Padres Commemorative Photo Giveaway

I have to apologize for the lack of posts lately, as I've taken a little bit of a break from the blog. This past July and August were the two most prolific months in the blogs history, with 14 and 16 posts, respectively. I needed a bit of time to catch up on other things, and just returned from a week long vacation in Disneyland.



My 14-month old had a blast, as did his parents. Now that things have slowed down a bit, and I've finally recovered from Cooperstown, I hope to get back to a more typical schedule. The Rickey "news" has definitely slowed now that the Hall of Fame Induction is behind us, but I can always find something new and interesting (at least too me, and a few other crazy Rickey fans) to write about.



I just got this double-sided 5x7 card that the Padres gave out to the first 10,000 fans at a game on August 7th. The Padres were holding a Hall of Fame Weekend of their own, and wanted to celebrate one of the newest inductees. Although Rickey didn't play for the Padres very long, he did set quite a few records while he was there.



Both the front and the back of the card includes some pretty cool artwork. You don't find too many oddball Rickey items being produced anymore, and I was glad to be able to add this one to the collection. Other than some items that I picked up at the Hall, I've tried to limit myself to items that will store easily in a binder, and this 5x7 fits the bill perfectly!

Rickey Henderson Wallpaper

I know that you can easily make any image your desktop wallpaper, but it's nice to sometimes find art that is specifically made for that purpose.



The A's just released the above wallpaper image, which you can find on their website here. They've used a similar image many times this year, on everything from pocket schedules, game-day giveaways, and giant banners hanging from the side of the Coliseum.



Here's a full-version of the logo that the A's created for Rickey's Hall of Fame induction, which could also easily be used as wallpaper. When I first noticed this logo, I commented on the fact that I couldn't find a full uncropped version anywhere. Thanks to a comment from a fellow collector, and an e-mail to the A's media department, they very quickly send me over the full image.

Catcher's Nightmare

This awesome image speaks for itself...



Back in 1997, when I first got a computer in my bedroom (complete with AOL and a 28.8 modem), this picture was my desktop wallpaper. It popped into my head recently, and I went about trying to find it. Thanks to the Internet archive, I was able to got back to the A's website on January 20, 1997, and pull up the same image.

Based on the look of the art, and the border that is used, I'm pretty sure this was used in an early issue of A's Magazine, possibly sometime around 1983. If someone knows the exact source, please let me know. I use the archive for work every once in awhile, but I'd never thought to use it to search out Rickey items. Now I'm interested in what else I'll be able to find.



On the same page, I found this other cool piece of A's art, using the same Rickey image as above.

Any More Questions...?

Just a quick post today, featuring a pretty cool picture I received a few weeks ago, from the same source that sent me the one of Rickey hanging out with Minnie Mouse.



The picture was taken at the press conference following the announcement of Rickey's Hall of Fame induction. Rickey's known for providing the press with some pretty good quotes, and there were enough present that they weren't going to miss anything!

Rickey's Still Stylin'

UPDATE: Looks like Rickey was at the game to help with a clinic for some local youth baseball kids. According to Susan Slusser, the A's beat writer for the SF Chronicle, he also threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game. The announcement on the scoreboard speled his name "Ricky." Blasphemy!!

For the second time in the past few weeks, I turned on the A's game, only to be greeted by Rickey Henderson. The A's were playing the Mariners tonight at the Oakland Coliseum, and I turned on the game about 5 minutes late. Well, what do I see when the TV turns on, but this:



There aren't too many 50-year-old former Major Leaguers that can get away with wearing white pants, a white shirt (only halfway buttoned of course), and a brimmed black hat. Since it was probably in the low 90's at first pitch, it was a smart and "stylish" choice of clothing.

It really is great to see Rickey back in Oakland, and he'd probably suit up and play tonight if they asked him too. I'm not sure exactly why he was at the game, but he was visiting with some players in the Mariners dugout, and he definitely caught them by surprise. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know anyone on the current A's roster, other than any of the coaches that he might have played with.



