That's what I'm saying, guy…

The Greatest of All-Time, or so he'll tell you

The self-proclaimed “Greatest of All-Time” got his due today, as Rickey Henderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Henderson, who was joined by former Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice and the late former Yankee Joe Gordon, received 94.8% of the votes in his first year of eligibility.

Henderson, arguably the best leadoff hitter in history, holds the major league record for both career and single season steals (1,406 and 130, respectively) and career runs (2,295). He was a ten-time all-star and won the AL MVP in 1990 when he hit .325 with 28 homers for Oakland. He won two World Series — one with the A’s in 1989 and the other, of course, with Toronto in 1993.

As much as anything, though, Henderson was one of the game’s greatest characters — before Manny Ramirez got busy being Manny, Rickey was being Rickey. My favourite Henderson story has Blue Jay ties: One popular legend had Rickey approaching John Olerud after being traded to the Mets in 1999 and asking Olerud why he wore a helmet while playing first base. After Olerud told Henderson it was because of a brain aneurysm from when he was younger, Rickey said, “Oh yeah? I used to play with someone in Toronto who had the same thing.” “That,” Olerud said, “was me.” Granted, both parties denied the exchange took place and the story is simply too good to be true, but it’s still funny to tell.