Since it's been almost 6 months since my last post, and a few fellow collectors (you know who you are) have been asking for some new content, I figured it was about time I obliged.
As a follow-up (albeit, a much delayed one) to my
previous post on the newly discovered 1978-79 Navojoa Mayos sticker book, I have even more pictures of Rickey to share from his time in Mexico. A big thanks goes out to Arturo (and his father), who has saved all of these unique items. These pictures probably haven't been seen in 30+ years, and there can't be too many copies of them out there!
This first item is the 1978-79 Liga Mexicana del Pacifico Media Guide, which includes a picture of Rickey's Navojoa team on the front cover.
Although the picture is a bit small, you can see Rickey in the back row, just below the "1" in 1979, and next to the far left guy in the black suit.
On the page above you can see Rickey's stats for the year ("Rick Henderson" is the third player from the top). He hit .257 in 44 games (45 hits, 4 2B, 1 3B and 22 SB), so not his best offensive performance, but he was only 20 years old.
The book above (translated as "On, Mayos, On -- 30 Seasons of Professional Baseball") was written by Dr. Arturo Leon Lerma, past president of the Mexican Pacific League.
Diamonds Around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball, provides the following summary of the book:
"Restricted to a single Mexican pro ball club, the history of the Navojoa Mayos covers action over six seasons in the Sonora Winter League (1959-1966) and twenty-four campaigns in the wintertime Mexican Pacific League (1970-1994). Season recaps, league standings, rosters, player photos, and individual player statistics offer not only a detailed account of the Navojoa franchise but also a valuable summary of Mexican Pacific League baseball."
While there's likely to be more mentions of Rickey in the book, the caption of this picture "loosely" discusses his time as a "Robber of Novojoa," who then went on to become the all-time major league base stealer.
Finally, here's a few random pictures of Rickey on the Mayos. You can now add #10 to the long list of numbers that Rickey has worn over his career.
While I can't promise I'll be extremely active in the next 6 months (I'm finally finishing my MBA program in May, and should have a bit more time for the blog once that is complete), I do frequently post random articles and pictures on the RHC
Facebook page, which is probably the easiest way to keep up with all the current Rickey-related news and events.
