Bryant: Rickey Henderson wasn't as good as he says he was -- he was better

Before he was a somebody, Rickey Henderson was already a constituency of one.

Professional athletes are a different species, world-class talents whose consciousness of aforesaid and anticipation do not often fresh wrong the confines of the doubts and fears earthy to the remainder of us. But Rickey, the beingness specimen who thought he could play shot everlastingly earlier he died astatine 65 connected Friday night successful Oakland, California, from complications pinch pneumonia and asthma, stood moreover beyond his astir gilded peers connected the assurance scale.

I erstwhile asked him erstwhile he knew he had the talent to play Major League Baseball, to beryllium connected the aforesaid section pinch Reggie Jackson and Nolan Ryan, to play the aforesaid crippled Willie Mays and Henry Aaron played. To unrecorded astatine the altitude of the gods. As easy arsenic telling the time, Rickey answered, "I don't know. Somewhere betwixt 5th and sixth grade."

When Henderson was a 10th grader astatine Oakland Technical High School, his caller shot coach, Bob Cryer, fanned the players retired and pointed to those he wanted to study to the varsity and past inferior varsity. Rickey was sent to the JV. The different kids protested, tried to show the coach that Rickey, who mightiness person looked smaller than everyone else, was a legend. The kids told the coach he was making a mistake.

Taking matters into his ain hands, Rickey walked up to the caller coach and said, "You must not cognize who I am."

After he was a somebody, everybody knew who Rickey Henderson was. Start pinch the name. A one-namer. That meant he was a star. Ubiquitous. Baseball utilized to person one-namers -- Ruth, Reggie, Willie, Pete, Rickey -- now it's truthful hopeless for a show-stopper for illustration them, the convention is apt to put a information item connected Shohei Ohtani.

When it was done, Rickey had vanished a 24-year profession having scored much runs, stolen much bases, deed much location runs to lead disconnected a crippled and drawn much walks than anyone who ever played. He had fulfilled his ain prophecy to beryllium 1 of the champion who ever did it, the top ever erstwhile it came to hitting first and stealing bases.

We protect our ain time, and for those who saw him, Rickey Henderson spanned time, from the early days erstwhile he and Billy Martin resurrected the A's and put Rickey connected the map, to the days erstwhile his iconoclasm chafed the aged defender truthful overmuch that galore did not deliberation he was the automatic Hall of Famer he would 1 time become.

Rickey amassed a profession truthful large it was intolerable to not concede that he knew what he was doing each along. The stories that were erstwhile impervious that he was bad for the crippled became the nostalgia we missed, the characteristic we craved. His characteristic hadn't needfully changed; the numbers were simply excessively large to dispute. He wasn't arsenic bully arsenic he said he was. He was really better.

Buck Showalter recalled a crippled successful the early 1990s erstwhile the New York Yankees were successful Oakland. Showalter was a coach connected the Yankees' staff, and precocious successful the game, the head was giving retired instructions.

"Rickey was hitting against us, and he has america playing no-doubles defense," Showalter said. "Guarding the lines. Don't springiness up thing big. Don't fto him get successful scoring position. Then Mattingly turns astir and yells into the dugout, 'What for? If he gets a single, it's a double anyway!'"

Wherever you look successful baseball, location is Rickey. When you spot Kyle Schwarber and Ohtani and Aaron Judge hitting leadoff, you spot Rickey: It is because nary existent leadoff hitter has ever been capable to replicate his powerfulness that the athletics has resorted to letting cleanup hitters commencement the game.

When shot laments its deficiency of action, capitulates to the truth that dry, analytical no-risk shot has been a nonaccomplishment by enlarging the bases and conscionable giving stolen bases away, you spot Rickey, for location was thing for illustration Rickey starring off, stalking the pitcher, prowling ... and attacking.

No 1 loved Rickey much than the analytics guys, because Rickey did everything they want, pinch a video-game efficiency.

Get connected guidelines much than 40 percent of the time? Check.

Hit for average? Check.

Hit for power? Check.

Hit for leadoff power? Double-check.

Steal bases astatine an 85 percent occurrence rate? Check.

As a shot player, Rickey was everything successful one. As the analytics godfather Bill James erstwhile said, "If you trim Rickey Henderson successful half, you'd person 2 Hall of Famers."

There were truthful galore moments. There was 1982, erstwhile Rickey shattered Lou Brock's single-season grounds of 118 stolen bases pinch 130. There was his first play pinch the Yankees successful 1985, erstwhile he scored 146 runs and believes he was robbed of the MVP. There was 1990, the twelvemonth Rickey did triumph the MVP.

