So she gave him a quarter for every stolen base, and he said, I'm going to make a ton of money doing this. His guidance counselor in the seventh, eighth grade had to bribe him because they didn't have enough players. He played baseball because everyone begged him to play.

Rickey wanted to play for the Oakland Raiders. SIMON: He didn't really like baseball? He played just to appease his older brother?īRYANT: Rickey wanted to be a football player. Howard, thanks so much for being with us. He has let one of the great sports journalists in America into his life to tell his story - 'Rickey: The Life And Legend Of An American Original,' a book by Howard Bryant, who talks sports and society on our program. And yet, over his Hall of Fame career, Rickey Henderson was also often derided for sitting out games, for shunning teammates and disdaining the press. He'd get to first base, waggle his fingers, sprint with the pitch, and became the greatest base stealer of all time over 25 years in baseball with nine different teams.

The result is the first and only book to comprehensively cover the baseball legend's life and full career.Rickey Henderson blazed. Bryant draws on scores of interviews with many of baseball's top players, managers, and professionals, as well as conversations with Rickey himself and his longtime wife, Pamela Henderson. In the hands of critically acclaimed sportswriter and culture critic Howard Bryant, RICKEY is one of baseball's greatest and most original superstars finally getting his due. On and off the field, Rickey was explosive, unique, electric, and the most polarizing and enigmatic player in baseball.

The fingers wiggling, a sign of imminent threat-and then Rickey was gone: the powerful headfirst slide into second base in an eyeblink. Now, he offers the definitive biography of Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, baseball's epic leadoff hitter and base-stealer who dazzled fans over four electric decades in the game.įew names in baseball history evoke the excellence, dynamism, and curiosity of Rickey Henderson. Bryant is also the author of nine previous books, including The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, The Heritage: Black Athletes, A Divided America and the Politics of Patriotism, and Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball. RICKEY: The Life and Legend of an American Original by Howard Bryant-acclaimed sports journalist and three-time nominee for the National Magazine Award.

Rickey howard bryant