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A's celebrate '89 champions
Alumni reminisce about 'unusual team, a fun team'
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com
06/23/09 10:59 PM ET
OAKLAND -- The A's on Tuesday celebrated the 20th anniversary of their last world championship by bringing back members of the star-studded squad that swept the Giants in the 1989 World Series, and Rickey Henderson was the focal point.Henderson, considered the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of the game, will be formally ushered into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown later the summer.
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"It's all goosebumps," Henderson said.
Predictably, Henderson drew the loudest cheers during the on-field ceremonies before the start of the second game of a three-game Interleague series against the Giants at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
He also drew the biggest crowd of cameras, notepads, recorders and reporters before the ceremonies, and he happily answered every question in his inimitable style.
Most of the questions were about his impending induction in Cooperstown, and understandably so. The occasion, however, was to celebrate not just Henderson, but also the collection of superstars and role players who gave Oakland its fourth world title.
Asked what, aside from the obvious, made that team special, Henderson didn't hesitate.
"We were more than a team," he said. "It was the family, the unity, the fun. It was an unusual team. It wasn't a job to nobody. Being at the ballpark was like being at home with your brothers, playing catch, playing tricks on each other. It was an unusual team, a fun team. I don't think the guys [who play today] have as much fun as we did.
"I don't know if it's the money or the media, pressure, or what. But I didn't feel any pressure playing baseball. We had didn't feel pressure as a team, neither. We were just playin' ball, man."
Former utilityman Tony Phillips said the '89 A's were special because they took care of "unfinished business," atoning for their loss to the Dodgers in the '88 Fall Classic. And he, too, cited something of a familial vibe.
"Every player in that clubhouse was important, and we made sure everyone felt that way," Phillips said. "I was as important as Rickey. [Mike] Gallego was as important as [Jose] Canseco. We all were intensely important to what we did as a team, and that's what makes a team a champion."
That said, Phillips smiled and added, "We had a lot of characters, too."
Among those characters was another Henderson -- Dave, aka "Hendu," the engaging former outfielder whose gap-toothed smile seemed permanent. It was still there Tuesday, even as he faced some less-than-celebratory questions about the day's events.
For various reasons, many of the big-name players on the '89 team did not attend. Among them were Canseco, Mark McGwire, Hall of Fame reliever Dennis Eckersley, Dave Parker and Terry Steinbach.
When that obvious point was made to Henderson, he took a quick glance around the room, in which former teammates Phillips, Dave Stewart, Walt Weiss, Carney Lansford, Matt Young, Lance Blankenship and Mike Moore were milling about.
"The guys that aren't here," Henderson said, "they're missing the party."
Mychael Urban is a national writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
