Rickey!

Rickey Henderson just made the Baseball Hall of Fame. God I loved that guy back in the day, when I was little and loved baseball and lived and breathed the Oakland A's. In his honor here is the greatest 25 stories of Rickey's career.

My favorite's:

3) In the early 1980s, the Oakland A’s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.

11) Henderson broke Ty Cobb’s career record for runs scored with a home run. After taking his usual 45 seconds or so around the bases, Rickey slid into home plate.

21) Rickey was pulled over by a San Diego police officer for speeding. As the officer was approaching Rickey’s car, the window went down a few inches and a folded $100 bill emerged. The officer let Rickey and his money head home without a ticket.

Go read them all.

Via

Take Me Out to the Ball

Went to a Giants games yesterday. (Thanks Sis) Baseball, that most all American of Father-Son bonding activities. Lots of fun. A question. How in the hell do ticket scalpers make any money? We are walking into the Stadium as the National Anthem is being played. In the two blocks before the Stadium, we pass half a dozen guys selling tickets. They each had their tickets fanned out in their hands. The game was about to start, and it seemed pretty clear that the scalpers were going to be left with tickets. So even if they has sold some tickets above sticker price, they were going to eat the cost of lots of tickets. So how does this work out?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

... or, “Craig tries to be a sports writer”
Took in a Sacramento River Cats game last night. The Cats lost 12-8. The whole thing has a really interesting vibe. The Rivercats play AAA minor league ball, the level of baseball just under the major leagues, which means that every player on the field is just a pulled hamstring away from going to the big show. This feeling of almost greatness hangs over the whole place. Pictures of River Cats players who’ve made the Bigs hang on the walls of the stadium. A player goes for a bunt and pops it up and the guy in front of me intones, “Scouts don’t like a guy who can’ bunt.” It’s like there’s this big dream of money and fame so close to this game that every diving catch in the outfield and two-run homer brings that dream closer and every bobbled grounder and wild pitch moves that dream farther away.