Recently, Rickey Henderson was on ESPN radio. As part of the show, the announcers had a list of The 25 Best Rickey Henderson Stories Of All Time and asked him to true or false some of them. As I mentioned in my Appreciation of Rickey Henderson – Stories, Thoughts, and Links post from a couple months ago, that list is plagiarized from this 2003 Sports Illustrated article (which is why I didn’t link to it originally.

The 6 anecdotes clarified by Rickey below the jump…



“3) In the early 1980s, the Oakland Aâ€™s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house. TRUE

5) This one might be my second favorite. This wasnâ€™t too long ago, I think it was the year he ended up playing with the Red Sox. Anyway, he called San Diego GM Kevin Towers and left the following message: â€œThis is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.â€ FALSE

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

9) Henderson once fell asleep on an ice pack and got frostbite â€“ which forced him to miss three games â€” in mid-August. TRUE

13) San Diego GM Kevin Towers was trying to contact Rickey at a nearby hotel. He knew Henderson always used fake names to avoid the press, fans, etc. He was trying to think like Rickey and after several attempts; he was able to get Henderson on the phone.

Rickey had checked in under Richard Pryor. TRUE (Also James Brown, Luther Vandross

14) I didnâ€™t believe this one at first. However, I emailed a few contacts within the Sox organization and they claim it actually happened. This is priceless, it really is.

The morning after the Sox finished off their 2004 World Series sweep against St. Louis, Henderson called someone in the organization looking for tickets to Game 6 at Fenway Park. FALSE”