Rickey Henderson Career Highlights
Rickey Henderson
Position:Â Leftfielder
Bats: Right  â˘Â  Throws: Left
5-10, 180lb (178cm, 81kg)
Born: December 25, 1958  in Chicago, IL us
Draft: Drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 4th round of the 1976 MLB June Amateur Draft from Oakland Technical HS (Oakland, CA).
High School:Â Oakland Technical HS (Oakland, CA)
Debut:Â June 24, 1979Â (14,205th in major league history)
vs. TEXÂ 4 AB, 2 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB
Last Game:Â September 19, 2003
vs. SFGÂ 0 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB
Hall of Fame:Â Inducted as Player in 2009. (Voted by BBWAA on 511/539 ballots)
View Rickey Henderson’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name:Â Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson
Nicknames:Â Man of Steal
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Nine Players Who Debuted in 1979
Rickey Henderson
Tim Raines
Kirk Gibson
Dickie Thon
Jesse Orosco
Jeff Reardon
Dan Quisenberry
Dave Righetti
Dave Stieb
The Rickey Henderson Teammate Team
C:Â Â Â Mike Piazza
1B:Â Don Mattingly
2B:Â Joe Morgan
3B:Â Carney Lansford
SS:Â Alex Rodriguez
LF:Â Manny Ramirez
CF: Dwayne Murphy
RF:Â Tony Gwynn
DH:Â Dave Kingman
SP:Â Mike Norris
SP:Â Ron Guidry
SP:Â Dave Stewart
SP:Â Jack Morris
SP:Â Pedro Martinez
RP:Â Dennis Eckersley
RP:Â Trevor Hoffman
M:Â Â Â Billy Martin
Notable Events and Chronology for Rickey Henderson Career
Rickey Henderson Biography
Widely regarded as the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history, Rickey Henderson was the most exciting and dynamic player of his time. Blessed with the running speed of a sprinter and a body made of iron, Henderson had the ability to create a run all by himself with either his legs or his powerful bat. No one else in the game had the Hall of Fame outfielder’s ability to bring a crowd to its feet in such a variety of ways. Henderson thrilled fans everywhere with his daring baserunning, frequently turning either a base on balls or a single into a run by stealing second base, advancing to third on an infield out, and scoring on a sacrifice fly. His muscular frame also enabled him to drive the opposing pitcher’s offering more than 400 feet from home plate, well into the outfield stands. And Henderson’s head-first slides and patented “snatch-catch” became his trademarks, exhibiting both the passion and the style with which he played the game.
Major league baseball’s all-time leader in both stolen bases (1,406) and runs scored (2,295), Henderson led his league in stolen bases a record 12 times, surpassing 100 thefts on three separate occasions. He also topped his circuit in runs scored five times. Those are the figures that prompted Mitchell Page, Henderson’s one-time Oakland A’s teammate, to say, “But it wasn’t until I saw Rickey that I understood what baseball was about. Rickey Henderson is a run, man. That’s it. When you see Rickey Henderson, I don’t care when, the score’s already 1-0. If he’s with you, that’s great. If he’s not, you won’t like it.”
Named after singer Ricky Nelson, Rickey Nelson Henley was born to John L. and Bobbie Henley on Christmas Day, 1958, in the back seat of an Oldsmobile on the way to a Chicago hospital. His father left home two years later, and the Henley family eventually moved to Oakland, California when Rickey was seven. His father died in an automobile accident five years after the family moved to the West Coast, and his mother married Paul Henderson shortly thereafter, with the Henley family adopting the Henderson surname.
While growing up in Oakland, Henderson spent his formative years on the baseball diamond learning to bat righthanded, even though he threw lefthanded. Henderson later recalled, “All my friends were righthanded and swung from the right side, so I thought that’s the way it was supposed to be done.” After graduating in 1976 from Oakland Technical High School, where he excelled in baseball, football, basketball, and track, Henderson received numerous college scholarship offers to play football. However, heeding the advice of his mother, who warned him that football players tend to have relatively short careers, Henderson decided to pursue a career in baseball instead.
