Rickey Knows All of Rickey’s Stats

0
1430

I was honored to receive an invitation from the legendary Tim Raines to attend his Hall of Fame ceremony. The night before, during the celebratory banquet, I found myself seated next to none other than Rickey Henderson.

While I don’t often get starstruck, Rickey was a god among mortals in the baseball world for me. I must have downed six or seven Labatts before even taking my seat at the table.

When I finally mustered the courage to introduce myself, Rickey shook my hand and asked me — genuinely, kindly, and curiously — essentially, who I was and what I was doing there.

I explained that I have done some work in the game and have written for several national media outlets, focusing on advanced statistics and metrics that aren’t found on the back of a baseball card. Adding that Rock felt some of those types of stats are what finally got him across the finish line, so he was kind enough to include me on his big night.

Ever wonder what 1,406 combined stolen bases at the big league level looks like?

Rickey grinned and — to my shock, as I didn’t think he ever actually spoke like this — says, “what you got on Rickey?”

I am stoked.

I quickly rip through my phone, trying to find the coolest Rickey Henderson fact that I had unearthed — and boom — “[Rickey Henderson] has 81 career leadoff home runs, the Mariners as a franchise had 82, but of those 82, three belong to Rickey. The only way to beat Rickey is with Rickey.”

Rickey looked at my phone, seemingly stunned at his own accomplishment, as I excitedly prepared for him to react in a way similar to what I had heard from Tim Raines as he blurbed for the recent book that I had written with my pal Kevin Reavy, “I wish Ryan and Kevin would have written a book like this when I was playing. There’s stuff in here about my career I didn’t know! The stats and stories in this book are really eye-opening.”

Instead, Rickey shook off his surprise, flipped my phone back to me, and says, “Rickey knows all of Rickey’s stats,” initially stoic but soon after letting out a raspy chuckle.

Incredible Baseball Stats, Vol. II — Paying Homage to Rickey

For anyone else, that might come off as arrogant, but not Rickey. His confidence was charming and his engaging manner was endearing, a testament to his larger-than-life persona.

Today, baseball didn’t just lose a great ballplayer and bases stealer; baseball lost “the greatest of all time.”