Rickey Henderson NOT A Hall of Famer? You're Kidding, Right?

It's one thing to throw Mark Grace a vote because you really like him as a person -- and just manufacture reasons that it's a "warranted" vote. It's quite another to blatantly neglect Rickey Henderson when voting for eight other players -- including Matt Williams -- to enter baseball's Hall of Fame. Yep, Corky Simpson might be a billion years old -- and retired -- but he still has a vote. This is a mind-boggling ballot. I mean, he listed Rickey in with Ron Gant, Dan Plesac, Greg Vaughn, and Mo Vaughn like some also-ran.

I would accuse Corky of being one of those curmudgeons who just needs to get over himself because he's trying to guard against someone from getting unanimously elected -- as people have done in the past. In reading what he wrote, though, I'm not so sure he even knows what's going on. Can't we start monitoring the senility of the voters instead of just letting them vote for the rest of their lives? Rob Neyer and Keith Law have to wait ten years to vote, but this dinosaur gets to cast a ballot?

In case you don't fully understand how unconscionable it would be to leave Rickey Henderson off a single ballot, let's review what Rickey did:

- Finished top ten in MVP voting six times, including winning the award in 1990.

- Scored the most runs in major league history.

- Stole the most bases in major league history, and it ain't close. He has 468 more steals than Lou Brock -- who is in the Hall, by the way.

- Compiled 3,055 career hits, and over 3,000 has always generally been an automatic admission ticket.

- Walked more than anyone in baseball history with the exception of the often-intentionally-walked Barry Bonds. Henderson's feat here is much more impressive when you consider his stolen base prowess. You think people wanted to walk him? And he still did it 2,190 times.

- Played in 10 All-Star games.

- Hit 297 home runs, despite not even being a power hitter.

- Played on two World Series winning teams.

Do I need to go on? I could, but I won't. It's evident. He's the best leadoff hitter of all-time, and you can't possibly find a hole in his resume.

Finally, as Home Run Derby pointed out (see my arm bash at the bottom), ol' Corky's reasons for inclusion of Tim Raines should have automatically qualified Rickey. He mentions that Raines was a seven-time All-Star, one-time batting champ, and four-time base-stealing champ. Rickey dwarfs Raines' case.

Arm-Bash: Home Run Derby