[jetpack_subscription_form title=”Subscribe to This Day In Baseball” subscribe_text=”Get our latest Posts in your in box” subscribe_button=”GO!” show_subscribers_total=”0″]Selected by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth round of the 1976 amateur free agent draft, Henderson spent the next three years working his way up the Oakland farm system, before finally joining the A’s in late June of 1979. The 20-year-old outfielder split his time between left field and center field over the season’s final three months, batting .274, stealing 33 bases, and hitting his first major-league home run. Henderson took over as Oakland’s starting leftfielder the following year, batting .303, compiling a .420 on-base percentage, scoring 111 runs, and stealing a league-leading 100 bases. By amassing 100 steals, Henderson joined Lou Brock (118) and Maury Wills (104) as the only players of the modern era to reach the century-mark in a single season.
Henderson performed brilliantly again during the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, leading the A’s into the playoffs for the first time in six years by batting .319 and topping the American League with 56 stolen bases, 89 runs, and 135 hits, in only 108 games. In addition to finishing second to Milwaukee’s Rollie Fingers in the league MVP voting, Henderson captured the only Gold Glove of his career for his outstanding play in the outfield.
The symbol of manager Billy Martin’s aggressive style of play that the Oakland media often referred to as “BillyBall,” Henderson drove opposing teams to the point of distraction with his bold and aggressive baserunning. The game’s top base stealer possessed more than just blinding speed and the courage of a riverboat gambler. Henderson also had a brilliant baseball mind, even though he rarely received credit for taking an extremely cerebral approach to his craft. The sport’s all-time stolen base king later discussed the factors that weighed into his initial decision to employ both the low-to-the-ground running style and head-first slide for which he eventually became noted: “I wanted to know how to dive into the base because I was getting strawberries on my knees and strawberries on my ass… I was thinking about head-first versus feet-first, and wondering which would save my body. With head-first I worried about pounding my shoulders and my hands, and with feet-first I would worry about my knees and my legs. I felt that running was more important to me, with my legs, so I started going head-first. I got my low-to-the-ground technique from airplanes. I was asleep on a plane, and the plane bounced, and when we landed we bounced, and it woke me up. Then the next flight I had the same pilot and the plane went down so smooth. So I asked the pilot why, and he said when you land a plane smooth, you get the plane elevated to the lowest position you can, and then you smooth it in. Same with sliding…If you dive when you’re running straight up then you have a long distance to get to the ground. But the closer you get to the ground the less time it will take…I was hitting the dirt so smooth, so fast, when I hit the dirt, there wasn’t no hesitation. It was like a skid mark, like you throw a rock on the water and skid off it. So when I hit the ground, if you didn’t have the tag down, I was by you. No matter if the ball beat me, I was by you. That was what made the close plays go my way, I think.”
His running and sliding techniques perfected, Henderson continued his string of seven consecutive seasons in which he led the American League in stolen bases, establishing a new major league record by swiping 130 bags in 1982. Henderson’s 130 thefts surpassed the totals compiled by nine of the 14 teams in the junior circuit that year. He also scored 119 runs and, despite batting just .267, walked a league-leading 116 times, thereby posting an impressive .398 on-base percentage.
Henderson’s ability to reach base via the walk could be attributed not only to his keen batting eye and tremendous patience, but, also, to the exaggerated crouch he adopted as his batting stance. He described his approach at the plate to Sports Illustrated in 1982, saying, “I found that, if I squatted down real low at the plate, I could see the ball better. I also knew it threw the pitcher off. I found that I could put my weight on my back foot and still turn my hips on the swing. I’m down so low I don’t have much of a strike zone. Sometimes, walking so much even gets me mad. Last year, Ed Ott of the Angels got so frustrated because the umpire was calling balls that would’ve been strikes on anybody else that he stood up and shouted at me, ‘Stand up and hit like a man.’ I guess I do that to people.”
