Rickey Henderson

I was never a huge A's fan (Giants all the way), but Rickey Henderson was always a player I dug growing up. The all-time leader in career stolen bases was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame today, and I felt it was only right to give him his props.

I always heard stories of him referring to himself in third person, so I decided to look up some Rickey Henderson stories. Here's a couple that made me laugh...

"Teammates reported seeing him standing naked in front of a mirror before a game, practicing his swing, and declaring, 'Rickey's the best! Rickey's the best!"

"During one off-season, Henderson called Padres general manager Kevin Towers and left this message: 'Kevin, this is Rickey. Calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball."

"I sat in the Athletics' clubhouse during batting practice several times with Henderson during his prime in Oakland from 1989 to 1991. His knees always were taped. So were his fingers. He had elbow pads and ice on his shoulder. 'Man,' he'd say, 'Rickey is in pain."

I haven't seen his acceptance speech, but i'm hoping he refers to himself in 3rd person throughout the whole thing.

(i tried my best to find the gif animation of Rickey poppin his collar while rounding the bases, but no luck.)