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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 30, 2001
Where most players think of the distance between bases as 90 feet, Rickey Henderson approaches it with a sprinter's mentality.
Complete the lap. Cross the finish line.
"Scoring is all that really counts," the 42-year-old said. "Steals, walks, hits -- those are all good things. But that is the foundation, setting the table. Runs are the thing."
In his 23rd major-league season, and with the baseball world falling all over itself to see Barry Bonds break the single-season home run record, Henderson is often forgotten.
And that's a shame.
Bonds is chasing a 3-year-old record. Henderson, meanwhile, is one run from tying Ty Cobb's record for runs in a career.
"When Ty Cobb played, he probably didn't think about the numbers because there was nothing to compare to what he was doing," said Henderson, who also is three hits shy of 3,000."All he was doing was playing to win, and that meant scoring."
More than a decade has passed since Henderson became the stolen-base leader (1,395). He passed Babe Ruth this season as the record-holder for walks (2,137).
By walking and stealing bases, he's put himself in the position to score more times than anybody and cemented himself as the game's best leadoff hitter.
"What is the game all about?" Henderson said. "C'mon, give me the bottom line. What's the difference between the winner and the loser? What counts? Runs. All I've ever done leads to runs."
And likely to the Hall of Fame.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: The Diamondbacks are the team nobody in the National League wants to face in the division playoffs.
The reason is obvious.
Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, who have struck out a record 651 batters combined this season, assure Arizona of a chance to go up 2-0 in a best-of-five series.
But who will manager Bob Brenly trot out for the third game? It appears either Albie Lopez or 37-year-old Bobby Witt, both former Rays.
Lopez, acquired from the Rays in July, could lose his 20th game of the season today and become the first player to do so since Brian Kingman went 8-20 with the A's in 1980. The right-hander, who gave up four homers against Milwaukee on Tuesday, has allowed 17 runs in his past three starts.
OUT OF RESPECT: Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green stood steadfast by his decision to observe Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, and end the longest current streak of games played at 415 on Wednesday.
Houston catcher Brad Ausmus, whose mother is Jewish, opted to play.
"I wasn't raised Jewish and I've never really practiced the Jewish religion," he said. "It wouldn't be fair to practicing Jews and it wouldn't be fair to my teammates (to have skipped the game)."
WHAT'S IN STORE: With all three National League divisions undecided, the final week will be worth following for a number of reasons.
In the East, the Phillies and Atlanta begin a three-game series at Turner Field on Tuesday. The Astros and Cardinals play three starting Friday at Busch Stadium.
And the Bonds home run rally wraps up with three games at Enron Field in Houston starting Tuesday and three more at home against the Dodgers beginning Friday.
ADDRESSING A NEED: There are weightier issues festering in Boston, but if the Red Sox plan to be competitive next season they must improve in one category: stolen bases.
Boston ranks last in the majors with 41, led by Carl Everett's nine. To put that in perspective consider that's two fewer than Yankees rookie Alfonso Soriano has.
ODDS AND ENDS: Cubs first baseman Fred McGriff, acquired from the Rays in July, is expected to accept his $8.25-million option to stay with the Cubs next season. . . . Should the White Sox pass the Twins for second in the AL Central, it would continue a streak started in 1993 in which they've finished either first or second in the division.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.