Henderson spent two more years in Oakland, posting batting averages of .292 and .293, while combining for 174 stolen bases and 218 runs scored. As his muscular frame continued to develop, he also became more of a power hitter. Henderson established a new career high with 16 homers in 1984, a figure he later surpassed on six separate occasions after growing into the powerful 5’10”, 195-pound frame that eventually earned him the nickname Man of Steal.
Henderson had one of his finest all-around seasons after being traded to the New York Yankees for five players prior to the start of the 1985 campaign. Shifted to center field by the Yankees, Henderson batted .314, compiled a .419 on-base percentage, established new career highs with 24 home runs and 72 runs batted in, and led the American League with 80 stolen bases and 146 runs scored. Henderson’s 80 steals and 24 homers made him the first member of the 80/20 club in major league history (Cincinnati’s Eric Davis later joined him), and his 146 runs scored were the most tallied by any player since Ted Williams scored 150 times for Boston in 1950. Henderson’s magnificent season earned him a third-place finish in the league MVP voting, behind teammate Don Mattingly and Kansas City’s George Brett.
Although Henderson’s batting average fell to .263 in 1986, he led the American League in runs scored (130) and stolen bases (87) for the second straight year, while also posting a career-best 28 home runs and 74 RBIs. A series of hamstring injuries limited Henderson to just 95 games the following year, bringing to an end his reign as stolen base champ. Nevertheless, he performed well whenever he took the field, batting .291, hitting 17 homers, scoring 78 runs, and stealing 41 bases. Henderson returned to the New York lineup full time in 1988, batting .305, scoring 118 runs, and leading the league in stolen bases for the eighth time in nine years, with 93 thefts.
Henderson’s broad smile and exciting style of play made him a favorite of the fans his first few years in New York. He not only produced on the field, but he also entertained them with his flashy and innovative mannerisms that eventually earned him the nickname Style Dog. Henderson became known for his “snatch-catch,” which enabled him to turn a routine fly ball out into a form of entertainment. The outfielder typically swatted at the ball from over his head, before bringing his glove to his side in one swift motion after making the catch.
However, Henderson’s popularity with the fans in New York began to wane when he failed to live up to expectations in 1989. Immersed in the worst prolonged slump of his career, the outfielder batted just .247 during the season’s first half, while stealing only 25 bases and scoring just 41 runs. Further angering the fans were the lack of interest and hustle Henderson frequently displayed on the field, even though the Yankees moved him back to his preferred position of left field earlier in the year. Henderson’s lackadaisical and dispassionate play earned him a ticket out of New York, something he seemed to want since the team appeared headed in the wrong direction. Dealt back to Oakland, the defending A.L. West champs, Henderson reasserted himself as one of baseball’s best players. He batted .294 over the season’s final three months, hit nine home runs, drove in 35 runs, scored 72 others, and stole 52 bases, to lead the A’s to their second straight division title. Henderson then performed magnificently during the postseason, batting .400, with two homers, five RBIs, and eight runs scored against Toronto in the ALCS, before posting a .474 batting average during Oakland’s four-game sweep of San Francisco in the World Series.
Henderson continued his brilliant play throughout the 1990 campaign, leading the A’s to their third consecutive A.L. pennant by batting .325, hitting 28 home runs, compiling a .577 slugging percentage, and topping the junior circuit with 119 runs scored, 65 stolen bases, and a .439 on-base percentage, en route to capturing league MVP honors. Although Cincinnati subsequently swept Oakland in the World Series, Henderson stole three bases and batted .333 during the Fall Classic.
The A’s failed to advance to the postseason again in 1991. Nevertheless, the year was an historic one for Henderson, who stole the 939th base of his career on May 1, to become baseball’s all-time stolen base king. After breaking Lou Brock’s record, though, Henderson revealed his narcissistic nature and boastful manner by announcing to everyone in attendance during the subsequent on-field celebration, “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the greatest of all-time.” Henderson’s proclamation was viewed by many as being excessive and somewhat insensitive, especially since Brock joined him on the field during the ceremony. Henderson later expressed regret for making the statement, saying, “As soon as I said it, it ruined everything. Everybody thought it was the worst thing you could ever say. Those words haunt me to this day, and will continue to haunt me. They overshadow what I’ve accomplished in this game.”
