Superman
A former Blue Jay was inducted into the Hall of Fame yesterday. If you are searching trying to find the name, it is Ricky Henderson. That makes four Blue Jays now in the Hall of Fame, the others being Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Phil Niekro. Pretty darn good for a club that came into being in 1977 if I do say so myself, better than the Mariners at least. Although these players together are ‘Blue Jay Hall of Famers,’ the other thing that they all have is common is they didn’t stay here that long. Ricky only played in Toronto for half a season plus the playoffs in 1993, Niekro’s great career ended in Toronto after the 1987 season, Winfield only stayed one year to help us win the World Series in 1992 and Molitor’s time in Toronto consisted of one World Series in 1993, a strike shorted year in 1994 and another year in 1995. Suffice to say, none of these players actually went into the Hall as a Blue Jay. This is another reason why the Jays should not trade Roy Halladay, although Roberto Alomar (arguably the greatest Jay ever) might have a shot before him.
I’ve drifted a bit, so back to Superman. If Jays fans can remember, Toronto and Oakland had a short-lived rivalry in the early 90’s. We met Oakland in the 1989 ALCS and the ALCS in 1992, winning one of those meetings (Alomar’s amazing homerun off Eckersly in 92 – Game 4 some might remember). Henderson was so good in those series, that Jays fans and broadcasters referred to him as ‘Superman.’ The Oakland ALCS win over the Jays in 1989 saw Henderson steal 8 bases against the Jays in 5 games. He won MVP for the series. The Jays, in particular, had gained a great respect for the athlete that he was. Hence the name, ‘Superman.’ I remember hating him, and being scared of him everytime he lead-off for the A’s. So what do you do with your enemies? Keep them even closer some might say. I commend modern GM mastermind Pat Gilick on pulling a trade-deadline manuver that brought Ricky to the Jays in 1993. He was definately one of the players that helped the Jays go back-to-back in 92-93, even though we made him move to right-field.
Alright, now for a funny Ricky Henderson story. My favorite was upon Ricky being reunited with John Olerud later in their playing careers with the New York Mets, Henderson said to Olerud: “I remember playing with a guy that always wore a helmet in Toronto?” Olerud, who did play with Ricky, and together with him won the World Series in 1993, always wore a helmet on the field-of-play for medical reasons. He couldn’t even look at Ricky with a straight face after he said that.
Homer, Blue Jays and MLB 
I think that’s what I like best about Rickey. Not only was he a great baseball player – You just never knew what he was going to say!
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
I always loved Rickey and especially when he talked about Rickey. That guy no doubt deserved the Hall and somebody should put a book together interviewing all the players he was around because Im sure there would be a lot of good stories! Congrats on the ranking too, pretty soon the Hall we’ll be calling for a design!
tom
http://rockymountainway.mlblogs.com
Homer,
I like the stories about Henderson, or “Superman”! I’m actually watching him on MLB Network right now. And you’re right that the Jays should keep Halladay, so that he can go into the HOF as a Blue Jay, because he really should!
-Elizabeth
http://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com
I watched Henderson on MLB Netowrk last night too. He’s a class act and a funny guy but I was kind of shocked to realize his first love was football and the only reason he chose baseball was because his mom said he was too small for football.
Thanks for the link, by the way!
and P.S. I started over in ‘The Show’ and decided to put every point I earned into hitting contact and power. I haven’t made it out of AA Reading yet, but I’m a better hitter and start in the #3 spot. I figure I can improve my hitting in the minors and as I get better I get more hits and ultimately more points to improve other stats. Trying to improve everything equally I just so frustrating.
School started again so I don’t have as much time to play, but its more fun hitting home runs even if I run like Prince Fielder.
http://thegoodofthegame.mlblogs.com
I love that story! There are so many hilarious Rickey stories!!
http://kaybee.mlblogs.com
Funny about Rickey and Olerud. And I have to admit it: I didn’t remember that Rickey played for you guys. So thanks for the reminder and the memories. Speaking of Alomar, how great was he?
– http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
Apparently both Olerud and Henderson have denied that that ever happened. But it is a commonly told story, and who knows if it is true?
Scott, I didn’t know Henderson loved football that much. I don’t get the MLB network yet, kinda hurts but I’ll live. Good luck on ‘the show.’ It just takes practice.
