We asked Rickey Henderson: Did you REALLY say that?

SAN DIEGO — Rickey Henderson, like many of our world’s other great orators, has a number of amazing quotes attributed to him. The Hall of Famer’s verbal prowess is almost as fantastic as his abilities on the baseball field.

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So when I met Henderson earlier this week at MLB FanFest, where he was one of the participants in the Esurance All-Star Challenge, I had to ask him, “Did you REALLY say that?”

And what a game that is to play. Look around the internet and you’ll find so many great quotes attributed to Rickey. True? False? Some are no-brainers like:

Today, I am the greatest of all time.

Of course he said that one. It came when he set the stolen-base record. But others will make you wonder:

“This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

So with Rickey standing next to me, I had to know what was urban legend and what was realer than real-deal Holyfield.

Before I talked to Rickey, I also asked some fans in attendance whether Rickey said these things, so you can watch their guesses before Rickey’s confirmation or denial. We also snuck in a few quotes that Rickey most certainly did not say, to keep everybody on their toes.

Now the question that has to be asked: Do you think Rickey remembers every great thing that came out of his mouth back in the day? Because I really wanted the “Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey” quote to be true.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz