Thursday, December 25, 2008

Happy 50th Birthday Rickey

The birth of Rickey Henderson is probably not the first one you think of on Christmas, but it is a special day for him as well. This year, even more so, as he's turning 50! Although he'd probably rather still be playing, I don't think he'll mind getting inducted into the Hall of Fame as a slightly belated birthday present.

Continuing with the Christmas theme, is this Rickey ornament, which I'm actually afraid to hang on the tree, as it has a tendency to fall over unexpectedly.



This ornament was made in the early 1990's by Sports Impressions, and is a "limited edition" of 7,500. Sports Impressions also made other collectible ceramic items of Rickey such as figurines and plates.



This isn't the best representation of Rickey (it doesn't really look like him at all), but it's better than nothing. There probably aren't too many player collectors than can add a Christmas ornament to their collection, so I can't complain.



Note the neon green batting gloves, and you gotta love the white shoes. Only the A's can get away with something like that!

6 comments:

funksteady said...

Merry Christmas to you ManOfSteal and happy 50th birthday to the greatest base stealer of all time. If Rickey can't say it himself without being criticized by pc hippocrytes than let's all say it for Rickey!

He's the greatest that ever was, a fact easy to prove with all his stats and achievements.

The summer of '82 will always be my most exiting sports memory. It was amazing to follow Rickey's astonishing run at the single season SB record. A record that will probably never be approched.
Thanks for everything Rickey and God bless.
Really cool blog ManOfSteal, keep it up!

Anonymous said...

that ornament is cool.. even if it doesn't look exactly like him, the Oakland uniform #24 and Henderson make it cool..

ManOfSteal said...

Thanks for the kind words funksteady! I wish I was around for the 1982 season (well I was here, just too young to remember), and can imagine how exciting it must have been. I love the carachature in your avatar, if you ever decide to do a Rickey one, let me know!

Bonk said...

Celebrating my first Christmas with my wife and came across my Rickey ornament in my childhood ornament box. Couldn't bring myself to hang it in fear of it falling and breaking. Happy to see this post, had thought about sending a picture to you. Happy Holidays.

ManOfSteal said...

Thanks for the comment Bonk, I somehow missed it when originally posted. For the same reasons as you, my ornament has never made it on to the tree either. With a 2-year-old now, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

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