Happy Birthday Rickey Henderson

Hall of Famer and former Blue Jay (if only for three months), Rickey Henderson, turns 56 today.

He might have only been a Blue Jays for 3 months, but then it was long enough for him to earn one of his two World Series rings. He really wasn't at the top of his game with us, in 44 regular season games he hit .215/.356/.319 with 22 stole bases and 35 walks. The .356 OBP seems pretty good, but not compared to his .401 career mark. In the playoffs, he hit .170/.316/.255 with 3 stole base and 2 caught stealing....but then he did get on base for Joe Carter's series willing home run so he can be forgiven.

Of course, you know he had a great career, with a MLB record 1406 stolen bases and record 2295 runs. Combine that with a .279/.401/.419 slash line, 297 home runs and a great glove in left field and you have the best lead off hitter ever.

He also had the biggest ego in baseball too. I do love this story though:

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.

So he wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but I still would have loved him to have been a Blue Jay for more of his career.

Happy birthday, Rickey, I hope it is a good one. Poor guy, likely gets ripped off on presents. My birthday is in mid-January and my parents still didn't do much for birthday presents, course that could be just because my parents were cheap.

Minor Leaguer tells me it is also the birthday of former Blue Jays coaches Marty Peavy and Bruce Walton. So happy birthday to all three, I hope it's a great one.