The Late Rickey Henderson Is An Exciting Look Into the Future
By John Tamny
“At 5-foot-10, Henderson was smaller than many big leaguers, but he overcame his size with a combination of horse power, a savant-like ability to exploit deficiencies in pitchers, and an extreme bravado that many players viewed as cockiness.” That’s how Michael Rosenwald described the recently passed Rickey Henderson in an obituary that Forbes publisher Rich Karlgaard correctly described as a “masterpiece.”
To think about Rosenwald writing Henderson’s obituary was to imagine that he had as much fun writing about Henderson as Henderson had playing baseball. Same with George Will in his own column memorializing Henderson. Henderson loved baseball, and those who love baseball are returning his affection to him. This is a big deal not just because Henderson was so special, but because understanding a little about Henderson is a way of understanding a future in which many more people will work with joy similar to Henderson’s.
What was most appealing about how Rosenwald described Henderson was in his focus on the player’s mind. He had “a savant-like ability to exploit deficiencies in pitchers,” while Will’s column was titled “Man of Steal, mind of titanium.” Will wrote that “The cerebral Tony La Russa, who won more games than any manager not named Connie Mack, and who managed Rickey and against him, remembers him even more for ‘his baseball IQ’ than for his legs.” Yes!