'We're all going to miss him': A's imagine Spring Training without Rickey

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SACRAMENTO -- Three weeks after the passing of the legendary Rickey Henderson, the shock felt by Athletics players and coaches still has not worn off.

Henderson, who died on Dec. 20 at age 65, was a larger-than-life character. Yet inside the A’s clubhouse, the "Man of Steal" was just one of the guys. During his frequent appearances in Spring Training and during the regular season over the past couple of years, Henderson fit right in with the rest of the group, often challenging players to a game of cards or holding court inside the locker room to share tales from his 25-year Hall of Fame career.

The thought of showing up to Spring Training next month in Mesa, Ariz., and not seeing Rickey strolling around the facility remains a strange reality for this current group of A’s. During a visit to Sacramento earlier this week, MLB.com caught up with A’s right fielder Lawrence Butler, left-hander JP Sears and manager Mark Kotsay to reflect on their favorite memories and lessons learned from the greatest leadoff hitter in MLB history:

Butler: “Man of Steal. Rickey was always himself. He was always authentic. That’s kind of where I get a little bit of myself from. He goes out there and he’s going to say what he wants to say, and he doesn’t care what anybody else thinks about him. I feel like that’s what he taught me. To be myself. Don’t try to change for anybody or any situation. I really miss Rickey. I’m pretty sure we’re all going to miss him.”

• 'Truly one of a kind': Baseball world reacts to Henderson’s passing

Sears: “He was around a lot more the last two months of the season, it felt like more than he ever was before, just because he knew it was the last year in Oakland. People have so many funny takes about Rickey, because Rickey’s such a charismatic person. It took him like a year to remember my name, but once he did, he said it every time he saw me. He always was complimentary when you did something well.

"The main thing that stood out to me was his passion. He was passionate about what he was doing that day. He was passionate about the Oakland Athletics. He was passionate about his family, his legacy. That was really shocking to me. I wasn’t super tight with Rickey, but I knew how much a lot of people loved him and how much he meant to people who watched the Oakland A’s in the 1980s and '90s. He’ll be greatly missed. We’re going to do a lot this year to honor him.”

Kotsay: “I don’t have anything that would 'Wow' you about Rickey … because everything always wows you about Rickey. The intimacy of his relationship with my players, people always talked about Rickey like, ‘Oh, he won’t remember your name.’ He remembers everybody. He just was Rickey. Getting on the bus, I’ve got so many memories of being his teammate, and how we’d mess with him and how much he enjoyed it, all the way to him giving me a hug when I let him take the lineup card out for our last series in Oakland. That will forever be my greatest memory.

"The hug, the embracement, for him to thank me for allowing him to do that. It was like, ‘Rickey, you deserve to do that. You should be the one walking it out there.’ That will stay with me forever. I’m still pretty choked up. I can’t imagine him not being around. He would come and go so freely. It was so comfortable with him around.”