Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
July 12, 2007
Hiring Henderson

ClassicAthletes.com notes that Rickey Henderson is the new hitting coach for the Mets. I absolutely love this move. Henderson did work with Jose Reyes, and moved him from a hacker who made way too many outs to one of the best leadoff hitters in the game. Reyes walk total nearly doubled in 2006, and it may come close to doubling again this year. Rickey not only posessed a great eye for the strike zone, but surprising power for a leadoff hitter (in 1990, he finished second in slugging percentage to Cecil Fielder). And while Rickey isn't very media savvy, his teammates love him. I remember Baseball Tonight interviewing Tony Gwynn at the start of the 1997 season. He was asked what the Padres needed, and he said they needed to bring Rickey Henderson back, then showered praise on the future Hall of Famer as a great teammate. When he was playing for the Newark Bears, I heard stories about how the players loved having him around and how much they were learning from him. I can't wait to see how he does as a coach.

Correction: Fixed a typo.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:29 AM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Does this push off his Hall of Fame Induction Date?

Posted by: A at July 12, 2007 09:45 AM

It'll delay his eligibility date only if he's activated as a player.

Posted by: Basura at July 12, 2007 10:08 AM

I'd love to see him as a player/coach. I'm sure he'd be better off the bench than Julio Franco.

Posted by: buddha at July 12, 2007 10:21 AM

I just wrote a thing about Reyes and then a couple hours later, Henderson's hired by the Mets. Amazing! This is a good move for their offense.

Posted by: Devon's Baseball Thoughts at July 12, 2007 11:23 AM

Henderson will help Carlos Gomez the same way he helped Reyes.

Posted by: mike at July 12, 2007 02:43 PM

That would be awesome if they kept him around as a pinch-hitter, too.

Posted by: Adam Villani at July 12, 2007 04:24 PM

Well, Franco was DFA'd - does that open the door?

Posted by: buddha at July 12, 2007 05:05 PM

"I can't wait to see who he does as a coach."

I think I can wait before subjecting my eyes to that. I bet the audio would be priceless though...

Posted by: dulinor at July 12, 2007 06:38 PM
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