Rickey being Rickey...1st Ballot HOF'er

Ricky Henderson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame today, becoming a first ballot HOF'er.

If you grew up during his heydey, you know Ricky was just plain awesome. He may have been one of the first me-first atheletes to garner national attention, but the man was simply awesome.

Henderson was carved from granite. He may be the only MLB player to ever have an all-nude trading card. Want to know how freakish this guy was, consider the fact that a common quote about Ricky was the fact that his legs were made "by U.S. Steel." Wonder why, check this story from 1998:

The all-time stolen base leader has not been devoid of injuries during
a 20-year baseball career, but the body remains sculpted, the legs by
U.S. Steel.

Check with Jason McDonald.

The Oakland Athletics’ young center fielder chased a long
drive into the gap in left-center on May 23, made a diving attempt for
the catch, and crashed headfirst into the girder that is Henderson’s
right leg.

Henderson, who was coming from the other direction, walked off
with a bruise. McDonald, who fortunately had his head turned
just enough to catch the brunt of the collision on the side, was carried to
an ambulance. He suffered a concussion, injuries to both wrists, and
remains on the disabled list with no definite timetable regarding
his return.

“If he had run into anybody else’s leg, that person would have
been on the disabled list,” Oakland Manager Art Howe said with a
grimace Monday night at Dodger Stadium, the A’s having defeated the
Dodgers, 7-3, in the opener of their interleague series. “But Rickey’s
lower half is unbelievably strong. Jason ran into the
wrong guy.”

The All-time Stolen Bases leader was the greatest lead-off man in the history of the game. It ain't news that he was a first ballot HOF'er. It's news that 28 idiots voted against him. As Jayson Stark asks, What the hell were they thinking? Consider:

-He has more runs scored than any other player ever.

-He stole 612 bases AFTER THE AGE OF 30.

-Only Babe Ruth (8) and Mickey Mantle (6) led the league in most runs scored more than Rickey (5).

As Stark says, "Rickey Henderson was the greatest leadoff man in history, the greatest run-scoring machine in history and the greatest base stealer in history. "

Word.