Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice voted into Baseball Hall of Fame - ESPN

Jim Rice slides safely into the Hall of Fame in his last year of eligibility.

Rickey Henderson, the all-time leader in runs scored and stolen bases, with 2200 walks and three thousand hits, including 300 homers from the lead-off spot, was an obvious first ballot HOFer. He's probably the best lead-off hitter in history.

Rickey is fourth of all-time in the "times on base" category, trailing only Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, and the dark lord, He Who Shall Not Be Named.

The only thing that kept Rickey from going in years ago is that he refused to retire. In 1999, at age 40, he had a .423 OBP, a .466 slugging average in the lead-off slot, and 37 stolen bases. Six years later he was still playing for pocket change in the indie minors, for the San Diego Surf Dogs. In 2007, when the A's graciously offered to activate him at age 48 for a meaningless game so he could retire as an A, Rickey turned them down, saying, "One day? I don't want one day. I want to play again, man. I don't want nobody's spot... I just want to see if I deserve to be out there. If I don't, just get rid of me, release me. And if I belong, you don't have to pay me but the minimum — and I'll donate every penny of that to some charity. So, how's that hurtin' anybody?... Don't say goodbye for me... When I want that one day they want to give me so bad, I'll let you know."

I used to dislike Rickey's egotistical statements, but I can't stay mad at any guy who loves to play that much! Plus, now that he's in the Hall of Fame, they can't arbitrarily kick him out, so at age 50 he may come back to be the only Hall of Famer still playing. Don't count him out.

By the way, I haven't fact-checked this, but I'm pretty sure he must be the only Hall of Famer to throw left and bat right.