BASEBALL QUOTES
RICKEY HENDERSON \ Rickey being Rickey
Even then, people were using the Rickey being Rickey phrase, including Rickey himself.
"Rickey's gonna be Rickey. Period. No matter what I'm going to do or play or come here early, I'm gonna be Rickey. Rickey is not going to change and not be himself. I've been in this world too long to try to change Rickey and what he does . . . My mother don't even try to change me. She raised me, but she ain't gonna change me.
"But what is 'being Rickey?' . . . What is 'being Rickey?' . . . Doin' his own thing? What is it I'm doing different? What am I doing? I didn't come on a day that he said. I came when I could make it."
-- Speaking of Rickey's mother, he said after the A's won the World Series that season that he wanted to be a football player, but his mother, Bobbie, wouldn't let him. Rickey was still angered by that. "If she had let me go to college," Rickey said, "I could have become Bo Jackson before Bo Jackson." But does Bo know Rickey?
-- Remember when Rickey broke Lou Brock's stolen base record and proclaimed over the loudspeaker, "Today, I am the greatest of all-time." That's not all he did. The day before, Henderson arrived in the clubhouse and handed out specially made flyers with the words, "I was there when Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's all-time stolen-base record of 938 with steal number 939." He also had t-shirts commemorating the event ready to go.
-- Here's a good Rickey being Rickey moment. During the 1992 season Rickey was unhappy with his contract, which was a common theme during his career. He told the Sacramento Bee, "'I'm not happy, so I'm going to ask to be traded. It's been going on too long. I don't think I'm treated fairly. They don't deserve what I do." Of course one day later he back-peddled, saying, "You are fools. It's a big joke. Rickey tricked everybody. Thank you all."
-- Now let's fast forward to Rickey's short but eventful time with the Mets. He explained on his first day of spring training in 1999 that part of the reason he doesn't always know teammates' names is because, "I like nicknames." And, also, he said, "I never get that close to pitchers."
-- He started camp just 1-for-20, but he wasn't worried. "If Rickey had to get on base right now, Rickey would."
-- He enjoyed a fine 1999 season at the plate, but his play quickly became overshadowed by the show he put off the field. He grew irate at Bobby Valentine for taking him off the field for a defensive replacement during a playoff game, which essentially was the turning point with the Mets. He started the 2000 season unhappy, though in a way only Rickey can be unhappy. "I came here, I was a happy man today. I'll be happy tomorrow. Even if I'm talking unhappy, I was happy." Then, at the start of the season, "When Rickey's not happy, that's not good." Two days later, "My head ain't on right… I'm in a bad situation, a bad way. I hate it. I hate where I am." He went on to say he had a "garbage contract," which he partly blamed his agent for. But it wasn't meant to be, and the Mets released him in May. "I'm going fishing," he said.
