On Friday, December 20th, the world lost one of its most treasured and talented athletes. Rickey Henderson, the “Man of Steal”, died at age 65. Rickey, most notably an Oakland Athletic, was a staple of Oakland Sports, but also spent time with both the Yankees and Mets, as well as the Blue Jays, Padres, Angels, Mariners and Dodgers across his impressive and lucrative 25 year career. Henderson holds the record for most stolen bases both in a single season (Modern Era) and in a career, earning him the Superman inspired nickname. While only being a nickname, Henderson seemed like the superman of sports to a sports fan. Changing the game forever, Rickey Henderson will forever be remembered as the greatest base-stealer the game has ever seen, earning himself a spot in Cooperstown as well as being honored by the Athletics, who named their stadium after him. On this day, let’s take a look back on the incredible life and career of one of the greatest athletes to ever grace a baseball field.
Henderson was born on December 25th, 1958 in the backseat of an Oldsmobile in Chicago Illinois. When Rickey was just two years old, his father moved to Oakland leaving Rickey to grow up with his grandparents. When he was seven he and the rest of his family moved to Oakland where Henderson would play high school ball. Henderson’s father would die in a car accident, leaving his mom to remarry while Henderson was in high school. Rickey was a three sport athlete at Oakland Technical High School, playing football, basketball and, of course, baseball. Fittingly, he wanted to run track but Baseball conflicted with the schedule. Henderson was a sensational running back, achieving two 1,000 yard seasons in high school which put him on the map, getting him many Scholarships from notable colleges to play Football. Despite the offers, Henderson opted to play baseball in 1976, and entered the MLB draft.
Henderson was drafted by the A’s in the fourth round, where he spent a few years in the Athletics minor league system before making his Major League debut on June 24th 1979, going 2-4 with, of course, a stolen base. The very next year in 1980, Henderson would swipe 100 bags, breaking the Athletics Franchise record and becoming the third player in the Baseball Modern Era to steal 100 bases. Being a perennial MVP candidate, Henderson would steal a record breaking 130 bases in 172 attempts in 1982, meaning 75% of the time he attempted to steal, he was successful. Henderson’s record for stolen bases in a single season is the most in the modern era and has not been broken since. He would follow that season up by stealing 108 bases, and in 1984, Henderson was dealt to the New York Yankees, where his dominance would only become more prevalent.
Henderson would lead the AL in runs scored and stolen bases in both 1985 and 1986, and had a phenomenal season in ‘86, stealing 87 bases while setting 74 RBI’s and slugging 28 homers. In June of 1989, Henderson was traded back to Oakland, where he would catapult the Athletics into the postseason. Henderson would win ALCS MVP, and led the Athletics to a World Series sweep over the Giants earning them their first World Series title since 1974. On the first of May, 1991, Henderson would steal his 939th base, breaking the record for all time stolen bases. In 1993, the Toronto Blue jays, in the midst of a pennant race, would acquire Henderson. The Jays would go on to win the Fall Classic that year, and Henderson, remaining loyal to his hometown A’s, would then sign a 2 year deal with the green and gold for his third stint with Oakland.
Henderson would bounce around the west coast spending two seasons with the Padres and one with the Angels before returning to Oakland yet again. Although he was 39, Henderson led the league with 66 stolen bases. Henderson signed with the New York Mets in 1999, however, he was not the best fit. After many feuds with management and issues, Henderson began intentionally tanking, forcing the Mets to release him. They had offered him via trade with every single team in the league and they all declined. Henderson would go on to play for the Mariners, Padres (Again), Red Sox, and Dodgers before semi-announcing his retirement in 2003. Henderson admittedly struggled to let go of his playing career, and in a desperate attempt to cling on attempted to find a contract with any club. He ended up becoming a hitting coach for one of his former teams, the Mets, in 2006, and significantly impacted Shortstop Jose Reyes specifically, which ended up being a major contributing factor to his breakout.
On July 13th, 2007, Rickey Henderson officially retired from major League baseball. Two years later in 2009, two days before being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Henderson told reporters, “ I believe today, and people say I’m crazy, but if you gave me as many at-bats that you would give the runners out there today, I would outsteal every last one of them … they can always ring my phone and I’ll come on down and help their ballclub, that’s how much I love the game.” On August 1st, 2009, the Athletics retired Rickey Henderson’s number 24. He finished his career with the most stolen bases at 1,406, and would earn his spot in the Hall of Fame later that year on the first ballot. In 2017, ahead of opening day the Athletics announced that they would be renaming their Stadium Rickey Henderson field to honor the man regarded as the best Oakland Athletic and one of the best players to ever step on a Baseball Diamond. One of the final comments made to the public by Henderson was last summer when asked about the Athletics playing their final game in Oakland before moving to Las Vegas. Henderson said, “I can’t be sad, I have too much money”
