"Legends of the Game" Event Photos

The "Legends of the Game" event was a question and answer session with Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson, with about half of the questions being asked by fans in attendance. It was the last official event of Hall of Fame Weekend, and I can't believe that it's over.

But, my coverage is just beginning, as I'll have plenty of more posts in the week to come, I just need to get them all put together. I think I took about 1,500 pictures during the entire time that I was here, so I've got my work cut out for me. This doesn't even include the videos that I took, many of which I've already posted.


The event is promoted above on a TV in the lobby of the Hall of Fame. Although I'm not sure exactly what happened, the event was originally supposed to be broadcast live on ESPN, but when they lost the ceremony to the MLB Network, I'm assuming they pulled the plug on their broadcast of this as well.



Rickey and Jim arrive at the event, with Rickey wearing signature monochromatic white.



Rickey acknowledges the fans as Rice looks on. It's been awhile since we've seen that pose from Rickey, which looks quite similar to his celebration after breaking Lou Brock's stolen base record.



Rice also greets the Red Sox faithful, who were out in force the entire weekend.







The newest inductees definitely seemed to be enjoying themselves, and were probably pretty relieved that the weekend was finally over. They'd been going non-stop since Friday, and I can imagine that they're looking forward to a break.




Rickey reacts to a remark from Rice in one of many entertaining moments in the program. I took video of most of the questions, which I'll put together and post at a later time.


At the end of the program, the Hall's official photographer had the two pose with their new Hall of Fame rings, which allowed me to get this shot, which is one of my favorites of the weekend.



Here's a close up of the rings, which say "Baseball Hall of Fame" in a ring around the top. There similar to World Series ring, but much less gaudy, and much more exclusive!

Lou Brock Asks, "Rickey Who?"

I was able to figure out the problems with the videos that I took at the golf tournament on Saturday, but still need to work on getting them updated. But, this short clip is definitely one of my favorites.

After answering a few questions about baseball in general, as he's about to pull away in the golf cart, a reporter asks Lou Brock a question about Rickey Henderson, and here's his response:



Brock was having fun with the reporters all day, and he really seemed to be enjoying himself.

Post-Induction Press Conference

Wow, what a day! I've been waiting for this for about 20 years now, and it's finally arrived. The induction ceremony was amazing, and I can't believe how perfectly everything worked out. While I sort through the over 600 pictures that I took of the ceremony, here's a bunch of video clips I was able to record at the post-induction press conference.



Rickey discusses how he's been handling his emotions leading up to induction.



During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Rickey told a story about Reggie Jackson not wanting to give him his autograph when Rickey was just a young fan. This is a follow-up question to that story.



Rickey discusses why he wore both #24 and #35.



Rickey Henderson compares the fans and playing in Oakland to playing in New York.



Rickey Henderson ended his Hall of Fame induction speech with a reference to his famous "I am the greatest" speech after breaking Lou Brock's stolen base record. Here he clarifies what he was trying to say in that moment.



Rickey discusses his disappointment in not being given one final shot to play Major League Baseball before retiring.



Rickey discusses playing for manager Billy Martin.



Rickey discusses playing for the A's on four separate occasions.

The Truth Behind a Few Rickeyisms

While at ESPN the Weekend in Walt Disney World this past week, Rickey did an interview in which he was asked about the truth behind some of the things he "supposedly" said or did. Just like Yogi Berra, he did say a lot of "interesting" things, but the stories that evolve are not always very close to the truth.

There a list floating around that collects the 25 best Rickey stories, a copy of which can be found here. It's from this list that I believe the interviewers are reading. I'm just happy to learn that one of my favorite Rickey stories (that he framed a $1 million bonus check from the A's, without ever cashing it) was in fact true.

I believe this is only a portion of a larger interview, but it's still fun nonetheless. Enjoy!