MLB Thread

[ProudMary]

Oh my God, Rickey Henderson died. He would have been 66 on Christmas day. He had been hospitalized for pneumonia. This is SO sad.

There are the greats and then there's a whole different level. Rickey was that and one of the all-time characters in baseball history.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/12/21/rickey-henderson-oakland-as-died-yankees-hall-of-fame-mvp-man-of-steal/

[Lantern7]

I think of it as the final kick to the groin for baseball fans in Oakland this year. Unrelated note, has anyone checked in on Reggie Jackson recently?

[Is Everyone Gone]

3 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Oh my God, Rickey Henderson died. He would have been 66 on Christmas day. He had been hospitalized for pneumonia. This is SO sad.

There are the greats and then there's a whole different level. Rickey was that and one of the all-time characters in baseball history.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/12/21/rickey-henderson-oakland-as-died-yankees-hall-of-fame-mvp-man-of-steal/

Omg such sad news. He was such a colorful, funny character. People like that you just want to live forever.

[Salacious Kitty]

25 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I think of it as the final kick to the groin for baseball fans in Oakland this year. Unrelated note, has anyone checked in on Reggie Jackson recently?

I'm crushed. 😭

[ProudMary]

16 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

I'm crushed. 😭

I'm so sorry for you and all the fans. 😥 It's awful. Oakland fans won't have the opportunity to come together to collectively mourn the passing of their all-around greatest player on opening day or on a specially named Rickey Henderson Day. They should open the stadium just for a tribute to Rickey. I bet thousands would come.

Everything about this sucks. I had seen video from the final game at the Coliseum in September and Rickey seemed to be in great shape, as you'd expect. He always kept himself in shape. It's one of the reasons he had such a long and productive career. If there was ever someone you'd think could outrun death, it would have been Rickey. To lose him at 65 is almost unfathomable. To be honest, I shed quite a few tears yesterday afternoon as it was such a shock. 

Also, it didn't help matters any that this site was down for most of the day and we couldn't talk about it here.

[mojoween]

23 hours ago, Jane Tuesday said:

Paul Goldschmidt to the Yanks on a one-year deal. 

Goodnight, sweet prince. 😞 

and Anthony Rizzo goes … ?

[ProudMary]

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

and Anthony Rizzo goes … ?

Rizzo's a free agent. The Yanks let him walk. 😥 

[smittykins]

According to Wikipedia, Rickey was named after singer Ricky Nelson.  And he was born in the back seat of an Oldsmobile on the way to the hospital.  He once joked “I was already fast, I couldn’t wait.”

[ProudMary]

This, by Tyler Kepner, is the best Rickey Henderson tribute I've read. It's from The Athletic, which is under the umbrella of The New York Times, but I don't have a subscription and I was able to access it without hitting a paywall.

Always on the move, Rickey Henderson leaves legacy as one of baseball’s greatest showmen

[shoregirl]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DD3i_Osx-Tv/?igsh=MXdmZ3JkeXhva2M3ZQ==

Jimmy Rollins grew up in Oakland and idolizing Rickey Henderson. His tribute to him on Instagram is lovely.

MLB Network also shared this on Twitter