Henderson’s announcement really should not have come as much of a surprise to anyone. Noted for his self-absorption and tendency to refer to himself in the third-person, Henderson was one of baseball’s most unusual and enigmatic figures. He frequently spoke to himself, both on and off the field. Over the course of his career, Henderson developed a reputation for standing completely naked in front of a full-length mirror in the locker room for several minutes before each game, repeating to himself several times, “Rickey’s the best.” On one particular occasion, Henderson struck out in a game in Seattle. A former teammate revealed that he then heard Henderson say to himself as he passed him by, “Don’t worry, Rickey, you’re still the best.” San Diego GM Kevin Towers disclosed that Henderson once left the following telephone message for him while looking for a job: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”
Henderson, though, downplayed his tendency to refer to himself in the third person, saying, “Listen, people are always saying, ‘Rickey says Rickey.’ But it’s been blown way out of proportion. People might catch me, when they know I’m ticked off, saying, ‘Rickey, what the heck are you doing, Rickey?’ They say, ‘Darn, Rickey, what are you saying Rickey for? Why don’t you just say I?’ But I never did. I always said ‘Rickey,’ and it became something for people to joke about.”
Although people may have frequently found humor in Henderson’s somewhat bizarre behavior, they had a difficult time finding fault with his performance on the field. He had two more solid years in Oakland, before his desire to play for a pennant-contending team prompted him to express interest in going somewhere else when the A’s fell from the league’s elite in 1993. After batting .327 and scoring 77 runs in 90 games with the A’s, Henderson was dealt to the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays, with whom he spent the remainder of the season. Although he batted just .214 in his 44 games with the Blue Jays, Henderson helped them capture their second straight world championship by scoring six runs against Philadelphia in the World Series.
Somewhat surprisingly, Henderson decided to return to Oakland when he became a free agent at season’s end, spending another two years with the team that first signed him to a major league contract. He lived a somewhat nomadic existence over the course of his final eight seasons, spending time with the San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, Oakland A’s (again), New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers, before finally leaving the game at the conclusion of the 2003 campaign. Although Henderson never again reached the same heights he did earlier in his career, he managed to score 110 runs for the Padres in 1996, score 101 times and steal a league-leading 66 bases for the A’s in 1998, and bat .315 for the Mets in 1999. Yet, even though Henderson had a solid year for the Mets, his time in New York ended in acrimony. The New York media criticized both Henderson and teammate Bobby Bonilla for playing cards in the locker room during the latter stages of the team’s season-ending playoff loss to the Atlanta Braves, after both players were removed from the contest.
In spite of the controversy that followed Henderson throughout his career, there is no denying his greatness as a ballplayer. In addition to being baseball’s all-time leader in stolen bases and runs scored, Henderson compiled more unintentional walks (2,129) and leadoff home runs (81) than anyone else in the history of the game. The single-season record holder for most stolen bases, with 130, Henderson surpassed 50 stolen bases 13 times. He also scored more than 100 runs 13 times, batted over .300 on seven separate occasions, topped 20 homers four times, and compiled an on-base percentage in excess of .400 on 15 separate occasions. Henderson appeared in 10 All-Star games and finished in the top 10 in the league MVP voting six times.
Tony La Russa, Henderson’s manager in Oakland after the outfielder returned to the team in 1989, said, “He (Henderson) rises to the occasion â the big moment â better than anybody I’ve ever seen.”
Former A’s coach Rene Lachemann stated, “If you’re one run down, there’s nobody you’d ever rather have up at the plate than Rickey.”
Sportswriter Tom Verducci wrote, “Baseball is designed to be an egalitarian sort of game in which one player among the 18 is not supposed to dominate… Yet in the past quarter century Henderson and Barry Bonds have come closest to dominating a baseball game the way Michael Jordan could a basketball game.”
