Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is a professional baseball player. Many include him among the greatest players of all time, including Rickey himself. Statistician Bill James was once asked if he thought Rickey Henderson was a Hall of Famer. James' reply: "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers."

Malapropisms

Many stories have been told about Rickey Henderson over the years, both the player and person. He is well known for his malapropisms, for referring to himself in the third-person (for example, calling Padres GM Kevin Towers to inquire about a contract and leaving a message starting "this is Rickey, calling on behalf of Rickey."), and for talking to himself at length when he is up to bat. He has been known to speak to his bats, asking them which one has the next hit inside them. He once fell asleep on an icepack, thereby contracting a case of frostbite in August. In 2001, he described a long single this way: "I hit it out, but it didn't go out." Another time, Rickey was offered a seat on the team bus, the player saying that he had tenure. To which Rickey replied, "Ten years? What are you talking about? Rickey got 16, 17 years."

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Another story occurred while Henderson was playing for the Oakland A's. Team bookkeepers could not account for a $1 million discrepancy in their finances. The mysterious figure was eventually traced to Henderson, who had received the sum as a signing bonus. Instead of cashing the check, he'd had it framed, where it still hung on his wall.

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One widely reported story, however, is by all accounts a fabrication. Supposedly while playing for Seattle, Henderson went up to John Olerud, a former teammate then with the New York Mets, and asked why Olerud wore a batting helmet out on the field, noting that he "used to have a teammate in Toronto who did the same thing," to which Olerud replied, "That was me."

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