Unabridged Audiobook
Rickey was a baseball hero of my youth. Bryant's book is an excellent study of a massive talent and a fascinating character. This is a sympathetic portrait of a sometimes controversial and polarizing player. Interesting themes of the book include baseball's changing economics, the "unwritten rules" of baseball, and the impact of Rickey's race on his relationships with management, media, and fans. But, of course, a book about Rickey Henderson is going to be fun. There are many "Rickey being Rickey" stories here that had me laughing. And the narrator was fantastic, giving an engaging and dynamic reading of the book.
I've been a Rickey Henderson fan for almost 50 years. My husband and I met because of a heated discussion in 1988 about whether Rickey Henderson was the best active player in baseball at that time. I was looking forward to reading this book to learn more about Rickey and from that angle, it didn't disappoint. The book does a great job of explaining where Rickey came from and how that shaped who he became. And yet... There are very few direct quotes in this book from Rickey himself. Much of the content and the context comes from his wife, Pamela, and Rickey is explained through her lens. That's not a bad thing because obviously she has a unique "insider" perspective. At the same time, the book feels like it is missing something. That could be the answer -- Rickey is a hard person to get to know because that is the essence of who he is. Maybe he doesn't want to be "known" and that is part of what makes him great.
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