In July 2007, New York Sun sportswriter Tim Marchman wrote about Henderson’s accomplishments:
“He stole all those bases and scored all those runs and played all those years not because of his body, but because of his brain. Rickey could tell from the faintest, most undetectable twitch of a pitcher’s muscles whether he was going home or throwing over to first. He understood that conditioning isn’t about strength, but about flexibility. And more than anyone else in the history of the game, he understood that baseball is entirely a game of discipline â the discipline to work endless 1-1 counts your way, the discipline to
understand that your job is to get on base, and the discipline to understand that the season is more important than the game, and a career more important than the season. Maybe he’d get a bit more credit for all this if he were some boring drip like Cal Ripken Jr., blathering on endlessly about humility and apple pie and tradition and whatever else, but we’re all better off with things the way they are… Everyone had their fun when he broke Lou Brock’s stolen base record and proclaimed, ‘I am the greatest’, but he was, of course, just saying what was plainly true.”
Asked if he believes the passage of time will improve his reputation, Henderson said, “If you talk about baseball, you can’t eliminate me, because I’m all over baseball… It’s the truth. Telling the truth isn’t being cocky. What do you want me to say, that I didn’t put up the numbers? That my teams didn’t win a lot of games? People don’t want me to say anything about what I’ve done. Then why don’t you say it? Because if I don’t say it and you don’t say it, nobody says it.”
Rickey Henderson took a major step towards improving his reputation during his humor-laden July 2009 Hall of Fame induction speech. After being voted into Cooperstown by the members of the BBWAA in his first year of eligibility, Henderson displayed surprising humility when he stated, “I would like to say my favorite hero was Muhammad Ali. He said at one time, ‘I am the greatest.’ That is something I always wanted to be. And now that the association has voted me into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time and, at this moment, I am…very, very humbled.”
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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
Played For
Oakland Athletics (1979-1984)
New York Yankees (1985-1989)
Oakland Athletics (1989-1993)
Toronto Blue Jays (1993)
Oakland Athletics (1994-1995)
San Diego Padres (1996-1997)
Anaheim Angels (1997)
Oakland Athletics (1998)
New York Mets (1999-2000)
Seattle Mariners (2000)
San Diego Padres (2001)
Boston Red Sox (2002)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2003)
Similar:Â No one’s even close.
Linked: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Tony Gwynn, Tim Raines
Best Season, 1985
He had more steals in other seasons, but in ’85 he combined power and speed. At the top of the order for the Yanks, Henderson batted .314 with 146 runs scored in 143 games. He cracked 24 homers, drove in 72, walked 99 times, stole 80 bases, and was caught just 10 times. He had a .516 slugging percentage and .419 OBP. How did this team finish two games back of Toronto?
Awards and Honors
1981 AL Gold Glove
1989 AL ALCS MVP
1990 AL MVP
Post-Season Appearances
1981 American League Championship Series
1981 American League Division Playoffs
1989 American League Championship Series
1989 World Series
1990 American League Championship Series
1990 World Series
1992 American League Championship Series
1993 American League Championship Series
1993 World Series
1996 National League Divisional Series
1999 National League Championship Series
1999 National League Divisional Series
2000 American League Championship Series
2000 American League Divisional Series
Description
Early in his career, Henderson explained why he was a left-handed thrower but a right-handed hitter, the oddest combination in baseball history:
“All the other kids playing around me were batting right-handed, so that’s the way I thought you were supposed to do it, so that’s what I did, too. At one point, I wanted to be a switch-hitter and try the left side, but I was hitting .300, .350 in the minors, and they (the A’s) wouldn’t let me do it.”
Where He Played:Â Henderson has never played any other position than outfield, primarily left field. His first two years with the Yankees (1985-1986), he was a center fielder.
Feats:Â The greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history, Henderson eclipsed three major all-time records: most career runs scored, most career walks, and most career steals. In doing so, he passed immortals Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. He hit the most leadoff homers in history, reached 3,000 hits, and swiped an incredible 1,406 bases at a success rate of 81%.
