HOF Thoughts, Part One: The 28

Rickey Henderson is now enshrined with the immortals in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. As he damn well should be.

The World's Greatest Leadoff Hitter garnered 94.8 percent of the vote, easily sliding in (I swear that's not an intended pun) in his first year of eligibility, a very impressive feat. He was named on 511 of the 539 ballots collected. 

Wait, what happened to those other 28 ballots?

Were those writers blind? Dead? Confused?

Really? The best base stealer in the history of baseball was left off of 28 ballots? Let's take a look at the numbers here:

Rickey Henderson was literally the best leadoff hitter to play the game. There is no argument here. He scored runs, which leadoff hitters should do—his 2,295 are a major league record. He stole bases, something else that leadoff hitters should do—his 1,406 are also a major league record. Rickey's ability to steal did not separate itself into 1,406 different plate appearances, either.

Once Rickey got on base, you had to worry, as a pitcher, if he was going to make it to third base during the same at-bat. Also, that's something else Rickey did well—he held a career .401 on-base percentage. And as if that was the only way Rickey could impact a game—he began a game with a home run 81 times, also a major league record.

Rickey's game was not confined to his speed, as his record for leadoff home runs and 297 career dingers speak for the fact that he was also a powerful hitter. And one of the brilliant things about his ability was the fact that he was able to adjust to his situation. Once he got to New York for the first time with the Yankees, they wanted Rickey to turn down the steals and turn up the power.

He stole "only" 80 and 87 bases his first two seasons there, and instead hit 24 and 28 home runs, setting career highs for himself (he would only hit 28 home runs once more, in his 1990 MVP campaign). He did what his team needed him to do, and he did it well. 

And for all of the criticism Henderson caught for being egocentric and occasionally for dogging it, he was a tireless worker, dedicated to his craft. When he was developing in the minor leagues, he was nothing as a left fielder—a defenseman with a poor arm and a sort of aloof approach to playing his position.

He worked hard at it, overcame his arm with his speed, and became one of the game's premier left fielders. Rickey Henderson could beat your team in so many ways—and other players became immensely frustrated with this.

His game was so complete—a player who could get on base, steal all of them, or just hit a four-bagger if need be, and then go out and play Gold Glove left field for nine innings—that he easily ranks as one of the greatest players of all time. Period. Although I don't personally believe this, an argument can be constructed that he was the greatest baseball player ever, and it wouldn't be an inconceivable concept. 

So not voting for Rickey Henderson is kind of like not voting for Babe Ruth (which surprisingly, people didn't do). How is it possible to ignore his accomplishments?

The 28 voters who did not vote for Henderson need to have their privileges revoked. They should take the matter very seriously—and ignore a very, very stupid tradition of not voting for a player on their first year of eligibility—because there is no reason not to vote for him if you are voting by the rules. The writers are supposed to vote for the greatest players of all time, and Rickey Henderson is without a question one of them.

So why ignore this? Great injustices have been dealt to other players as well, including the greats Ted Williams and even Cy Young, who has a FREAKING AWARD NAMED AFTER HIM. But it is time that the voting system gets straightened out, because frankly, it's a little ridiculous. More to come on that subject.