Root Beer and Rickey

By Felicia
Sports In The Bay

We used to immolate his batting stance, squatting down real low with our imaginative bat held high, twitching our fingers as we pretended to steal a base at the Not a Through Street sign that we used as first base and the tall wooden telephone pole that we used as second on our block in East Oakland.

That is the type of effect that Rickey Henderson and the Oakland A’s had on our close knit community back in the day.

It would only be fitting that on the 10th anniversary of the Oakland Athletics A’s MUG Root Beer Float Day last week, Henderson would also be present, signing autographs as the newly inducted member of the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame.

This year the Oakland A’s raised over $25,000 with all proceeds benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Since 2003, the A’s have raised over $270,000 for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation through MUG Root Beer Float Day.

A’s players, coaches, broadcasters and wives, along with local radio, television personalities and newspaper reporters served root beer floats in the East Side Club and the proceeds were raised through the sale of root beer floats, tips given in exchange for autographs and pictures with the celebrity scoopers, the sale of autographed mugs and a silent auction of sports memorabilia.

According to healthscout.com 35 American children are diagnosed with diabetes each day. Today, you rarely find children playing in the neighborhood swinging a stick used for a bat or a tennis ball used for a baseball and while it is uncertain what causes diabetes it is usually hereditary and a proper diet and exercise are key components in management.

Kids like Archie Lopez of Santa Cruz remain active by playing baseball. Playing since the age of five, the 12 year old made the winding drive up from the seaside city to watch the A’s and the Texas Rangers and to join the group of several hundred who stood in line to meet Henderson.

“I saw him on TV and wanted to meet him since he was just inducted into the Hall of Fame,” said Lopez who made the trip with his dad, brother and cousin.

Stephanie Price and Eva Randall of Oakland stood in line for about an hour and reminisced about their favorite Henderson moments. “I remember when he stole third and I was there when he broke the record,” said Randall.

An Oakland native who attended Oakland Technical High School Henderson was drafted by the A’s in 1979. When he retired in 2003 he would finish his career with four stints with the A’s and having played for nine other teams.

Henderson would also leave the game as one of the top lead-off hitters in the history of the game and he still holds the single season record for stolen bases
(100) in 1982.

Elizabeth Meneweather brought her 11 year old grandson with her, who she’s been bringing to A’s games since he was two months old. “We’re baseball buddies,” she said with a proud smile.

The A’s begin their nine-game home stand August 14th against the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers. Go to www.oaklandathletics.com for more information.