Nicknames:Â Man of Steal
“Man of Steal” was a contrived label spun by writers and was never popular or well-known. You’d think he would have had a popular nickname, but he doesn’t. “Hot Dog” fits nicely.
Uniform #:Â #35 (1979-1984, 2000 Mariners, 2002), #24 (1985-1989 Yankees, and 1989 A’s, 1990-1989, 2000 Mets, 2001), #22 (1989 A’s), #25 (2003)
Notes
1976 â Reported to Boise after being drafted by the Oakland A’s in the fourth round of the June draft. Henderson hit .336 with 29 steals in 36 attempts. 1977 â With Modesto, Henderson led the California League with a then-record 95 steals. He was third in the league with a .345 average and 104 runs scored and became the fourth professional player to steal seven bases in one game, on May 26 at Fresno. 1978 â Rickey led the Eastern League with 81 steals, and also led all outfielders with four double plays and 15 assists. 1979 â Stole 44 bases in only 71 PCL games with Ogden and was brought up by Oakland on June 23rd and made his ML debut the next day. Despite being in Oakland for only half of the A’s season, Henderson led the club with 33 steals. 1980 â Henderson became the first American League player and third big league player to steal 100 or more bases in a single season, joining Maury Wills and Lou brock. He broke Ty Cobb’s AL mark of 96 steals, which had stood for 65 years. Was second in the AL with 117 walks, third in on-base percentage at .422, and fourth with 111 runs scored. 1981 â Was named to The Sporting News All-Star team as he led the AL with 135 hits, 89 runs and 56 steals. His .319 average was fourth best in the league. In his first taste of post-season action, Rickey hit .182 in the Division series vs. Kansas City and .364 in the AL Championship Series against New York. 1982 â Set the season standard for stolen bases with 130, smashing Lou Brock’s mark of 118 on August 27, in Milwaukee. Set the record for most times caught stealing at 42. Henderson walked five times vs. the Angels on April 8, a career high. 1983 â Went over 100 steals (108) for the third time in his career. Vince Coleman is the only other player to steal 100 or more bases more than once. Henderson tied the AL mark by stealing seven bases over two consecutive games, July 3-4 vs. the Rangers. Swiped his 400th career base on August 21, at Milwaukee, becoming the youngest player to reach that milestone. 1984 â Henderson’s 66 steals topped the American League for the fifth consecutive season, and he was second in the AL with 113 runs. Following the season, he was traded to the New York Yankees during the winter meetings in Houston, December 8th. 1985 â Henderson began his Yankees career on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle. He was activated April 22, having missed 10 games. His .314 batting average was 4th in the AL. Henderson’s 146 runs scored led the league and was the highest total in the major leagues since Ted Williams scored 150 runs in 1949. His .419 on-base percentage was fourth best in the loop and a then career-best .516 slugging percentage was seventh in the league…became the first AL player to hit 20 homers and steal 50 bases in a season…stole his 500th base 5/10 at Kansas City…named AL Player of the Month for June. 1986 â led the league in steals for the seventh consecutive year…only Luis Aparicio led the AL more consecutive years (9)…stole his 600th base 5/18 vs. Seattle…had career highs in homers (28), at-bats (608) and RBIs (74)…his 130 runs topped the major leagues for the second consecutive year…first player in the AL to lead the league in runs scored for consecutive seasons since Mickey Mantle 1960-61…finished with AL record 9 leadoff homers in one season…(major league record is 11 held by the Giants Bobby Bonds)…40 of the 113 runs driven in by Don Mattingly were scored by Rickey. 1987 â suffered through an injury-plagued season…appeared in just 95 games, his lowest total since his rookie season of 1979…first injury came 6/4 at Milwaukee, a pulled right hamstring…went on the 15-day DL the next day and wound up missing 22 games…returned 6/29 but went back on the DL 8/1 (retroactive to 7/26) with the same hamstring problem…was reinstated on 9/1 after missing 33 games…stole 41 bases, but his streak of leading the league in steals was snapped at seven years by Seattle’s Harold Reynolds…his own AL record for consecutive seasons with 50+ stolen bases also ended at seven…did not steal a base for 18 consecutive games (5/18-7/4), the second longest such streak of his career…on 5/18 Curt Young snapped his streak of consecutive steals at 31…picked up career steal 700 on 9/29 at Boston. 