Rickey Henderson is on a first-name basis with himself

Although it seemed as if he would never stay retired long enough to make it happen, Rickey Henderson made the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, it was announced Monday.

In honor of the occasion, we present a few of Henderson’s most memorable quotes during his career, courtesy of the website NYsportSpace.com:

During a contract holdout with Oakland in the early 1990s: “If they want to pay me like Mike Gallego, I’ll play like Gallego.”

In a phone message left for San Diego Padres General Manager Kevin Towers: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

When searching for a seat on the Padres team bus, he was told by Steve Finley, “You have tenure, sit wherever you want,” Henderson replied: “Ten years? Rickey’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”

Telling New York Yankees teammates that his condo had such a great view he could see the “Entire State Building.”

And when a reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s estimate that 50% of big league players were taking steroids was accurate, Henderson replied: “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49% right there.”

Trivia time

How many teams did Henderson play for during his 25-year career?

Portland or bust

Greg Oden has played 12 NBA games, started four of them, and already one blogger for ESPN The Magazine’s website has declared the Portland Trailblazer center to be a failure.

“Greg Oden is a bust,” wrote rapper Lil’ Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. “He’s gotta show me something, man. I don’t get it. At what point in time was he dominant? I’ve never seen it. You’ve never seen it.

“Maybe NBA officials know something we don’t. That’s all I can figure. Maybe somebody on that staff has seen something we haven’t. But until he shows me something, I’m gonna declare him a bust.”

Is everyone here?

A record crowd of 25,629 attended this year’s Montana-Montana State football game -- about 2.7% of the state’s population.

“When Montanans get that many people packed into a relatively small area,” Pat Ryan wrote in the Montana Standard, “it’s usually known as ‘The Opening Day of Hunting Season.’ ”

Trivia answer

Nine. The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Dodgers and four stops with the Oakland A’s.

Trivia correction

A recent trivia question asked, “Who was the first Heisman Trophy winner to play in the Rose Bowl?” The correct answer is Frank Sinkwich of Georgia, who won the 1942 Heisman Trophy and played in Georgia’s 9-0 triumph over UCLA in the 1943 Rose Bowl.

And finally

Utah’s Louie Sakoda, a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, given annually to college football’s best kicker, recently discussed his craft with the Deseret News. “Your job is to kick leather,” he said. “It’s kind of a cheesy job.”

-- Mike Penner