Rickey is now working as a special instructor with the Mets (he coached first base for their AAA team a few weeks ago), but it would be great too see him back in the A's organization. A position with the AAA River Cats here in Sacramento would be awesome, but I don't want to be greedy. No matter where he goes, you can tell that he's definitely excited to be around the game.

A Minor League Detour

As you might expect, based on the title of this blog, every post so far has revolved around Rickey Henderson. But, as might also have been expected, I'm a big baseball and Oakland A's fan as well. So, I therefore reserve the right to add in some non-Rickey related posts, which I'll attempt to connect to Rickey as much as possible.

My wife called me at work today, and asked if I wanted to go the Sacramento River Cats game, the AAA affiliate of the A's, as she could get us some free tickets. Since we didn't have any plans, and my birthday is tomorrow, I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea!



I was a little hesitant at first, as its been 100 degrees out in Sacramento, and like all of California, the air quality has been pretty bad due to all the smoke. But, as soon as she said that the tickets were in the "Raley Suite," I was sold! I've never been in a suite at a baseball game, and since the River Cats play in "Raley Field," I figured this would be a pretty good one!



The suite definitely didn't let me down. I knew that the seats would probably be pretty good, so I made sure to stop by my house and pick up the camera on the way to the game. For no particular reason, other than I had a blast at the game (the Cats beat the Tucson Sidewinders 9-3), I've included some of the best of my pictures below (click the pictures to view them larger, especially the panoramic one, which I think is my favorite).



These were our seats, and I don't think you could have found two that were better! We were almost directly behind home plate, and were right next to the press box.







The game started off slowly for the Cats, who got down 2-0 in the first on a Tim Raines Jr. 2-run homer. But, the best was still to come, and after four 2-run innings and a few homers of their own, the Cats ended up winning in a blow out.



From the stadium you get a really great view of the Sacramento skyline, with its iconic Tower Bridge on the far right.



I could get used to watching baseball like this! To my left you can see the press box, and the row of media guides lined up against the wall.

Since this is a Rickey Henderson blog, I've saved the Rickey connection for last. The River Cats play in the Pacific Coast League along with the AAA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, the Portland Beavers.

It was the Beavers with whom Rickey played for 9 games to start the 2001 season before being called up to the majors (he was signed late in Spring Training and needed to get some more swings in). In 40 at bats with the Beavers he hit .275 with 3 doubles, a walk, and a stolen base.



This is a PGE Park fan guide and schedule for the 2001 Beavers. Along with collecting cards and other oddball Rickey items, I like to collect schedules from the teams that he's played for during the season(s) that he played for them. I also collect all Oakland A's schedules, but I'll leave that for another non-Rickey related post.

June 24, 1979: Rickey's MLB Debut

During most A's broadcasts this year they have a segment showcasing important events in A's history that happened on that day. While watching the game today, they showed a clip that I had never seen before. It was Rickey's Major League debut with the A's on June 24, 1979. He was only 20 years old at the time!



Here's what I believe to be Rickey's first at bat with the A's. Sorry for the poor quality, I basically just took a pictures of my paused TV screen.

During Rickey's debut against the Texas Rangers, 29 years ago today, he went 2-4 with a double, single, and his first stolen base! According to the A's 1980 Media Guide, only 4,752 fans were there to witness the historic steal.



When Rickey hit the double, he slid into second with his typical head first slide. But, for his stolen base, he slid feet first. A's announcer Ray Fosse said that this was the first time he'd ever seen Rickey slide feet first into second base.



What I also find really interesting, is that Rickey was wearing #39, a number that I never knew that he wore. He was #35 during his first stint with the A's, but when they first called him up, he probably didn't get much of a choice.

I have the video of this recorded on my DVR, and will hopefully be able to figure out how to get it over to the computer eventually. It might take me awhile, but I should be able to get it done.