But his Mount Everest for maine was the 1989 postseason, starting pinch the American League Championship Series demolition of Toronto successful which he deed .400 pinch 2 location runs and scored 8 runs successful 5 games to gain bid MVP. Rickey followed it up pinch a World Series successful which he deed .474 arsenic the A's swept the San Francisco Giants.

Over those 9 games, Rickey went 15-for-34, scored 12 runs, deed 3 location runs, walked 9 times (with only 2 strikeouts) and stole 11 of 12 bases. The numbers were awesome but the worth was successful Rickey proving, astatine agelong last, that he was a championship-level ballplayer, a winning ballplayer. As singular arsenic it sounds, location was erstwhile a belief successful the crippled that Rickey did not ever make a squad better. The 1989 playoffs erased immoderate uncertainty that Rickey was 1 of the awesome effect players of his time.

His toughness had ever been underrated, and that toughness destroyed the Blue Jays. It was what his Oakland teammate Dennis Eckersley said made him truthful dangerous. He could not beryllium intimidated.

It reminded maine of the clip Rickey and I were sitting successful the dugout successful outpouring training successful Mesa, Arizona, talking astir title and he abruptly said, "Did I ever show you the clip I punched Richard Dotson successful the face?"

The day was Sept. 10, 1984, A's-White Sox astatine the Oakland Coliseum. Dotson was a serviceable awesome convention pitcher for the amended portion of his 12-year career, mostly pinch the White Sox. He moreover won 22 games successful 1983 and vanished 4th connected the Cy Young ballot. In the summertime of 1984, he made his first and only All-Star team, connected which he and Rickey were teammates.

But later that season, neither squad was going anywhere. In the bottommost of the first, Dotson starts Rickey disconnected pinch a fastball ... correct nether his chin, dropping him to 1 knee. Rickey yet flies retired to right, but not earlier Dotson throws different 1 adjacent his cheekbone.

"Next clip up," Rickey says, "I'm opinionated 2 steps successful beforehand of the plate, damn adjacent opinionated connected the plate, begging this Mother Hubbard to deed me. So he throws 4 balls way, measurement outside. OK, I return my walk, but I'm not jogging to first base. I'm strolling to first. I'm jangling to first. I'm taking my saccharine time to first. Then I return disconnected for second. Boom. Steal second."

Rickey is connected 2nd successful the bottommost of the 3rd pinch 1 out, and Dotson is angry. Rickey stretches out, for illustration he's astir to return third. Dotson is truthful worried astir Rickey, he walks Dwayne Murphy.

With Dotson facing Dave Kingman, the elephantine slugger who ne'er took a cheque plaything successful his life, Rickey taunts him, threatening to bargain third. Kingman takes 2 tremendous hacks; insulted, Dotson drills Kingman pinch a fastball to the body. Rickey is watching the full point from 2nd base.

"Dave walks to first. Everything's cool -- and past he jets to the mound and punches Dotson. Just unloads connected him. Now everybody coming disconnected the bench. Both benches. And present we go. I'm connected 2nd guidelines and I travel successful flying and BOOM! I popular Dotson correct successful his face."

Home sheet umpire Vic Voltaggio ejects Kingman. (Rickey sewage free punches connected Dotson; Voltaggio doesn't flip him.) White Sox head Tony La Russa, leaves Dotson successful the game. First pissed, now punched, Dotson walks Bruce Bochte, scoring Rickey for the only tally of the game. The A's triumph 1-0, each because Rickey performed intelligence room connected Dotson. Other than Kingman and Rickey tattooing Dotson's face, Oakland ne'er moreover sewage a deed successful the inning.

Nobody connected the Chicago chair was much enraged than La Russa. The adjacent night, Rickey was chopping it up pinch different East Bay legend, White Sox leadoff man Rudy Law, who was grim-faced.

"He tells me, 'Rickey, Tony held a meeting, and the gathering wasn't astir the fight. It was each astir you.' And I was like, 'Me? It wasn't astir the team, aliases Kingman?' Rudy said, 'No, it was each astir getting you.'

"OK, truthful now, it's conflict day. And I said to everybody, 'If thing happens, I amended spot everybody retired there, aliases aft I'm done whipping their ass, anyone connected our squad I spot connected the chair aliases slow to get retired there, I'm whipping your asses, too.'"

Just earlier the first pitch, Rickey had 1 past connection to deliver.

"I tally complete to their dugout and I opportunity to Tony, 'If thing happens retired location today, I'm not coming to the mound for the pitcher. I'm coming consecutive here, correct to the dugout -- to get you.'"

La Russa and Rickey would triumph a title together successful that awesome twelvemonth of 1989 and an American League pennant successful 1990. In between, the 2 monolithic personalities would clash. La Russa was convinced that Rickey's characteristic prevented him from being moreover greater.

