VAMPIRES PLAN TO RUN WILD WITH RICKEY

On January 14th, 1979, Rickey, his parents, Paul & Bobbie Henderson, and 50 friends & members of the media camped out at Henderson’s home in Oakland, CA, waiting for the phone to ring. The room was filled with quiet anticipation. Henderson possessed exceptional talent…after all the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Oakland Technical High School graduate was labeled a “five-tool” player. Henderson hit for average, hit for power, had speed (a 6.4-second 60-yard dash), decent arm strength and is a quality fielder.
  When the phone rang, Henderson snatched it faster than a sinking line drive. It was Hollywood owner Steve Cutler calling to congratulate him for being the No. 1 pick. ”This young man not only has the God-given talent, but all the intangibles to reach the major leagues and have an impact for us,” Cutler told Stray Baseball. “We expect that he will be roaming CF for us for many years to come. We look forward to 1983, when we expect up another young fast OF named Rudy Law to make our club. The 2 of them at the top of the lineup and patrolling the OF would allow (Dale) Murphy to basically stand on the OF foul line. Those guys will probably total close to 200 steals between them, so with that speed, Murphy won’t have to do much fly ball shagging.”

“Rickey’s very excited to be a Vampire, said Henderson. “They have a rich tradition of winning and from what Rickey can gather by looking at this talent, they will be a force in 3-4 years. Rickey’s only 1 piece of the offense. Rickey’s job is to get on base and he intend to do that. With guys like Guerrero, Murphy and Murray in the middle of that lineup, Rickey should score a lot.”

“This will be the last time we draft this high for quite some time, so we needed to make the most of it. A guy with the caliber of Rickey’s talent comes along once in a decade, if you are lucky. Rickey is a winner and will bring that attitude to our team, says Cutler.”