1988 â hit .305 which was .015 percentage points higher than his career BA coming into 1988…scored 100+ runs for the 7th time in his career…made his seventh straight and eighth overall All-Star appearance…fifth inning run scored 7/17 vs. Chicago was career #1,000…also picked up career RBI #500 at Cleveland 9/13…went 5 for 5 on 4/11 at Toronto…matched his personal career game high…led the major leagues with 93 steals…set a new Yankee season mark with that total…stolen base 6/4 at Baltimore was his 249th as a Yankee, setting a new Yankee career standard…stole four bases in a game three times…was successful on 44 of his last 46 attempts…6 homers were fewest hit in a season since hitting 6 in the strike shortened season of 1981…it was the lowest season total of his career…from 7/18-8/3, reached base safely leading off in 15 straight games…scored 11 of the 15 times. 1989 â returned to A’s after the June 20th trade…was hitting .247 when he arrived…hit .294 for the A’s and went on to reach base safely in 80 of his 85 games with Oakland…added 52 steals in 58 attempts and wound up leading the league for the 9th time in 10 seasons…reached 50 plus steals for the 9th time in his career to set a new AL record…breaking a tie with Ty Cobb…set a career game best with 5 steals vs. Seattle July 29…wound up with a career best 126 walks…spectacular post season helped propel the A’s to the World Championship…won ALCS MVP honors vs. Toronto…hit .400 and led all hitters with 15 total bases, 8 runs scored 5 RBI’s and 7 walks…set a new LCS record with 8 steals…belted 2 homers in game #4…kept up the pace in the Series vs. San Francisco…topped everyone with 9 hits…added 2 walks, 4 runs scored and 3 steals…for the A’s entire nine-game post season Rickey hit .441, scored 12 runs, had 15 hits of which 8 were for extra-bases, and walked 9 times…in addition had 8 RBI’s and 11 steals. 1990 â his season was capped November 20th when he was named the American League Most Valuable Player…his first MVP award…garnered 14 of a possible 28 first place votes, and finished 31 points in front of second place finisher, Cecil Fielder…Henderson and Fielder were the only players named on all 28 ballots…Rickey one of five Oakland Athletics to win the honor, joining Vida Blue (1971), Reggie Jackson (1973), Jose Canseco (1988) and Dennis Eckersley (1992)…in addition to his sensational regular season also had his second consecutive strong post season…hit .294 in the ALCS vs. Boston and then led the A’s with a .333 average in the Series vs. Cincinnati…3 of his 5 hits in the Series for extra-bases…added a spectacular catch in game #2 at Cincinnati…for the regular season Rickey finished among the league leaders in several offensive categories…dueled George Brett for the AL batting title through the last day but wound up second with a career best .325 average…average was below .320 for one day during the season…after the third game…led the league in runs (119), on-base percentage (.439) and in steals (65)…finished second to Fielder with a career high .577 slugging percentage…scored in the first inning of 33 games…the A’s were 26-7 in those games…scored twice from third on sacrifice flies to infielders…tied his career high with 28 homers (1986)…tied Cobb’s AL record by stealing 3rd base on May 26th vs. Cleveland and then ran past Cobb 2 days later, May 29th, when he stole 3rd vs. the Blue Jays at the Coliseum…stole career base #900 vs. Texas June 12th…made his 9th All-Star appearance…the most among 1990 AL starters…after the break, leg problems shut Rickey down for 7 days July 15-21st…leg problems would return in August…missed 7 more games August 8-14th…but despite the aches and pains his offense was relentless…for the season reached safely by a hit or walk in 125 of his 136 games…scored at least one run in 89 of his 136 games…did much of his damage on the road…hit .342 in foreign parks (92 for 269) with 20 of his 28 homers…road average second best in the loop to Rafael Palmeiro’s .350. 