Sad News, Rickey Henderson Passes

[clydepepper]

It amazes me that I never saw him mentioned when the subject was 'Greatest Living Player'.

While only an average defender, he was, IMO, one of the top 20 players of ALL-TIME. What an offensive weapon he was!

When I turn 69 in three weeks, I'll still think of Rickey always being in perfect shape...65 was too young...and I admit to being shocked that he left so soon.

Life remains fragile. RIP Rickey.


.

[nwobhm]

RIP Rickey

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

It amazes me that I never saw him mentioned when the subject was 'Greatest Living Player'.

Rickey was mentioned literally in the first two replies to the "Greatest Living Player" thread you started earlier this year after Willie passed, and mentioned numerous times thru out. One member even stated:

Originally Posted by packs

But my pick for greatest living player is Rickey Henderson. When people talked about Willie being the greatest living player, it was the combination of his 5 tools that gave him that title.

I don't think there's another living player with the five-tool talent of Rickey Henderson. Every generation there's another Mantle, Griffey, Trout, etc. but there will never be another Rickey Henderson. Lots of speed in the world but you still need four other elite skills to get to where he was.

He was definitely mentioned along with the likes of Bonds/Griffey/Ryan/Koufax/Pujols/Clemens/A-Rod/Ohtani/Judge

[Chesbro41]

I don't post a lot but here's my take on Rickey.
Rickey could have crushed it in any era.
Dead Ball. You got it. Base to base.
Power... if necessary.
OBP, sure why not.

Rickey coulda had the highest average if that's all Rickey wanted.
Rickey coulda hit the most home runs.
But scoring runs wins games.
So Rickey always tried to get home faster than anyone.

Wish Rickey would have spent a little more time with us before Rickey went home today. But that's Rickey being Rickey.

[Brent G.]

There will never be another Rickey. Incredible athletes like him, Tim Raines, and Vince Coleman rarely choose baseball these days. It's sad that the sport is largely dead in the black community.

[mortimer brewster]

RIP Rickey,

Darn, now the players who made their debut in my adult years are starting to pass.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by mortimer brewster

RIP Rickey,

Darn, now the players who made their debut in my adult years are starting to pass.

Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders was the first such shocker for me. Born 22 January 1957, he passed away of lung cancer on 15 April 2022.

[jayshum]

Joe Posnanski had a blog post obituary for Rickey that talked about all the teams he played for and the different numbers he wore. It included the story below that made me laugh. RIP.

"When he was traded to Toronto in 1993, Turner Ward wore No. 24, so Rickey briefly wore No. 12. He quickly bought No. 24 from Ward, for a reported $25,000. He also took Ward’s locker and his spot in leftfield. “I told my wife to stay away from him,” Ward said."

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

There will never be another Rickey. Incredible athletes like him, Tim Raines, and Vince Coleman rarely choose baseball these days. It's sad that the sport is largely dead in the black community.

Not to mention Maury Wills and Lou Brock from the 1960's.

But there's been a pronounced decline in base stealing overall this century to the detriment of the game. Baseball is oft criticized for being slow with little action. Well a speed merchant/base stealer on the base paths adds a quantum level of excitement to the game.

[Kzoo]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Well a speed merchant/base stealer on the base paths adds a quantum level of excitement to the game.

I feel that Elly de la Cruz brought this to the MLB last year, for the first time in a long time. I only got to witness Rickey playing in a few games of his career due to my distance from Detroit (Kalamazoo) in the 1980's/90's, but I remember feeling the same buzz when he was on base at the old Tiger Stadium. My family's yearly trip to watch the Tigers was always against the A's or Yankees (on purpose). Everyone in the stadium knew he was running, but on which pitch?

And how many other superstar players in sports with a first name or nickname could immediately be identified besides Michael, Junior, Bo, Barry, or Sweetness, etc.? For people paying attention, every 'sports nut' in the 1980's and 1990's knew exactly who 'Rickey' was.

[D. Bergin]

Damn, apparently Rickey is crashing Baseball Reference right now. Never seen that before.

