Sad News, Rickey Henderson Passes

[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.