One on one with Rickey Henderson: future Hall of Famer - Interview

Baseball Digest, Feb, 2003 by Dennis Manoloff

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT; "Scoring the most runs in major league history. You have to score to win."

HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: "That I played hard, played to win and respected the game."

RICKEY HENDERSON HAS PLAYED IN more than 3,000 major league games and collected more than 3,000 hits. He has appeared in 54 post-season games and owns two World Series rings.

He is the all-time leader in walks, stolen bases and runs.

Yet, it is often difficult to gauge his significance, based on fan, media and even colleague reaction to him, which ranges from disdain to apathy. Henderson's incredible career has been overshadowed by his image, that of a cocky, me-first player who always makes sure to look good in the mirror.

Is it accurate? Rickey defiantly says no. In the 2002 season, at 43, a reserve outfielder on the Boston Red Sox, he allowed for a peek into his world:

Question: How much longer will you go?

Answer: I really have no timetable. The good Lord has blessed me with the health. I'm not going to give it up if I can still perform, compete and enjoy the game.

Q: What is left to do?

A: Nothing I can think of.

Q: Any regrets?

A: The only thing I wish I could figure out is how I got misunderstood regarding the type of person I really am and what I accomplished. I want to know how a guy can accomplish so much and be so misunderstood.

Q: So you think people don't fully appreciate the scope of your performance?

A: I don't think--I know. Each and every day I set a record, but we never talk about it. We'll talk about a homerun hitter 24/7. Well, they haven't broken any all-time records, but they hit homers, and that's what matters nowadays.

You continue playing, you accomplish a lot, and you'd think people would look at it as a fantastic career. Instead, I think people want me to quit more than anything. (chuckle)

Q: At least you find some humor there.

A: It is what it is. I'm hot going to lose sleep over it, but at the same time, I'm human. It bothers me to some degree, sure.

Q: How did the misunderstanding become so pronounced?

A: I don't know. I don't even think the people that misunderstand me know why. I'm hot a bad guy--on the field, off the field, around people.

Q: Nonetheless, it's no secret you're perceived as cocky, arrogant.

A: Just because I believed in what I was doing on the field, and dedicated myself to playing the game, does that mean I'm cocky? Does that mean I'm arrogant? People who played against me called me cocky, but my teammates didn't. I brought attention, fear. I wanted to beat you in the worst way. If that made me cocky, so be it.

Q: Do you figure history will be kinder to you than the present?

A: Oh, yeah. It's got to be. If you talk about baseball, you can't eliminate me, because I'm all over baseball.

Q: You don't sound cocky making such a statement, but you know it will come across that way in print.

A: It's the truth. Telling the truth isn't being cocky. What do you want me to say, that I didn't put up the numbers? That my teams didn't win a lot of games? People don't want me to say anything about what I've done. Then why don't you say it? Because if I don't say it and you don't say it, nobody says it.

That's the way it's been my whole career. That's why I really don't talk about a lot of things, even though I should. I should be broadcasting everything. If I were cocky, I'd be broadcasting things, right? But people don't want to talk about me because of that thing I said back then.

Q: That thing....

A: Yeah, that one quote.

Q: OK, take us back to when you told the world that you were the "greatest (base stealer) of all time." It came moments after breaking Lou Brock's career record in 1991.

A: Muhammad Ali was my idol, and in one of his phrases he said, `I'm the greatest.' So I said, `If I ever break the record, I just want to say, `I'm the greatest,' out of respect for Muhammad Ali. It had nothing to do with baseball, nothing to do with stolen bases.

Lou Brock had no problem with it. In fact, he helped me write what I was going to say that day. He stayed with me for a week leading up to the record, and we went over everything.

People forget that the `greatest' line was at the end of my remarks. I talked about Lou, but that's all anybody remembers. As soon as I said it, it ruined everything. Everybody thought it was the worst thing you could ever say. Those words haunt me to this day, and will continue to haunt me. They overshadow what I've accomplished in this game.

Q: Do you regret making that statement?

A: No. I wouldn't take it back, because I know why I said it. I know I didn't say anything to disrespect the game or Lou Brock. It was something I felt in my heart, a tribute to my idol. Instead, you would have thought I committed a terrible crime.

Q: For someone with your tough exterior, this one seems to have ground at you.

A: Yeah, I'd say so. I mean, I wasn't saying that breaking the record was a big thing. That's not me. People think all I was doing was bragging. No. I was doing something for Ali. But no one is going to listen, because it sounded cocky, and I'm supposed to be cocky.