So Rickey Henderson will run, not walk, all the way toward the Hall of Fame. What else would you expect?
There he was Monday, at an Arizona airport, less than an hour after learning that he was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame, wrapping up a conference call with the plane waiting.
"I gotta run," said Henderson, en route to a Hall of Fame press conference Tuesday in New York. "They're about to close the door."
They were about to close the door on Jim Rice, too. But in his 15th and final year of eligibility, Rice eked in with 76.4 percent of the voting (it takes 75 percent of the vote for a player to be elected to the Hall).
No doubt, this particular 1-for-15 was far more significant to Rice than his 1-for-15 career line against former pitcher Doug Bird.
What did he learn?
"Be patient and wait for the last out," Rice quipped.
So Henderson earns Hall entry on his first ballot, Rice on his last, and there are stories to tell throughout. Henderson's quick entry to the Hall was expected, and it was the predictable landslide, with him receiving 94.8 percent of the vote.
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| Jim Rice: 'I guess everything was timing. ... My numbers haven't changed in 14 years. ... I'm glad it's over with.' (AP) |
As a point of comparison to recent landslide electees, Henderson fell just short of the vote totals of Cal Ripken Jr. (98.5 percent) and Tony Gwynn (97.6) in 2007, but earned a shade more support than Ozzie Smith (91.74 percent) in 2002 and Wade Boggs (91.9 percent) in 2005.
Rice crossed the bar with barely any room to spare but, the drill here is just get over the bar. A guy's vote totals or how many years he waited on the ballot don't go onto his plaque.
"I guess everything was timing," Rice said. "You look at the numbers, my numbers haven't changed in 14 years. ... I'm glad it's over with.
"I'm in there, and they can't take it away."
