"But today, I'm the greatest of all time. Thank you."

[gleek]

He's a clown, but he certain deserves the honor.

[MFAWG]

I saw Rickey Henderson give more *feces* away in Oakland (even when he was playing with the Jays, Padre's and Yankees) than any 5 players combined, and we're talking DURING games. All some kid had to do was come down, say who they knew that Rickey grew up with, and they'd walk away with a bat, a ball, a hat, whatever Rickey had handy that Rickey could afford to part with.

Say what you want, but he's never forgotten where he came from.

I consider myself  extremely fortunate to have seen him play, and to see what kind of individual he can be.

I haven't seen the vote, but it should have been damn near unanimous. he'd get in as a hitter alone, stolen bases aside.

[gleek]

Here's Jayson Stark's article sounding off on the 28 voters who left his name off the ballot.

[Aske]

what a joke.  he should have been top 2 or top 3 % of all time.  Talk about a MultiTool   player if there ever was one.

[MFAWG]

But remember, Hall of Fame voting 30 years ago was even more inexplicable than Rickey's upcoming induction speech will be.

LOL, I never watch these things. But I'll watch Rickey, because it's going to be one of the greatest 'What The Hell Was THAT!?' moments in 2009.

[hobbit]

Definitely deserving, a great player.... I still don't like the guy.

[Seamus]

I think you have to have a certain amount of arrogance to be the best at anything. Tens of thousands of hours go into becoming a "professional" something. I hated Ricky for several reasons. I can't tell you how many times I'd seen him play live and we'd be down 1-0 bottom of the first, or how many times he'd beat us by stealing 2nd and then 3rd, and then a wild pitch or a hit would bring him in. You just don't see base stealer's anymore (don't know why), I guess it's just the progression of the game. But I can count on one hand the number of professional baseball players in my lifetime who could beat you just with their legs. Greatest lead off hitter of my generation, greatest base stealer of my generation, all other numbers are hall worthy.

And I back the Ruth-Cobb argument. But I don't know why.

[MFAWG]

Greatest lead off hitter of my generation, greatest base stealer of my generation, all other numbers are hall worthy.

Nope. Greatest lead off hitter of all time (.400 OBP with 297 HR's,), and greatest base stealer of all time by 400 bases, a statistical Mount Everest that's really hard to fathom.

The only statistic that compares is Ruth's 714, which  wasn't approached in any serious manner for almost 40 years.

I think you have to have a certain amount of arrogance to be the best at anything.

Ayup. Look at Ted Williams.

And I back the Ruth-Cobb argument. But I don't know why.

'Heaven is for good people. The Hall Of Fame is for ballplayers'

 

[Blader]

Definitely deserving, a great player.... I still don't like the guy.

yep.  he's a black Pete Rose without the notorious gambling stain.  loved to hate him, but had to respect him for what he could do.