More than 5,000 boisterous fans attended Shogun Fights, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts event at Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena on Saturday night.
"This crowd is unbelievable. I would dream to be on a card like this. I wish that I had this sort of crowd for my first fight," said MMA legend Renzo Gracie, who was joined in the crowd by Rickey Henderson, Lenny Moore and others. "This is the best crowd and event I've ever seen."
"My dad was a really good athlete (Kenny Ross, who played safety at New Mexico in the late 1960s)," said Ross, the Marlins' right fielder. "My dad was all right[-handed]. My mom's a lefty, so maybe I got that gene from her."
Ross and St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick are the only two active position players who throw left and bat right. Just 14 such players in baseball history have gotten as many as 1,000 at-bats -- and that list now includes a Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson.
On Sunday, Rickey Henderson will be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We're happily anticipating the induction speech of one of the most colorful players in the history of baseball, sure. It never seemed, though, that he would ever stay retired long enough for us to drag him into the Hall.
We've caught the thief, but we all know he's good for another thousand stolen bases. Saturday's Dugout is after the jump.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's action, with a quick nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know... That instant replay has been in use in the majors for reviewing homers since last August, but there had not been a single home run taken away until Wednesday.
And then it happened twice.
First, Pittsburgh's Adam LaRoche hit a first-inning drive that was initially ruled a three-run homer. After umpires checked the replay, they determined that the ball had not cleared the fence, and LaRoche instead had a two-run double.
A few hours later, in Milwaukee, Marlins pinch-hitter Ross Gload had a would-be solo homer reversed.
I don't know if you know this or not, but since he's commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig seems to think this gives him special privileges that nobody else in America is entitled to. Why, as commissioner of baseball he's not bound by the ex post facto laws of our society, which means he's allowed to suspendAlex Rodriguez for breaking rules that weren't yet in place.
You would think Rickey Henderson would finally be satisfied with his baseball career after being inducted -- with nearly 95 percent of the vote -- into baseball's Hall of Fame this week. That's the thing about Rickey, though, he loves the game so much and he's so competitive, he'll want to play when he's 70.
Well, he's only 50 now, but it sounds like he's serious when saying he wants to play. Not only that, but he believes he'd be a very productive player and not just some novelty act.
Doing a quality impersonation is hard work. Except for George Bush. He's easy to impersonate. Or John Madden. He's pretty easy too. Oh, and Jack Nicholson. Everyone can do him. But a high end, quality Rickey Henderson impersonation? It's tough to actually pull off. Jimmy Rollins can do just that.
Now, TBS hasn't put a formal offer on the table, but I would be surprised if they let Jimmy slip through the cracks during the offseason.
Missed us over the weekend? Yeah, we missed you too. In this edition of the FanHouse Minute, let Kristine guide you through the latest on LenDale White's New Year's Resolution and Rickey Henderson's Hall of Fame acceptance speech, as only she can.
(FanHouse Minute is your 60-second rundown of the top five headlines that you didn't get to see. Check back here every week for the latest installment, and watch this week's video after the jump.)
You may notice that we've discussed Bert Blyleven and Mark McGwire and Tim Raines this afternoon at FanHouse (with Jim Rice coming soon), but no one's said much about Rickey Henderson -- the guy that pulled almost 95 percent of the vote. This isn't meant as a slight to Rickey, but rather it's a form of compliment. What can we possibly add to the conversation about a guy that had a career .401 OBP, stole 1,406 bases, and is well-documented as one of the greatest characters in the history of baseball?
More than 5,000 boisterous fans attended Shogun Fights, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts event at Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena on Saturday night.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
On Sunday, Rickey Henderson will be inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We're happily anticipating the induction speech of one of the most colorful players in the history of baseball, sure. It never seemed, though, that he would ever stay retired long enough for us to drag him into the Hall.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's action, with a quick nod to what's ahead.
I don't know if you know this or not, but since he's commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig seems to think this gives him special privileges that nobody else in America is entitled to. Why, as commissioner of baseball he's not bound by the ex post facto laws of our society, which means he's allowed to suspend Alex Rodriguez for breaking rules that weren't yet in place.
Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.
You would think Rickey Henderson would finally be satisfied with his baseball career after being inducted -- with nearly 95 percent of the vote -- into baseball's Hall of Fame this week. That's the thing about Rickey, though, he loves the game so much and he's so competitive, he'll want to play when he's 70. 
Missed us over the weekend? Yeah, we missed you too. In this edition of the FanHouse Minute, let Kristine guide you through the latest on LenDale White's New Year's Resolution and Rickey Henderson's Hall of Fame acceptance speech, as only she can.
