Rickey Henderson

[YouthofToday]

Great article: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/06/rickey-henderson-the-greatest-leadoff-hitter-on-how-to-be-a-great-leadoff-hitter/

Dude clearly doesn't think walks are a false stat. Absolutely fantastic quote:

“People ask, ‘How do you steal all those bases?’” he said. “But they never say, ‘What do you do to get on base?’ The first thing is, can you get on base a lot to give you the opportunity to steal so many bases? That’s what the guys are not doing. They’re not finding a way to get on the basepaths. A lot of leadoff hitters, they’re free swingers — they’re not patient enough to take a pitch or two knowing that they can hit with two strikes and get themselves a chance to get on base more.

“As a leadoff hitter, you’ve got to be patient. A lot of times, you’re giving your teammates an idea or vision of what the pitchers throwing, what pitches he’s getting over the plate, basically because you’re being a little more patient and you’re seeing what he’s got.”

[VariousCrap]

Try him as hitting coach!

[OregonLAA]

Player/Manager

[Mile High Dreams]

I don't believe that was Rickey Henderson...not enough first person quotes in that interview.

[nate]

My most prized baseball card.  Rickey Henderson signed rookie card.

[ukyah]

that's my favorite baseball player ever. everybody thinks he's an egomaniac, but he's an incredible team guy, albeit with an insane personality. i always rebuff those claims by saying how many other first ballot HOFers do you know playing independent ball at 45 and older.

[CaliAngel]

Dudes passionate, and sometimes passionate people say things without a filter, but no doubt Rickey's got a great baseball mind.

 

Can't argue with 1 thing he said here. I think the last leadoff hitter we had that worked walks just to expose the pitcher was Eckstein. Do we even have a player on our team that is more concerned with getting on base through a walk instead of swinging at junk to try and get on? It would be nice to have a player like that. You can get a lot done by getting in that pitchers head and forcing him to throw strikes. This Angels team simply does not do that.

 

I don't doubt if Rickey was our manger he'd say things to players and media that nobody thought they'd hear. Would be quite refreshing to say the least.

[AngelArcher]

This thread needs the Aybar dance gif.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

The good ol days when Rickey was an Angel.

[YouthofToday]

Rickey's plate approach was nearly the complete opposite of Aybar's. Although I do like Aybar as a player, and like the extension Dipoto have him, he never should be at the top of order due to his complete inability to take pitches, work counts and draw walks.

[Inside Pitch]

I don't believe that was Rickey Henderson...not enough first person quotes in that interview.

 

Rickey agrees with your position.

 

Two of my favorite baseball stories are about Rickey Henderson and his personality quirks..    We could probably make a pretty decent thread just on funny Rickey Henderson stories.

[Angelsjunky]

Clown quote, bro.

[JB Abell]

Dudes passionate, and sometimes passionate people say things without a filter, but no doubt Rickey's got a great baseball mind.

Can't argue with 1 thing he said here. I think the last leadoff hitter we had that worked walks just to expose the pitcher was Eckstein. Do we even have a player on our team that is more concerned with getting on base through a walk instead of swinging at junk to try and get on? It would be nice to have a player like that. You can get a lot done by getting in that pitchers head and forcing him to throw strikes. This Angels team simply does not do that.

I don't doubt if Rickey was our manger he'd say things to players and media that nobody thought they'd hear. Would be quite refreshing to say the least.

If Trout was lead off he would be doing this. He works the count pretty frequently and gets walked quite often (has 40 walks on the season). Sure he strikes out a lot also, but he's still young.

[EDinTUSTIN]

Dudes passionate, and sometimes passionate people say things without a filter, but no doubt Rickey's got a great baseball mind.

 

Can't argue with 1 thing he said here. I think the last leadoff hitter we had that worked walks just to expose the pitcher was Eckstein. Do we even have a player on our team that is more concerned with getting on base through a walk instead of swinging at junk to try and get on? It would be nice to have a player like that. You can get a lot done by getting in that pitchers head and forcing him to throw strikes. This Angels team simply does not do that.

 

I don't doubt if Rickey was our manger he'd say things to players and media that nobody thought they'd hear. Would be quite refreshing to say the least.

You mean no more, "....flies in the ointment"  "gettin' guys to where they need to be"   "sometimes you just gotta tip your cap"  " we're gonna grind"  "the ball was comin' out of his hand nicely'.........

[Angel Oracle]

That's an in your face, Hacker!

[LBHalos17]

Watched Rickey play the Yankees Old-Timers game... He's still in great shape, and looked great out there!  He could steal 12+ bases a game with my Sunday team...

[Taylor]

Dudes passionate, and sometimes passionate people say things without a filter, but no doubt Rickey's got a great baseball mind.

 

Can't argue with 1 thing he said here. I think the last leadoff hitter we had that worked walks just to expose the pitcher was Eckstein. Do we even have a player on our team that is more concerned with getting on base through a walk instead of swinging at junk to try and get on? It would be nice to have a player like that. You can get a lot done by getting in that pitchers head and forcing him to throw strikes. This Angels team simply does not do that.

 

I don't doubt if Rickey was our manger he'd say things to players and media that nobody thought they'd hear. Would be quite refreshing to say the least.

 

Did I wake up today in an alternate universe where Mike Trout was drafted by some other team?

[CaliAngel]

Prima donna egoists don't typically do great things behind the helm. 

 

Watch out folks, we've got an expert here.