Add that to his accomplishments.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by tiger8mush

Rickey was mentioned literally in the first two replies to the "Greatest Living Player" thread you started earlier this year after Willie passed, and mentioned numerous times thru out. One member even stated:



He was definitely mentioned along with the likes of Bonds/Griffey/Ryan/Koufax/Pujols/Clemens/A-Rod/Ohtani/Judge

At the 2015 All Star Game, MLB honored the Franchise Four, the greatest living players, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench. I agree that they were all better than Henderson. Koufax and Bench are still alive.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by rats60

At the 2015 All Star Game, MLB honored the Franchise Four, the greatest living players, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench. I agree that they were all better than Henderson. Koufax and Bench are still alive.

Agree.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Agree.

There's no way Johnny Bench was better than Ricky Henderson! Pete Rose, maybe, but not Johnny Bench.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

There's no way Johnny Bench was better than Ricky Henderson! Pete Rose, maybe, but not Johnny Bench.

Funny I feel there's no way Pete Rose was better than Henderson, but Bench clearly was.

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

There's no way Johnny Bench was better than Ricky Henderson! Pete Rose, maybe, but not Johnny Bench.

Rose? Rickey was an order of magnitude better than Rose. I know WAR is not the end-all be-all, but in this case they’re so far apart that it does tell you pretty much all you need on this question. Rickey 111.1, Rose 79.5. Bench had 79.1, for reference.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by ASF123

Rose? Rickey was an order of magnitude better than Rose. I know WAR is not the end-all be-all, but in this case they’re so far apart that it does tell you pretty much all you need on this question. Rickey 111.1, Rose 79.5. Bench had 79.1, for reference.

Bench had 79.1 as a Catcher with a much shorter career then both...partly or mostly because he was a full-time catcher.

I'm in the Rickey better than Rose, while Bench is much more debatable camp...simply because of the position that Bench played.

If I were to start a team off, and had to pick a young Bench, or a young Rickey...I'd probably pick Bench, having the hindsight to know the type of skillset that Bench possessed, and how rare it is to have that steady presence at that position both offensively and defensively for over a decade.

Rickey might get bored and be off somewhere else after a few seasons.

I'll give it to Rose though. He was more durable then both (not that either one was made of china either). Sometimes, just being available everyday is an under-rated skill, when it means somebody at the end of the bench has to fill in for you.

I would have certainly put Rickey ahead of Koufax however. Rickey was just as (or almost as) electric as Koufax for as long as Koufax was for a certain number of prime years......plus he was pretty damn good for another 10-15 years on top of that.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

There's no way Johnny Bench was better than Ricky Henderson! Pete Rose, maybe, but not Johnny Bench.

Ummm... Bench is universally regarded as the greatest Catcher of all time.

No one would make that claim for Henderson as an outfielder. Nobody in his/her right mind would rank Henderson above Aaron, Mays, Ruth, Musial, Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams, Cobb, Clemente and many others. Ridiculous argument.

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Ummm... Bench is universally regarded as the greatest Catcher of all time.

No one would make that claim for Henderson as an outfielder. Nobody in his/her right mind would rank Henderson above Aaron, Mays, Ruth, Musial, Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams, Cobb, Clemente and many others. Ridiculous argument.

I think you’re underrating just how great Rickey really was. Again, yes, WAR is not everything, but he put up one more than Mantle, 16 more than Clemente and a whole bunch more than DiMaggio, although of course Joe had military service time.

You might not rank Rickey above those guys based on other factors, and that’s fine, but it’s not ridiculous or crazy to say he was better.

[Kzoo]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Nobody in his/her right mind would rank Henderson above Aaron, Mays, Ruth, Musial, Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams, Cobb, Clemente and many others. Ridiculous argument.

Mark, I highly value your opinion in many areas of the hobby, but with Rickey it's like 'apples to oranges' in regards to most other top tier HOF'ers. Rickey's game is only really historically comparable to Cobb from your list and Rickey bettered Cobb in a few key categories.....SB's, runs and walks. Rickey isn't the same type of player as the other guys listed. His game was speed and disruption on the base paths, with some sneaky power mixed in. Just my 2 cents. RIP Rickey!

