Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Quote of the Week – Rickey being Rickey

It is almost too easy to go with a few Rickey Henderson quotes for this week’s “Quote of the Week” entry. You could almost have a separate weekly feature for Rickey quotes. But before we have a little fun with Rickey, let’s give him the props he deserves. In some ways, Rickey was actually well ahead of his time. Rickey was a walking machine well before Moneyball opened the eyes for so many about the importance of OBP. He was in the top 10 in his league for OBP a whopping 16 times. Look at this quote, and maybe Rickey is smarter than we think he is:

"To be in a class with Babe Ruth, you can't ask for anything more. Walks have been underappreciated. It's lost in the stats sheets. It lost its appeal somewhere. Another thing lost in the stats is on-base percentage. That's the most important thing in baseball. If nobody's on base, nobody scores."
---Rickey on breaking the career walks record

Hey, some current players and managers could learn a lot from the above, including our current pathetic leadoff hitter. But alas, if you are going to use Rickey for “Quote of the Week,” you need to bring out the goods. So, for this week’s entry, we present to you a few of our favorite Rickey-isms:

"Listen: People are always saying, 'Rickey says Rickey.' But it's been blown way out of proportion. People might catch me, when they know I'm ticked off, saying, 'Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?' They say, 'Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey for? Why don't you just say, 'I?' But I never did. I always said, 'Rickey,' and it's become something for people to joke about."
---Rickey on 3rd person

"Let's see, for breakfast Rickey will have bacon and eggs, and grits if I can get 'em. Then I'll have a good meal after the game, either the clubhouse buffet or at a restaurant someplace. I'll eat a steak sometimes, sure. But not too much. I always leave something on the plate. Never eat till I'm full; pick here and there, eat small, eat often."

"I really don't snack in the dugout. Seeds are going to make us fat. I tried them, but they're really not that good for me. I am always telling everyone to lay off the seeds or else they'll be getting fat. There's fat in those seeds. And they always say 'Right, there's a lot of fat in a seed.' Maybe my favorite is water. Water's kind of boring though. I like to chew bubble gum. Maybe that's my favorite. Rickey's going with bubble gum."

---Rickey on his diet

"This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey."
---Rickey leaving a message on the answering machine of San Diego GM Kevin Towers

1 Comments:

Blogger Tony Park said...

Asked if he will be teaching cards to the younger Mets next month, Henderson laughed. "I think playing cards gave me the opportunity to relax in the game," he said. "It gave me the opportunity to go out there and play the game that I played so well."
-D. Lennon article, newsday.com (2.11.06)

So the answer is, yes, he will be sharing his veteran knowledge with his speed disciples: JReyes, DWright, CBeltran. As a Phillies fan, this is fantastic news. When the Phils and Mets are in a one game playoff at the end of the season, I hope to find all four of those guys sitting in the clubhouse playing a game of hold 'em.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006  

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"I've had a pretty good success facing Stan (Musial) by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third base."
- Carl Erskine