Rickey: Spring's not my thing

Wednesday, March 17, 1999

By T.J. QUINN

Staff Writer

JUPITER, Fla. -- Rickey Henderson is having a lousy spring training.

"Oh, yeah?" he said. "Who said that?"

Well, he has one hit in 20 at-bats, and no stolen bases. Some might wonder if he's having trouble.

"Tell them Mr. Henderson said go get his spring training stats. Tell them to go see that I never had but one or two stolen bases. Then go see how in the regular season somehow I've got thirteen-hundred something," he said. "This [stuff] doesn't count. This don't go on the bubble gum card."

In his 23rd spring training, his Hall of Fame spot long ago reserved, Henderson does not feel a need to explain himself. He conducts his own drills, getting his timing down in his head and letting his feet have the spring off.

Instead of stealing bases, Henderson watches the pitchers and just practices that first step toward second. There's no reason to run. After 1,297 stolen bases, he doesn't need to make the trip to prove he can get there.

"Every time you see me break and I stop, that means I got him," Henderson said.

He has first base coach Mookie Wilson convinced after just a few weeks together.

"He comes back and says, 'I got him,' " Wilson said. "I can tell you when a guy's going to get a stolen base from his first step, and he gets 'em.

"I thought I was good -- he's very good."

On the other hand, Henderson has only been on base twice this spring in Grapefruit League games, once on a base hit in his first at-bat, and once on a walk.

"I got my first knock, and then I shut it down," he said, breaking into a hoarse laugh. "George Steinbrenner used to say the same thing when I hit a buck-eighty in spring training, but I told him this didn't mean nothing."

Henderson learned during the Carter administration, when he earned a starting job with the 1979 Oakland A's, that spring training wasn't a time to prove anything. "I did good one spring, and I started slow. Then I figured it out. You're going to go through those ups and downs, you want to start that season going up."

That must be a relative measure; Henderson has never been a particularly quick starter. Over the past five seasons, he has hit .216 in April, his lowest monthly average.

Henderson prefers to spend spring training working on specific problems, like his current mission to start focusing on the ball when it leaves the pitcher's hand. Henderson has found himself waiting until the ball is right in front of him before picking it up. Monday, he wore a neck brace in the batting cage to keep himself from dropping his head.

"I came up with that," he said. "Ask me in a week how I'm doing, I'll tell you if I still need the neck brace. I tell it like it is."

It didn't help Tuesday, as he went 0-for-3 in a 5-4 Mets loss, but he did keep his head up.

"I feel great. I'll be there -- don't you worry about the stolen bases," he said. "I say to them, 'How many you need? I'll get it. Need 56? I'll get it. Don't you worry about me."

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