Rickey Henderson is 43 years old and still stealing bases, drawing walks, hitting home runs, and complaining.
For the next four to six weeks, Boston baseball fans and Red Sox players will have a chance to concentrate on the game between the lines without a constant nag.
All-star outfielder Manny Ramirez fractured his left index finger in Saturday’s game in Seattle while sliding into Mariners catcher Dan Wilson’s shin guard, and he will be out for at least a month. Brian Daubach and Henderson, who has been complaining because of lack of playing time, will likely fill the void left during Ramirez’ absence.
“Rickey is Rickey,” Red Sox manager Grady Little told the Boston Globe. “That’s just the way it is. He likes playing baseball, and I can’t fault him for wanting to play more, but we’re not in a position to change what we’re doing and that’s that.
“We’ve got a good thing going here, and you would think that anybody would like to be part of this, and I think Rickey does.”
Before Boston’s three-game series with the Mariners in Seattle, Henderson left the rest of team (with the permission of the management) to visit his family in Arizona just after the team’s May 9 game in Oakland, Calif. The team was unsure whether the nine-time All-Star would return to the team. Henderson did report to the Red Sox clubhouse the next day, just one hour before pregame stretching. It was the third time Henderson had threatened to quit the team.
“If I don’t do much the next couple of days, I might as well help someone else,” Henderson told the Providence Journal after his brief hiatus. “I know (Little is) trying to get everyone in. But I’m tired of sitting.”
Baseball’s all-time leader in runs (2,260), walks (2,150), stolen bases (1,397) and leadoff home runs (80), Henderson is approaching 300 homers to go along with his 3,013 hits and on base percentage of .402. His base-stealing percentage is an outstanding 80.7 percent. In 1981, Henderson stole 130 bases for a below-average Oakland team.
Rickey is good, and he knows it.
“Lou Brock was great, but today I am the greatest,” Henderson said May 1, 1991, after swiping his 939th base to put him past Brock on the all-time steals list.
While Henderson has been the one of the kings of the jungle on the field over the past two decades, off the field he has been like a little mosquito in the baseball world’s ear. If he had kept his attitude in check and his mouth shut, he may be considered one of baseball’s greats — up there with Ty Cobb and Ted Williams. But baseball fans look for a combination of incredible talent (which Henderson has), a little flair and personality (which he loves to show) and a friendly disposition (which the combined efforts of Cal Ripken and all the Lady Byngs in NHL history could not teach him).
Although in the end Rickey will be headed to the Hall of Fame, don’t expect the streets of Cooperstown to be flooded with Rickey fans who have stuck with him every day through his 23-year career.