i love Rickey too! haha. I first typed Rickety by mistake!

Some people say Satchel Paige pitched into his 50's (I think there is still disagreement on how old he really was when he became a major leaguer). Is Rickey trying to better Satch?

How exactly does this affect his Hall of Fame eligibility? Is it that he just needs to be out of the Majors for 5 seasons? Or does it include any professional baseball? He could become the first player elected to the HOF while never really "retiring" from Pro Ball! Go Rickey!

I have no doubt that he is still a better player than several which will make 25 man rosters.

He would make a good mentor for Kenny Lofton and Marlon Byrd on the Phils. Too bad Glanville isn't still around.

A mentor for Kenny Lofton? Is Kenny, like, 36? Since when do 36 year old baseball players need mentors?

Rule 3c: " Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five (5) calendar years preceding the election but may be otherwise connected with baseball."
from:
http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/rules.htm
So was last year his first full year out of the majors?

It would be nice to see him in an A's uniform come September.

i LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUV rickey - he was my favorite non-astro player when i was a kid. and he's better than a lot of guys on our 40 man roster.

it WOULD be great to see him in an A's uni. for the last time. he'll be in the hall sooner or later and i don't guess he particularly cares how later. don't blame him. i'd play ball for as long as i could, too.

re: Rickey Henderson & Pete Rose

(1) Maybe we should all get together and buy a major league team, move it to a farm in Iowa, and build a ballpark in our cornfield. If we build it, he will come, e.g. Rickey Henderson.

(2) At some point, Pete Rose & Rickey Henderson can become like the Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker of our current age. Cobb and Speaker hung on like until they were 45 or some thing like that and in the A's season of 1926 or 27, Mack had them playing just for fan attraction. Some horrible baseball team will ultimately sign Rose and Rickey (when Rose is released to play again) just for novelty value to get fans. Also, sure it will toll their HOF elections another five years.

(3) At least Canseco doesn't allege he shot up Rickey Henderson. Rickey is 100% natural genetic material. No steroids, all Rickey, all leadoff greatness. Even if he doesn't know when to hang it up.

(4) I could argue that he might be able to accumulate more win shares in LF than an injured Pat Burrell and be a more effective leadoff hitter than Jimmy Rollins, or at least be effective in a part-time role against LH pitching since the Phils lineup is so LH dominant.

--AJK

P.S. To Lisa Gray

Hey lisa, he'd help the Astros this year to get over the hill since they lost Beltran.

-Art K.

I keep pulling for Rickey to just get those last 3 HRs and reach 300.

One last season with the A's would be good for the team on the field and at the gate. He's still got great wheels and enough pop and on-base % to be #2 or #3 on a lot of AL depth charts.

It appears his agent isn't working hard enough on his behalf. After all, Julio Franco is a bit older and is still with the Braves, yet I can't recall anybody saying Franco was or is a more valuable player than Rickey. To be fair to his agent, I can't imagine EVERY team's GM isn't already perfectly aware of Rickey's availability, price, and skills.

With those 3 lousy HRs, he'd be the ONLY player other than Mays to reach 300HR/300SB/3,000H. Yeah, that's rare air.

Also, by becoming the 300-300 club's 5th member (Mays, plus Barry & Bobby Bonds and Andre Dawson) he'd be the first one to get there without achieving a single 30-30 season.

Not deserving? Saluki oldie Steve Finley turns 40 this weekend, is just 15 HRs shy of 300, and will probably beat Rickey into the club. And he's never had a 30-30 season.

I hope Finley makes 300-300, and I hope he does it this year. I just hope Rickey gets there, too. It would be an interesting, though admittedly pointless, statistical horserace, but silly stuff like that is a big part of baseball appreciation.

For all the guff he's taken for his ignorance and arrogance, he's never been in the papers for drugs or car wrecks or guns or wife beatings, etc. And I thought he issued a hilariously honest reaction to Ken Caminiti's assertion that 50% of the MLB was juiced: "Oh yeah? Well, it's only 49% because nobody asked me."

I keep pulling for Rickey to just get those last 3 HRs and reach 300.

One last season with the A's would be good for the team on the field and at the gate. He's still got great wheels and enough pop and on-base % to be #2 or #3 on a lot of AL depth charts.

It appears his agent isn't working hard enough on his behalf. After all, Julio Franco is a bit older and is still with the Braves, yet I can't recall anybody saying Franco was or is a more valuable player than Rickey. To be fair to his agent, I can't imagine EVERY team's GM isn't already perfectly aware of Rickey's availability, price, and skills.

With those 3 lousy HRs, he'd be the ONLY player other than Mays to reach 300HR-300SB-3,000H. Yeah, that's rare air.

Also, by becoming the 300-300 club's 5th member (Mays, plus Barry & Bobby Bonds and Andre Dawson) he'd be the first one to get there without achieving a single 30-30 season.

Not deserving? Saluki oldie Steve Finley turns 40 this weekend, is just 15 HRs shy of 300, and will probably beat Rickey into the club. And he's never had a 30-30 season.

I hope Finley makes 300-300, and I hope he does it this year. I just hope Rickey gets there, too. It would be an interesting, though admittedly pointless, statistical horserace, but silly stuff like that is a big part of baseball appreciation.

For all the guff he's taken for his ignorance and arrogance, he's never been in the papers for drugs or car wrecks or guns or wife beatings, etc. And I thought he issued a hilariously honest reaction to Ken Caminiti's assertion that 50% of the MLB was juiced: "Oh yeah? Well, it's only 49% because nobody asked me."

My brother & I had a unique opportunity to to meet & talk with Rickey Henderson for 10 minutes yesterday (3/18/05) at the Royals-Angels spring training game.
Rickey deserves a chance to play.
He said, “I tell General Managers ‘pay me the minimum salary & then I’ll donate that entire salary to whatever local high school you want me to & I’ll play for free…I already have money, I know I can play…give me a shot & forget about how old I am.”
The game needs more guys like Rickey.

SIGN RICKEY!!!!
http://signrickey.blogspot.com