This is the third in a series of examinations of baseball-related legends and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of all the previous baseball legends.

Let’s begin!

BASEBALL LEGEND: When Rickey Henderson was introduced to his new Seattle Mariner teammate John Olerud, he told Olerud that he reminded him of a player Henderson had played with before. That player was John Olerud.

STATUS: False

Rickey Henderson is one of the best baseball players of all-time. And he’s certainly one of the most colorful.

Henderson’s colorful ways and odd manner of speaking (often referring to himself in the third person) has led to tons of amusing stories about him over his long (1979-2003) career, but, as would be expected, for every TRUE story there are likely twice as many false ones.

One particular story played on Rickey’s travels around the league as well as his faulty memory.

Henderson, like other great players, found himself being “forced” to play for different teams at the end of his career in order to keep his career going. Unlike most players, though, Henderson just almost refused to retire, so he ended his career playing for a remarkable seven different teams in his last seven seasons (and that’s only counting the Padres once, who he had two stints with over that time period).

Henderson spent the 1999 season and part of the 2000 season with the New York Mets.

While there, he played alongside John Olerud, who he also had played with for part of a season in Toronto.

Olerud was a great baseball player who stood out from other players for the fact that he always wore a batting helmet, whether he was batting or in the field. This was due to a brain aneurysm he suffered while in college. The fear was that if he were struck in the head as an adult, well, the results would not be good, so he just wore a batting helmet whenever he was on the field.

Before the 2000 season, Olerud signed as a free agent with his hometown Seattle Mariners.

During the 2000 season, Henderson also ended up as a Mariner.

As the story goes:

When he hooked up with the Seattle Mariners last year, Rickey is said to have approached John Olerud, who had once suffered a brain aneurysm, and asked about his unusual practice of wearing a batting helmet in the field. Henderson says, “I used to play with a dude in New York who did the same thing.”

“That was me,” said Olerud, who was Henderson’s teammate with both the Mets and the Blue Jays.

It’s a funny story, but not true.

Henderson’s former Mets teammates made the story up as a joke and it eventually got picked up by ESPN and Sports Illustrated as a real story. Olerud denied it ever happened and Henderson’s teammates admitted to the joke.

BASEBALL LEGEND: A former baseball star was acquitted of criminal drug dealing charges due to his low IQ.

STATUS: True

Another star baseball player from the 1980s, however, was also a bit slow on the uptake, only in his case, it helped him beat a criminal drug charge!!

Pedro Guerrero was a star slugger for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the early half of the 1980s, earning a share of the World Series MVP in 1981.

However, an injury in 1986 slowed him down a bit, and after being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1988, Guerrero had a rebound year in 1989 but then his production slowed and in 1992, he suffered ANOTHER, this time career-ending, injury.

Guerrero’s name came back into the news when he was arrested in 1999 for trying to buy 33 pounds of cocaine from an undercover cop.

He was brought up on criminal drug conspiracy charges.

However, in 2002, Guerrero was acquitted of the charges.

His defense?

He was too stupid to be part of a drug conspiracy!

Guerrero’s lawyer explained that Guerrero, a 6th grade dropout in the Dominican Republic, had an IQ of about 70, and he could not do even the most simplest tasks around his house. His wife had to take care of even the simplest tasks, like writing checks or making the bed. Guerrero was given a weekly allowance from his wife.

So, according to Guerrero’s lawyer, he was just being taken advantage of by a friend of his.

The jury ultimately agreed, and Guerrero was acquitted of the charges.

I guess what they say is right – in some cases, at least, ignorance IS bliss!

Thanks to the Associated Press for the information!

BASEBALL LEGEND: A baseball player who went missing for a couple of days claimed to have been kidnapped by gangsters.

STATUS: True

Guerrero’s excuse was a good one, but even that paled to the explanation that Cardinals pitcher Flint Rhem (1901-1969) had for being away from the team for a few days out of nowhere in the Cardinals 1930 season (a season which saw them make it to the World Series!).

As a young starter in 1926, Rhem helped the Cardinals win the World Series.

Early in his career, Rhem’s “duty,” of sorts, was to keep veteran legendary pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander company when Alexander would go on one of his famed benders.

In 1930, with Alexander gone, Rhem kept the memory of Alexander going, by drinking frequently. That same year, in late September, the Cardinals were in the thick of a pennant race with the Dodgers and the Braves when Rhem, who was having a decent season at the time, disappeared for two days and two nights!

When he finally resurfaced, he had quite a story to tell.

Some great big guys snatched me and blindfolded me and locked me up in a room in some stinking old hotel. They held a gun to my head and forced me to keep drinking whiskey until I passed out.

The Cardinals General Manager, Branch Rickey, believed him and the news made the headlines of all the major papers.

Shockingly, these dastardly gangsters were never caught.

Somewhat shockingly (for real), when they DID manage to win the pennant, the Cardinals more or less forgave Rhem (as I suppose talent makes lots of sins forgivable) and he pitched Game 2 of the World Series for the Cardinals. The Cardinals lost, but won the World Series the next season (Rhem was the odd man out of the rotation by that point).

Rhem’s career ended in 1936, in his third stint with the Cardinals (he left them after 1931, came back, left again, then came back again).

I suppose, by the by, that it’s POSSIBLE that some Dodger fan or whatever kidnapped him to hurt the Cardinals’ playoff chances. Not likely, though!

Okay, that’s it for this week!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com

Tags: Boston Braves, Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers, Flint Rhem, Grover Cleveland Alexander, John Olerud, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Pedro Guerrero, Rickey Henderson, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, World Series