Sad News, Rickey Henderson Passes

[Snapolit1]

This one really sucks.

Rickey was an amazing talent but to me the greatest thing about him was his personality. He made zero effort to conform to others' wishes. In a sport of great conformity, where guys make it their job to enforce ancient "unwritten rules" -- like they are working towards achieving world peace or curing cancer, as opposed to playing a child's game -- Rickey was who he was. He was thoughtful and kind and 100% genuine. He wasn't afraid to be weird as hell. He wasn't Derek Jeter repeating the same 15 phrases for a career, or Mike Piazza basically doing the same, but 110% this is who am am, like it or lump it. Funny guy and everyone says a great teammate. Imagine being as great as he was and just maintaining your authentic self and not bending to how others want you to act. That's a goal any one in any field could strive for.

Met him once with my son, who was maybe 8. Last day of the season for the Newark Bears. Fans could come on the field and met the players take pictures. I assumed Rickey, one of the greatest of all time wouldn't not be out there with a line up of basically minor league talent. Nope, there he was. Standing off by himself. My son and I approached him and Rickey made small talk and signed my son's hat. A great memory. For such a boisterous guy he seemed incredibly quiet and shy.

So many great Rickey stories. This is a pretty well known one and tells a lot about who he (and the aforementioned catcher) are.

https://not.fangraphs.com/another-re...-the-greatest/