Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Juan Pierre, Take Note: Oakland Snubs Henderson

Runs scored does not an honoree make. So sayeth SoSG (channeling the grammatical expertise of Yoda). Witness Rickey Henderson, who reportedly is being snubbed by the A's despite his all-time leading 2,295 runs scored:

He doesn't hold the game's most cherished record, only its most important one. You'd think scoring 2,295 runs -- that is the object of the game, right? -- would get you something.

If not that, then what about being the all-time leader in another category? Dive full speed into the dirt while swiping 1,406 bases, and clearly you've generated enough excitement to warrant some respect.

Heck, do the majority of those two things for your hometown team, and you deserve to be saluted.

Yet, Rickey Henderson hasn't been thanked. He hasn't even been called.

Instead, he tends to his 455-acre ranch near Yosemite National Park, riding horses, raising cows, and generally being out of sight, out of mind.

I don't think Juan Pierre will be holding a base over his head and screaming, "I am the greatest!" anytime soon. But if he does, Nolan Ryan will probably come out of retirement and pitch another no-hitter that day, anyway (see 5/1/91).

2 comments:

Damon said...

Ryan would pluck Pierre

Lasorda said...

So far, we're looking pretty good. Having 9 runs helps.