I haven't had the time to say, 'I'm retiring.' But baseball says, 'You're retired.'
Rickey HendersonI don't think some of the players understand what the people are about. The people are coming out to show you their appreciation of the game, and the player that you are.
Rickey HendersonWhen I was a little-leaguer, I was sort of famous for stealing bases - and it started only because my mom wanted to be sure where I was in the afternoons. Mom always used to say, "If you don't come home dirty, you didn't play a baseball game." So I always tried to get in a situation where I had to slide so that I could go home dirty.
Rickey HendersonA good friend of mine took me out and had me hit off a tee. He made me understand what was my strike zone and - with my speed - the importance of making contact. So I give him a lot of credit for changing my game and making me the player I became. He showed me how to work on me and my game, and not worry about patterning myself after someone else and focusing on what they were capable of doing rather than what I was capable of doing.
Rickey Henderson