Two former Red Sox players — Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson — will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend. Of course, Rice is the one Red Sox fans will claim as their own. The man who put up one of the greatest Red Sox seasons ever en route to earning the MVP Award in 1978 started and finished his 16-year career in front of the Green Monster. In an era before power hitters starting pumping home runs and RBIs into their arms with needles, Rice put up the following season in 1978: 163 games, 213 hits, 46 home runs, 139 RBIs, 15 triples, .315 batting average, .600 slugging percentage. And that was sandwiched in between a 1977 season in which he had 39 home runs and 119 RBIs and a 1979 season in which he had 39 homers and 130 RBIs.

Jim Rice, Sept. 15, 1978

Of course, without the help of steroids, Rice never put up another three-year stretch close to 1977-1979. He had more than 30 home runs one other time in his career (1983), and finished with 382 career home runs. Mix the fact that Rice fell 18 homers short of what appears to be the minimum Hall of Fame requirement for power hitters with his widely reported nastiness toward the media, and it explains his 20-year wait for Cooperstown. But just as the lack of steroid use may have hindered Rice’s ability to put up Hall of Fame numbers, others’ use of the banned substances likely paved the way for his induction. Now that home run numbers and power stats have been deemed irrelevant in the past 10 years, a surly slugger who came to play every day without the help of steroids has a chance to get enshrined.

For Rice’s part, he recognizes that the other former Red Sox, Rickey Henderson, who played for the Boston team for a short stint in 2002, is the main attraction on a national level. From the media’s perspective, “The Man of Steal” was the exact opposite of Rice — someone who could fill up their notepads with entertaining quotes and anecdotes. Back in January, Rice predicted he’d make a short acceptance speech this weekend.

“I’m going to let Rickey do all the talking,” said Rice. “I’m going to make it short and quick and that’s it. Let Rickey run.”

Rickey’s done plenty of running in his day … both at the mouth and on the base paths. Since Jim Rice quotes were at a premium during his playing days, let’s review the best of Rickey Henderson.

Rickey was a teammate of John Olerud’s first with the Toronto Blue Jays and later with the New York Mets. Legend has it Rickey sat down next to Olerud when they were Mets teammates and asked why he wore a helmet in the field. Olerud told him he had a brain aneurysm when he was 9. Rickey responded, “I used to play with a guy who had the same thing.”

When he played with the Padres, a younger teammate offered Henderson his seat on the bus, saying that Henderson had first choice because he had tenure. Rickey replied, “Ten years? What are you talking about? Rickey’s got 16, 17 years.”

Rickey was once so proud of his $1 million signing bonus that he framed the check rather than cashing it.

In 2002, Rickey had this to say about pitcher Orlando Hernandez, “He needs to grow up a little bit. I ain’t a kid. When I broke into the game, he was crawling on his hands and knees. Unless he’s as old as I am. He probably is.”

During a holdout for a new contract, Rickey once called Padres general manager Kevin Towers and said, “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

Following a strike out in Seattle, Rickey once walked by a teammate muttering, “Don’t worry, Rickey, you’re still the best.”

Rickey once asked a teammate how long it would take him to drive to the Dominican Republic.

Following the stolen base which gave Rickey the all-time record for steals, the game was stopped so that Lou Brock could honor Henderson on the field. Rickey took the microphone and said, “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but, today, I am the greatest of all-time.”

Rickey once fell asleep on an ice pack and developed frostbite in mid-August. He missed three games.

After Ken Caminiti estimated in a Sports Illustrated cover story that 50 percent of major league players were taking steroids, Rickey answered, “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”

The morning after the Sox swept the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series, Rickey called someone in the organization to reserve tickets to Game 6 at Fenway.

When a reporter once asked Rickey if he talks to himself, he answered, “Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I’m trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?”

When asked if he owned the new Garth Brooks album, Rickey once said, “Rickey doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”

During a contract holdout with Oakland in the early 1990s, Henderson said, “If they want to pay me like (teammate) Mike Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.”

As a member of the Yankees in the mid-1980s, Henderson told teammates his condo had a great view of the “Entire State Building.”

Henderson once had a locker next to Billy Beane’s while they were both playing for the A’s. Early in the season, Beane was sent down to the minors for six weeks. Upon his return, Henderson greeted Beane by saying, “Hey, man. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Before every game he ever played, Rickey would stand naked in front of a full length mirror and say, “Rickey’s the best. Rickey’s the best.” That continued for several minutes.

In the final week of 2002, Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner asked Henderson what he wanted for a “going-away gift”. Henderson said he wasn’t going anywhere, but he’d be happy to take owner John Henry’s Mercedes. The Sox bought Henderson a red Thunderbird instead. When he saw it on the field before the last game of the season, he said, “Whose ugly car is on the field?”

3 Comments for “Rice and Henderson — polar opposites”

1. Primo Deano Says:
   July 22nd, 2009 at 9:39 am

   Most talented man to ever set foot on the diamond. Rickey Henderson.

   Another (possibly the best) example of steroid-free talent.

   #24

2. Management Leadership For Tomorrow Says:
   July 23rd, 2009 at 7:17 am

   Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a non profit organization created by John Rice, helps minorities by supporting them with coaching, mentoring and seminars.

   The puprose of MLT is to create true leaders that master the hard and soft skills like problem-solving, communication and business awareness.

3. Ferres Art Says:
   October 13th, 2010 at 3:02 pm

   Have you got twitter account sir? So i can follow your blog

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