It was a communal sentiment, and it was true: Rickey Henderson understood the lessons of American capitalism amended than his teachers. Money was the mode of rate to definitive each things -- value, appreciation, powerfulness -- and if anyone had much than he, they had amended person the résumé to beryllium it. Even if they did, that mightiness not beryllium enough.

Unlike astir of his contemporaries, Rickey would withhold his services if he felt the crippled was treating him unfairly -- moreover erstwhile he was successful the wrong, for illustration the years he took the information of a semipermanent statement and past fumed erstwhile yearly free supplier deals would transcend his own.

The changeless sparring complete money convinced La Russa that Henderson, successful his words, "wasn't a awesome player." Talented, yes. Game-changing, yes. But to La Russa, great players ne'er allowed thing to travel earlier winning, and Rickey did.

And yet Rickey went from 1 of the astir disliked players successful the crippled to 1 of the astir beloved complete the people of his career, successful ample portion because of his flamboyant characteristic and style. Whether the Rickey stories were existent aliases not stopped being the point. Even Rickey would statesman to admit to stories that ne'er happened because the fable was much important than the facts. The legends unrecorded on.

One story, which was decidedly true, articulated Rickey's arc. It occurred May 30, 1994, pinch the A's making their first travel of the play to Toronto. The squad autobus near the Toronto Sheraton, rolled down Spadina Avenue, and arsenic it rumbled to the SkyDome, it past a advertisement connected Blue Jays Way containing conscionable 3 elements: a photograph of an elated Joe Carter, the day of his epic location run, and the clip it landed successful the seats to springiness Toronto the title successful 1993. No different words.

The advertisement sparked a mobility that bounced astir the A's autobus arsenic it pulled into the ballpark: "Where were you erstwhile Joe Carter deed the location run?" From the beforehand to the back, players, coaches, and unit recalled their whereabouts during Canada's astir celebrated shot moment. Dave Feldman, the statistician for KRON-TV, the A's tv affiliate, said he was sitting connected the couch, watching the crippled successful his San Francisco apartment, wholly stunned. More voices followed, pinch much recollections.

Then, a lone sound boomed from the very backmost of the bus.

"I was connected 2nd base!"

It was Rickey.

The only point that did much for Rickey's estimation than his hilarity was his sheer dominance. "Rickey was great, sure, but erstwhile Rickey put his chemoreceptor successful it -- those days erstwhile he really wanted to play -- location was cipher better," Eckersley said.

Like the clip successful 1998, erstwhile Rickey was adjacent to done. He was 39, and his manager, Art Howe, lamented that Rickey couldn't get astir connected a fastball anymore. As proof, he would onslaught retired 118 times that year, the astir ever successful a azygous play for him. That meant he was vulnerable, and the youngsters thought they could return him out.

"One clip we were successful Cleveland, and Kenny Lofton was starring the convention successful stolen bases," recalled Ron Washington, the A's 3rd guidelines coach astatine the time. "And here's Lofton crossed the gem chirping astatine Rickey: 'See that aged man connected the different broadside of the field? There's a caller sheriff successful town. That dude is done.' And don't you know, Rickey conscionable went connected a tear. Second -- gone. Third -- gone. He'd travel backmost into the dugout and say, 'If Rickey sleep, fto Rickey sleep.' He conscionable took immoderate he wanted. When you talked s--- to him the measurement Kenny Lofton did, he reminded you that he was still Rickey Henderson."

When it each coalesced into a titanic career, moreover La Russa had to reassess.

"Rickey knew his assemblage amended than anybody else," La Russa later told me. "I person to admit I was incorrect astir him. As a manager, I would inquire him really he felt and he would show me, '70 percent.' Seventy percent wasn't bully capable for him to play, but I'd show him 70 percent of Rickey Henderson was amended than 100 percent of anybody other I had connected the bench. There were times he did not play moreover erstwhile that 70 percent, I thought, could person benefited the team, but erstwhile you look astatine the extremity results of what he did, the totality of his profession achievements cannot beryllium argued."

His detractors were not wholly wrong. Rickey was difficult. Rickey was a unit of his ain making, for amended and, for a manager, often for worse -- particularly erstwhile he saw himself arsenic underpaid. But if the games are astir numbers, arsenic we are told they are, Rickey Henderson stood vindicated, and successful the end, that is why he was loved.

"Tell maine something," he erstwhile said to maine during a chat complete malingering. "How successful the hellhole you gonna bargain 1,400 bases jaking it? How could you do what I did, for arsenic agelong arsenic I did it, and opportunity I didn't want to beryllium retired there?"