Rickey Henderson, Hall of Famer
Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame this afternoon. Henderson’s much anticipated induction speech, which he had been working on with students at Laney College for the past 2 weeks, was pretty tame. And if you were playing the Rickey Henderson HOF Speech drinking game, you’re probably still sober. Henderson’s closing lines, for instance, were decidedly un-Rickey-like:
“My journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time. And at this moment, I am very, very humbled.”
Assessing his performance afterward, Henderson said, “I missed a couple of pages. I was very nervous. That’s the way it is when I’m trying to present a speech. I’m always nervous.”
We’ll have much more on Rickey’s induction, including photos of that sweet cream-colored suit and a breakdown of his speech in Crabs and Elephants later today. In the meantime, enjoy some of the greatest Rickey photos and quotes from throughout the years at Big League Stew.
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By Scott on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 1:46 pm.
Tags: Oakland A's
July 26th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Rickey’s speech was thoughtful and deliberate…very un-Rickey-like. On the other hand, he demonstrated that he was not only the greatest lead off hitter of all time but the sartorial king as well. Cooperstown has never seen a more elegantly dressed inductee and probably never will again!
The other Bay Area story of note involved the introduction of Gaylord Perry, Giant HOF pitcher. The introducer told an anecdote involving Giant manager Alvin Dark’s prediction at some unspecified time in the 1960s that a man would land on the moon before Perry ever hit a home run. (Snopes is dubious about the antecedent prediction, but confirmed that Perry’s first Major League HR was hit on July 20, 1969. )