involved, it’s not true. I
wish it were. Heck, both Rickey Henderson and John
Olerud have said they wish it were true. But it just
didn’t happen.
The story went that a few weeks into Henderson’s stint
with the Mariners, he walked up to Olerud at the
batting cage and asked him why he wore a batting
helmet in the field. Olerud explained that he had an
aneurysm at nine years old and he wore the helmet for
protection. Legend goes that Henderson said, “Yeah, I
used to play with a guy that had the same thing.”
Legend also goes that Olerud said, “That was me,
Rickey.”
Henderson played with Olerud on the Blue Jays and the
Mets.
18) Rickey was asked if he had the Garth Brooks album
with Friends in Low Places and Henderson said, “Rickey
doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”
19) During a contract holdout with Oakland in the
early 1990s, Henderson said, “If they want to pay me
like Mike Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.”
20) In the late 1980s, the Yankees sent Henderson a
six-figure bonus check. After a few months passed, an
internal audit revealed the check had not been cashed.
Current Yankees GM Brian Cashman – then a low-level
nobody with the organization – called Rickey and asked
if there was a problem with the check. Henderson said,
“I’m just waiting for the money market rates to go
up.”
21) This is my all-time favorite. Rickey was pulled
over by a San Diego police officer for speeding. As
the officer was approaching Rickey’s car, the window
went down a few inches and a folded $100 bill emerged.
The officer let Rickey and his money head home without
a ticket.
22) When he was on the Yankees in the mid-1980s,
Henderson told teammates that his condo had such a
great view that he could see, “The Entire State
Building.”
23) 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.”
24) To this day and dating back 25 years, before every
game he plays, Henderson stands completely naked in
front of a full length locker room mirror and says,
“Ricky’s the best,” for several minutes.
25) In the last week of his lone season with the Red
Sox, Chairman Tom Werner asked Henderson what he would
like for his ‘going-away’ gift. Henderson said he
wasn’t going anywhere, but he would like owner John
Henry’s Mercedes. Werner said it would be tough to get
the same make and model in less than a week and
Henderson said, “No, I want his car.” Turns out the
Sox got Henderson a Red Thunderbird and when he saw it
on the field before the last game of the season,
Rickey said, “Whose ugly car is on the field?”
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