Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the brash speedster who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball’s leadoff position, has died. He was 65.
Henderson died on Friday. The Athletics said Saturday they were “shocked and heartbroken by his passing,” but did not specify a cause of death.
Known as baseball’s “Man of Steal,” Henderson had a lengthy list of accolades and accomplishments over his nomadic 25-year career — a Most Valuable Player, 10 All-Star selections, two World Series titles and a Gold Glove award.
Photo: AP
“Rickey was simply the best player I ever played with. He could change the outcome of a game in so many ways,” said Don Mattingly, Henderson’s teammate with the New York Yankees from 1985 to 1989. “It puts a smile on my face just thinking about him. I will miss my friend.”
It was stealing bases where Henderson made his name and dominated the sport like no other.
He broke through with 100 steals in his first full season in the majors in 1980, topping Ty Cobb’s AL single-season record with Billy Martin’s “Billy Ball” Oakland Athletics. He barely slowed playing for nine franchises over the next two decades. He broke Lou Brock’s single-season record of 118 by stealing 130 bases in 1982 and led the league in steals for seven straight seasons and 12 overall.
Henderson surpassed Brock’s career record when he stole his 939th base on May 1, 1991, for the Oakland Athletics, and famously pulled third base out of the ground and showed it off to the adoring crowd before giving a speech.
“Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today I am the greatest of all time,” he said.
Henderson finished his career with 1,406 steals. His 468-steal edge over Brock matches the margin between Brock and Jimmy Rollins, who is in 46th place with 470.
“He’s the greatest leadoff hitter of all time, and I’m not sure there’s a close second,” former A’s executive Billy Beane said of Henderson.
In September, Henderson insisted he would have had many more steals in his career and in the record-breaking 1982 season if rules introduced last year to limit pickoff throws and increase the size of bases had overlapped with his career.
“If I was playing today, I would get 162, right now, without a doubt,” he said. “Because if they had had that rule, you can only throw over there twice, you know how many times they would be throwing over there twice and they’d be going: ‘Ah, shit, can y’all send him to third? Give him two bases and send him to third.’ That would be me.”
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