Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice Elected to Hall of Fame

"It's really just an honor to me. I'm really just spaced out," he said. "I haven't really thought about what I'm going to say."

In this Oct. 4, 2001 file photo, San Diego Padres' Rickey Henderson holds up a gold-plated...

In this Oct. 4, 2001 file photo, San Diego Padres' Rickey Henderson holds up a gold-plated commemorative home plate presented to him after he scored his 2,246 career run by hitting a home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Diego. The run broke baseball's all-time record set by Ty Cobb in 1928. Henderson and Jim Rice were elected to the baseball Hall of Fame Monday Jan. 12, 2009. (AP photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)

(AP)

Henderson was picked on 511 of 539 ballots and Rice was selected on 412, just above the 405 needed.

Rice received only 29.8 percent of the vote in 1995, when he appeared on the ballot for the first time. He initially topped 50 percent in 2000 and reached 64.8 percent in 2006 — the highest percentage for a player who wasn't elected in a later year was 63.4 by Gil Hodges in 1983, his final time on the ballot.

Some thought Rice's prickly personality and curt relationship with reporters during his playing career helped keep him out of the Hall all those years.

"I don't think I was difficult to deal with for writers. I think the writers were difficult to me," he said. "I wasn't going to badmouth my teammates. When you start talking about my teammates or what goes on outside baseball, I couldn't do that.

"I don't know why it took me so long. I don't even want to think about it," he added. "I'm just happy I'm in and that's what I'm going to cherish."

What did he learn all these years?

"Be patient and wait until the last out," Rice said. "I guess everything was just timing, because my numbers have not changed over the last 14 years."

Andre Dawson fell 44 votes short with 67 percent. He was followed by Bert Blyleven (62.7 percent), Lee Smith (44.5), Jack Morris (44.0), Tommy John (31.7) and Tim Raines (22.6). John appeared on the ballot for the final time.

Mark McGwire, stigmatized by accusations he used performance-enhancing drugs, received 118 votes (21.9 percent) in his third year of eligibility, down from the 128 votes he got in each of his first two tries.

Henderson, who played with McGwire in Oakland, said the first baseman was one of the best people he's ever been around.

"He played the game the right way to me," Henderson said. "I feel he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame."