Independent League Wants Rickey Henderson to Wear Surf Dawg Cap on Hall Plaque

Rickey Henderson is a lock to enter the Hall of Fame, and he's likely going into it wearing an Oakland Athletics cap. Traditionally, players were able to choose which cap they'd be wearing on their plaque (you'll see why I put that sentence in past tense at the end of this article).

If Golden Baseball League gets their way, they'll be paying Henderson a million dollars to sport a San Diego Surf Dawg cap in his plaque, for that one magical season where he hit .270 and swiped 16 bags when he was 46 years old. My personal favorite part of the article is when they state that the Dawgs were one of only three teams on which Rickey played where he won a championship. Oh, that prestigious GBL title. If only we were all so lucky. I'm sure that ranks right up there with the stolen base record, runs scored record, two World Series championships, and an MVP for good ol' Rickey.

If we can put aside everything else for a second, how incredibly absurd would it be to see Rickey Henderson -- easily the greatest leadoff hitter and base-stealer in the history of baseball -- wearing the cap of a team called the "Surf Dawgs" in his plaque?

GBL CEO David Kaval disagrees with that assessment:

"We are confident that Rickey will be a first ballot selection and we look forward to seeing a bronzed Surf Dawg cap displayed on his Hall of Fame plaque."

Oh, the humanity. I just can't find the words to describe ... but there's more. They are serious, dead serious, I tell you.

"This is a legitimate offer and a signed agreement has been sent to Rickey." continued Kaval. "Considering that Rickey played for nine major league teams in his career this gives him an excellent solution to the problem of slighting any of those fine organizations by picking a favorite. We would gladly donate the funds to a charity of Rickey's choice and look forward to being with him in Cooperstown on July 26th next summer."

I don't know how we could endow this honor upon anyone, but I just wanna throw my name in the ring. Can I please be the one to tell them the decision is not Rickey's?

In 2001, the Hall of Fame took control of the final decision on what cap each player will wear in his plaque, seemingly because they had a time machine and foresaw this situation.

Still, Mr. Kaval and his GBL are quite oblivious to this, so I recommend Rickey take the money and do what he did best in his prime.

Run.