ST. LOUIS -- Lou Brock, they screamed.
La Russa, they yelled.
Hot dog, stylin' bleep, they hollered.
Rickey Henderson loved it, even asked for more verbal abuse from Cardinals fans Tuesday as the game progressed.
"If they're not out there yelling," he said, "I'd probably be a little bored."
Octobers excite Henderson, who admits that after 2,340 regular-season games, he could use the extra wattage.
He channeled it well Tuesday, lining a home run that accounted for the Padres' lone run in a 3-1 loss to the Cardinals in the first game of their best-of-five National League division playoff series.
Henderson, who also singled and walked, was the lone Padre to reach base three times. He will start again Thursday.
"He was excited," said manager Bruce Bochy. "He was very excited. When you've been around as long as he has, postseason play like this gets your adrenaline going. He was pretty fired up."
For Henderson, it was his 42nd postseason game and first in St. Louis.
Cardinals fans had plenty of ammo. The St. Louis manager, Tony La Russa, had accused Henderson of being a "part-time player" shortly before the two parted ways last year. And in becoming baseball's all-time stolen base leader, Henderson broke the season and career marks of Cardinals legend Lou Brock.
"There's a lot of hate," Henderson said, smiling. "I love it. That's the only thing that keeps me in the ballgame."
Henderson hit the fifth postseason homer of his career when he drove a 3-1 pitch off former teammate Todd Stottlemyre.
"Prior to him coming to Toronto and helping us win a championship, I hated Rickey Henderson," Stottlemyre said. "Then, we were teammates and won together and were friends. Now that he's in San Diego, I hate him again."
Henderson said he should have hit two homers. He popped up a hanging slider earlier.
"He just missed the first two times at the plate from hitting the ball out," Stottlemyre said.
Said Henderson: "They just had the luck today. That first time up, I should have hit the ball way out. I just got under it."
In the ninth, Henderson faced another former teammate in Dennis Eckersley, who combined with Henderson to help Oakland win the 1989 World Series.
Henderson drove a 2-2 single to bring up Tony Gwynn as the potential go-ahead runner. After retiring Gwynn, Eckersley jumped off the mound, pumped his fist and yelled.
Henderson, a fellow showman, had no objections.
"He's excited; he's pumped up," he said. "He's a competitor and he's enjoying it. I know he's excited, and I know I'm excited. When I hit my home run, I'm not even worrying about you."
Thursday, Henderson again will provide a sideshow. He will holler at fans in left field between pitches. He will mock their responses by holding a hand to his ear and cocking his head.
"They paid more attention to me than they did to the whole ballgame, or their ballplayers," he said. "They were yelling and hoo-rahhing. I said, 'Keep on yelling, because I'm going to get you sooner or later."'
Henderson, 37, covets a third World Series ring.
"If he has a pulse and a heartbeat," Stottlemyre said, "and there's a big game that day, he'll show up strong."
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