Rickey Henderson to Speak as Oakland Tech's new Baseball field is named in his honor

Tomorrow will not only be a big day for the Oakland Tech baseball community, but also for the City of Oakland as a whole. Oakland Tech will welcome home its most heralded son, Rickey Henderson, and name the recently built Tech ball field after him. Although the field has been played on for two baseball seasons now, the finishing touches had to be made, especially for an event of this magnitude. The dedication ceremony will take place tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 10am next to the McDonald's on Telegraph and 45th st.

Please check out our report on the amazing community effort that created the field HERE.

Rickey Henderson, who was recently elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, graduated from Tech in 1976 and was a standout not only on the baseball field, but also the gridiron, earning a football scholarship to USC. But Rickey was also drafted by his hometown Oakland Athletics, whom he ultimately decided to sign with. Many people say Rickey was better at football when he was at Tech, but his mom did not want him to take the physical beating of football, and so Rickey chose a career in baseball.

Rickey played in the A's minor league system for 4 seasons, never hitting below .300. One thing that shocked me when I look at Rickey's stats however, is that he did not steal a single base in his first three seasons in the minors. He would steal 44 bases in AAA, and would of course go on to break both the single-season and all-time stolen base record.
We could go on and on about the way Rickey played the game, but what made him completely unique was his off field antics. He loved to be in front of the camera and once he was there, he would talk in the third person a lot. Rickey always said how he felt, no matter how it came off and did it the way he wanted to do it. He kept trying to play baseball right up until he was elected into the Hall Of Fame, but my hunch is he would still throw on the uniform if the A's gave him a contract.
For all of us lifetime A's fans, Rickey is the ultimate hero. The hometown kid who played for 14 years here and played with so much passion. Tomorrow Rickey will get the another honor to his name, the baseball field of his alma mater. It will be a great event that you will not want to miss. The event starts at 10am at the Tech field which is on 45th Ave. right off of Telegraph and behind the McDonald's. The gates will open at 9:30am and it will be hosted by Ken Korach, the renowned A's announcer. Rickey will speak, in addition to some special guests, so please come out and show love for the OAL, our hometown hero, and Oakland.

Local Love: Introducing Soil Clothing

The t-shirt is the number one fashion staple of our generation. Even as urban style transitions away from 5X "Hood Life" tall tees towards snugger v-necks, your tee is still the center of your outfit. It speaks volumes about you whether you're a fan of vintage concert tees, ironic hipster joints or plain white v-necks.

For me my t-shirt game has always revolved around Oakland. In fact I would guess that I have about 30+ articles of clothing that feature Oakland, so I know my Town apparel. In recent years it seems that Oaklandish has had the Oakland clothing market cornered, but now Soil Clothing is entering the fray. They offer high-quality tees with a wide variety of designs, but clearly their local iconography is my Achilles heal.

I love the Life Is (Too $hort) and Hail to The Thief tees you see above (though I ordered them in 2005 sizes. smh). Both illustrate local legends that have had a world-wide impact. Mr Ty Shaw birthed the pimp-hop sound that has come to characterize much of rap over the years, and Rickey is a native son who will go down as the greatest lead-off hitter to ever play the game of baseball. The word "thief" and the bandit bandana concealing his face are reminders that he owns both the single season and career record for stolen bases–records that could stand forever.

The tees are nice and thick and the imagery is bold and iconic. So if you want some fresh threads for summer, head over to Soil Clothing's website.

Naming Oakland Tech's Field of Dreams

As 38thnotes has reported, Oakland Tech’s baseball team just got a new diamond thanks to the efforts of parents, players and community members, but the name of the field is still in limbo. At present most people refer to it as the Field of Dreams, which is catchy, but will not stand as a permanent name.

Because Oakland Tech's Rickey Henderson was recently voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, many have supported naming the field after him. The problem is that there is a field in East Oakland that already bears his name. Does that matter? Please let us know what you think the field should be named in the comment section.

Above: Oakland native Jimmy Rollins expertly imitates his childhood hero's signature stroll to the plate, batting stance and home run jog.

Above: ESPN breaks down Ricky's career accomplishments

Rickey Henderson: Oakland's Man of Steal

On Monday, Rickey Henderson was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by a staggering 94.8% of voters in his first year of eligibility. Rickey has come a long way from his days playing for Oakland Tech High School at Bushrod Park, but thankfully he didn't have to stray too far from home for much of his epic career. He played for the Oakland A's during four different stints, gracing Oakland's left field during 2 of 3 consecutive World Series appearances, one of which was a four game sweep of the arch-rival San Francisco Giants. His individual achievements include some of those outlined by Cam Inman in today's Oakland Tribune in the excerpt below.

His nine-team career ended in 2003, with him owning baseball's all-time records for stolen bases (1,406), runs (2,295) and walks (2,190; a mark Barry Bonds eventually surpassed).

"Stolen bases are a big part of my career and legacy," Rickey said. "But what I accomplished as a leadoff hitter, runs scoring is probably No. 1."

He was a 10-time All-Star, the 1990 American League MVP and the 1989 American League Championship Series MVP. He was at his stolen-base best in 1982, when he swiped a single-season record 130 bases to cap off the "BillyBall" era.

I still have fond memories of watching Rickey play over the years. He was famous for his showmanship and ego, as he often made fancy snatch catches and was known to refer to himself in the third person. But Oakland swagger aside, he was the hardest working man in baseball. He was smart and kept in amazing shape, playing in the major leagues a staggering 24 years! He is sometimes criticized for being full of himself, but much of that is blown out of proportion. Rickey does think highly of himself, but he should given all he has attained. The Rickey many remember however is the nice guy who would constantly chat up the die hard left field Bleacher Bums during years of warm afternoon A's games.

Perhaps the best memory I have of Rickey though, came on May 1, 1991. I was at the ball park for my dad's birthday with my pops and grandpa when Rickey tied and broke the career stolen base record. Rickey first stole second base to tie the record of previous stolen base king Lou Brock. And then at 1:52pm on a 1-0 count, he stole his 939th base. The Coliseum was rocking as he hoisted the base above his head and hugged his mother (This record breaking moment is captured by the pictures in this post).

And then he uttered his famous words, "Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing. But today I am the greatest of all time. Thank you."

Check out Rickey's wikipedia page for more records and stories