Jane, glad you mentioned Alomar. He was honoured at the Rogers Centre ‘level of excellence’ on opening day last year. In his prime, he was greatest second baseman to play the game, I’d argue. I have never seen a better defensive secondbaseman, he could hit for a high average, even hit the long ball on occasion and steal bases. Alomar was a complete player and a big part the Jays success in those year. He also had some big years in Baltimore. I wrote a post on Alomar, one of my first posts actually in April. Wow, I can tell my writing has improved since then.
http://homerfoodandhistory.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/04/a_clean_blue_jay_sweep_remembe.html
I didn’t realize Rickey played for the Jays! Shows how much I know! And if there’s anyone who deserves to get in to Coopertown (as he called it), it’s Rickey. How this wasn’t a unanimous vote is beyond me.
Wasn’t Rickey Henderson the guy that claimed he did not know who Jackie Robinson was? I recall a story to that effect.
Anyway, Henderson was most definitely deserving of the hall. Not always the smartest or nicest guy…but one heckuva ballplayer. Here’s a small tidbit for you…do you know what tactic Henderson most often used to steal all those bases?
He would watch a pitcher’s buttocks muscles. Apparently when they contracted in a certain way, he knew they were going to the plate…off he went! Weird but true!
http://thehappyyoungster.mlblogs.com/
Nice post. I loved the rivalry we had with Oakland in the early 90’s. They always had the bash brothers, but Rickey was the key to that offence. Was nice to see him in that Jays uni. I remember getting tickets to a game at the dome vs Oakland and sitting on the 500 level behind the light fixtures…and those were the best seasts available!! oh, the good ol’ days. I agree about Alomar. He was probably the best second baseman of his era, and although he tarnished his rep. a little late in his career (SPIT!), I would love to see him get into the Hall, wearing that Jays cap.
http://icemansports.mlblogs.com
oh yeah, what a great tournament, especially that finish in the semis against Russia..WOW!!!
Love your blog. very cool. did u have a chance to visit yankee stadium last year. went to see the jays beat the hated yanks!! awesome! chk out my FB profile for pictures.
karim kanji
http://inspirationbykarim.blogspot.com
I didn’t know those stories happy. lol. Funny how Henderson stole all those bases checking out other guys buts.
Karim, thanks for stopping by. Excellent blog you have on blogspot, very thought provoking. I did see Yankee Stadium last year! I was at the Halladay versus Joba Chamberlain (making his first start) game.
http://homerfoodandhistory.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/06/planes_trains_and_automobiles.html
Ya Iceman, how about those Juniors! 5.4 seconds left and we score the game-tieing goal. Hockey doesn’t get better than that, those kids play hard. The World Juniors is such a great tournament, it should be on par with the BCS National Championship game, or the Final Four.
Robbie WILL get into the Hall and, in fact, I’d say there is a good chance of it happening on his first ballot in a year’s time. In any event, it’ll be well before Halladay. It will be nice to have a long time Jay go to Cooperstown AS A JAY!!!
Bradley
http://44north.mlblogs.com
Homer,
Looks like your Leafs won, and Blake had a hat trick too! Very cool. I wish we could see the World Juniors tournament here in the states. I would much rather watch that than the BCS.
-Erin
http://plunking-gomez.mlblogs.com
Jeremy,
Nice design, with Rickey holding up the base, and the Superman symbol behind him [just a side note: Superman, the “real” Superman, was/is my favorite “super hero” of all-time] Just thought I’d toss that in [no reason] !!! … Rickey Henderson is one of the greatest players ever, and it is well deserved that he was voted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot !!! … Also, he gave a lot of credit to manager, Billy Martin, for his success in Oakland … I enjoyed hearing those comments by Rickey, as I think, at some point in the future, Billy Martin should also be enshrined in the Hall of Fame !!! … And, funny story about Rickey and John Olerud … It was classic, “Rickey being Rickey” !!! … Take care, Jeremy !!! … Jimmy [27NYY], “BY&L” http://baseballtheyankeesandlife.mlblogs.com/
Wow, I completely forgot Rickie played with the Jays.
http://metsmainman.mlblogs.com
The Leafs will start winning only to let you down, everytime it seems. I’m not even a Leaf anymore, I’ve said so in the past so I have to stick with that. I’m sure I’ll have an opporitunity to jump on the bandwagon, but I still do think I’ll do that.
Ricky was a part of the Jays 93 Championship team. He did some good things here.
When Ricky was with Oakland, Toronto sportscasters called him ‘superman.’ I wouldn’t through that name around loosely either, but that is one of my notable memories of Ricky. He was so good for the A’s in those years.