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Ummm... Bench is universally regarded as the greatest Catcher of all time.

Not true:

Top Catchers - Bleacher Report

Greatest Catchers - MLB

Originally Posted by perezfan

No one would make that claim for Henderson as an outfielder.Nobody in his/her right mind would rank Henderson above Aaron, Mays, Ruth, Musial, Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams, Cobb, Clemente and many others. Ridiculous argument.

"Right mind"? "Ridiculous"? If you're not trying to provoke hostility, you might think twice before using inflammatory terms.

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by rats60

At the 2015 All Star Game, MLB honored the Franchise Four, the greatest living players, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench. I agree that they were all better than Henderson. Koufax and Bench are still alive.

My reply was simply to the poster saying Rickey wasn't mentioned in the "Greatest Living Player" thread, when he clearly was mentioned. I wasn't making a case that Rickey was better than anybody.

[Kidnapped18]

Rickey was one of my favorite ballplayers of all time!
Greatest lead off hitter, stolen base king and he played left field for my A's during the '80s
I had to have his rookie card in the '80s and I still have the same card today.

RIP

[samosa4u]

I'm shocked, man. Only 65 too. F*cking pneumonia. I got this sh*t last winter and it took over a month for it to f*ck off. It was caused by a virus too and so the pills did nothing. The hardest part was trying to sleep at night ...

Try to stay away from sick people and mask up if you have to. Wash hands frequently as well. Too much nasty sh*t out there.

[h2oya311]

RIP Rickey!

Henderson is way too underrated and IMO was the one of the top 10 to ever play the game.

My first “focus” when I got back into collecting was a master Rickey Henderson “set”. It’s an impossible task made even more impossible by all the extreme rarities out there. At one point, I had over 2,000 unique contemporary Henderson cards (pre-2006), but sold many of my rarer Henderson collectibles as I transitioned to collecting HOF rookies. I still have one “one-of-a-kind” Rickey (shown at the bottom below).

There is quite a huge contingent of passionate Rickey Henderson collectors and there are some unbelievable collections out there.

Here are a few cards that are no longer part of my collection. I’m happy to have been a temporary caretaker of so many great cards!

1978-79 Mexican League Sticker (only one known):


1982 Fleer Test:


1982 Topps Blackless:


1977 Chong:


1981 Granny Goose:


1984 Topps “Head In Box” Test Proof:


And the only rarity still in my collection (a “one-of-a-kind”)….

1987 Starting Lineup Talking Baseball Prototype:

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

It amazes me that I never saw him mentioned when the subject was 'Greatest Living Player'.

While only an average defender, he was, IMO, one of the top 20 players of ALL-TIME. What an offensive weapon he was!

When I turn 69 in three weeks, I'll still think of Rickey always being in perfect shape...65 was too young...and I admit to being shocked that he left so soon.

Life remains fragile. RIP Rickey.


.

There was a poll on this site right after Mays died in which we picked the greatest living player and more than 400 people voted. Henderson finished sixth in that poll, though one right ahead of him was Pete Rose, who passed between Mays and Henderson.

I noted in my comment for that poll that I did an informal survey among 14 people I know outside of the board (including myself in that count) and Bonds and Henderson were the only two people who got votes. Pujols and Maddux were both named as honorable mentions twice, but only Bonds and Henderson got votes.

I would say we could do another vote, but it would be a waste because Bonds won by a huge landslide the first time. No one else even got half as many votes as him.

[BRoberts]

Joe DiMaggio continues to insist he be referred to as baseball's greatest living player.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by BRoberts

Joe DiMaggio continues to insist he be referred to as baseball's greatest living player.

When MLB chose their all-time team in 1969, Joe DiMaggio was chosen as the greatest living player. I don't agree, but anyone else who would have had that honor bestowed on them, would have kept referring to it also.