Best of Yardbarker: Introducing Rickey Henderson Field
The first week of the MLB season is just about in the books, and it kicked off in a big way thanks to the Oakland Athletics.
If the news that the Raiders will officially leave town, again, to call Las Vegas home was a downer, the A's came to the rescue. They helped keep the heart in Oakland by honoring hometown legend Rickey Henderson at the team's home opener, naming the field in his honor: "Rickey Henderson stole bases anywhere and everywhere he played, but his first stint in Oakland was just absolutely absurd. Today, we get excited about guys like Billy Hamilton, Jonathan Villar, and Dee Gordon approaching 60 stolen bases. For Rickey in the 1980s, a stolen base tally in the 60s was considered a down year."
That leads right in to the "we'll never see another player like Rickey Henderson again" quiz:
Those amazing base-running stats are just some of the reasons the A's renamed their field after Henderson. It's a fitting tribute for the greatest leadoff hitter in MLB history and one of the defining players in Oakland.
As one great was being celebrated, another very accomplished athlete was getting unceremoniously pushed to the back burner. I'm talking, of course, about former New York Giants Super Bowl-winning quarterback Phil Simms, who has been seemingly demoted following CBS hiring Tony Romo, a quarterback who has not won a Super Bowl (or even been to one). So, what's to become of Phil Simms now? "Phil Simms works a one-man booth for Thursday Night Football. Sure, this isn’t much of a departure for Simms, but it’s time to really lean into the awfulness of TNF. That’s the best way to kill it off. And, who knows, maybe some will tune in just for the horrid spectacle."
Speaking of Tony Romo, what if he decided to try his hand at baseball? How would that work out? Would he suffer from the Jordan/Tebow effect: Athletes or celebrities who'd be humbled by the big leagues? "I think that should be Romo's next career choice. He could miss 15 games in baseball like he does in football, and it wouldn't be a big deal."
Another athlete who isn't feeling the love right now is Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris. After getting called for a foul for getting elbowed in the face, he dialed the NBA Referee Hotline Bling, where he sounded nasal: "We saw how easily you got decked by one little elbow to the face. How hard a shot could it have been when they didn’t even call a foul? Clearly, you’re not a hard-nosed player."
You might actually be surprised that Devin Harris is even still in the NBA. At 34, he's closer to his career twilight than his prime. However, Harris has nothing on the likes of R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon, both on the Atlanta Braves. The 43-year-old Colon and 42-year-old Dickey inspired the 'Braves are putting the 'old' in old ball game'' quiz:
Moving from old to young, we detailed the MLB prospects we're most excited to see in 2017: "Andrew Benintendi. He's got all the tools to become the next great Red Sox player that is hated by non-Red Sox fans."
Benintendi is not just someone we're excited to watch. He's also among the top MLB rookies in 2017:
Last season's top rookie in the NL, Corey Seager, is actually on the cover of “R.B.I. Baseball 17.” Unfortunately, our “R.B.I. Baseball 17” review is not too kind: "At almost every turn, 'R.B.I. Baseball 17' disappoints — falling short of its predecessors since the series' revival in 2014, and in many respects falling short when compared with the original NES game."
On a more positive note, our "MLB The Show 17" review — which has an MLB legend in the vein of Rickey Henderson, fellow Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., on the cover — is much more favorable: "It's so impressive that 'MLB The Show 17' does such a good job not just satisfying existing fans of the genre, but also in inviting newcomers into the game."
We began with a stadium getting renamed this week, and we leave you this weekend by saying goodbye to another sports venue. 2016 didn’t just mark an end to the Detroit Red Wings’ playoff streak — it also was the final season the team will play in Joe Louis Arena. Thus, we send you off with an Ode to the Joe: Hockey's 20 most memorable moments at Joe Louis Arena:
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