"That Next Goddam Guy Up, Rickey."

Roger Angell picks off recent Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Henderson, who was, according to Angell, one of the greatest--and most annoying--players in the history of baseball. Why was Rickey such a pain in the ass? Because Rickey made it thus: 

It was all on purpose, of course. Rickey’s plan, from the first day, was to get into the minds of the other team’s pitcher and the other team’s manager and the other team’s infielders, and their fans, too, and get them thinking about Rickey instead of the business at hand. That at-bat scrunch shrivelled the strike zone to the size of a Kleenex; his furrowy, imperious frown, twisting head, and curatorial glare at each passing pitch turned the home-plate ump’s calls his way. Once he was on base, that squinting, finger-twitching pause when leading away from first made the infielders sidle to more awkward places in the diamond, and insufferably burdened the pitchers’ attention. Managers, out of their gourds with anxiety, more than once ordered an opposing lead-off batter walked intentionally, with nobody on base, to clog up the base-paths and avert more potential damage by that next goddam guy up, Rickey.

For a look at Henderson's, um, impressive lifetime stats, take a look over here. To get the complete story of Rickey, though, feast your eyes on this.