1991 âneeded three bases at the start of the season to overtake Lou Brock as the greatest base thief in baseball history…it took nearly a month of the season due to a 15-day stint on the DL in April with a left calf strain but on his seventh attempt of the season he stole third base May 1st at the Coliseum vs. New York for career #939…that broke the tie with the Hall of Famer Brock…Tim Leary was on the mound and Matt Nokes behind the plate when Rickey stole the base with a 1-0 count on Jose Canseco…Henderson went on to steal 58 bases to push his career total to 994…won his 11th AL stolen base title in 12 years…was 37 for 49 at second base, thrown out seven times and picked off/caught stealing five times…was 21 of 26 at third base, thrown out twice and picked off/caught stealing three times…and was 0 for 1 at home plate…it was also his 11th season of 50 or more steals which extended his own AL record…scored more than 100 runs for the fourth consecutive season and for the tenth time in 12 major league seasons…walked 98 times to push his on-base percentage to an even .400 for sixth best in the league…cracked the first grand slam of his career July 4th at Texas off Gerald Alexander…the slam came on his 6,228th major league at-bat…tied his career high with 5 hits vs. Texas at the Coliseum September 29th. 1992 âmissed 45 games due to an assortment of injuries but still finished second on the club with 77 runs scored and led the A’s with 95 walks, 48 steals and a .426 on-base percentage…in the ALCS vs. the Blue Jays did not post the kind of numbers he did in the 1989 ALCS as Rickey hit .261 with 6 hits, all singles…walked 4 times and added 2 steals…became the first man in baseball history to steal 1,000 bases when he swiped third base at Detroit May 1st…Rickey finished with fewer than 50 steals for just the third time in his career and did not win the stolen base title for the first time since 1987…on the season stole 43 out of 51 attempts at 2B, 5 of 6 at 3B and was picked off/caught stealing twice….hit five leadoff homers…had his best month of the season in May with a .338 average, 17 steals in 19 attempts and 19 walks to push his on-base percentage for the month to .474…but strained his left hamstring May 28th and did not return until June 17th missing 17 games…but he wasn’t quite ready as after 12 games Rickey went back on the DL June 30th and did not return until after the All-Star break…after hitting .277 up to the break finished up the season hitting at a .289 clip after the break (58 for 201)…finished the year with a flair as in his final at-bat of the regular season on October 4th singled off the Brewers Cal Eldred for the 2000th hit of his major league career. 1993 âprior to his trade to Toronto on July 31, had an outstanding four months with the Athletics…at the time of the trade was leading the A’s in average (.327), runs (77), homers (17), walks (85), stolen bases (31), plus both on-base percentage (.469) and slugging (.553)…first homer of the season April 11th vs. Milwaukee was the 200th of his career…had a career best 5 RBI at Chicago May 21st…batted in the third position of the lineup four consecutive games June 6-9th…first time in six seasons that he batted in any position other than leadoff…on July 5th vs. Cleveland became only the second player in major league history to open both games of a doubleheader with a homer…Boston’s Harry Hooper the other on May 30, 1913 vs. Washington…24th steal of the season on June 16 against Chicago was the 1,066th of his career, breaking Yutaka Fukumoto’s world record…went to Toronto July 31st and his first homer for Toronto came off Ron Darling in his first game back at the Coliseum…missed three games August 14-16th with frost bite on his left foot…combined with Toronto and the A’s to score 114 runs and walk 120 times…11th time in his career he has scored 100 or more runs…among A.L. leaders finished fifth in runs scored (114), second in walks (120), third in on-base percentage (.432) and fourth in steals (53)…was successful on 38 of 45 attempts at second base and on 15 of 16 at third base…closed out the year with 17 consecutive stolen bases without being caught…appeared in all 12 games of the post season…was 3 for 25 (.120) with 4 walks and 4 runs scored plus 2 steals in the ALCS vs. Chicago…then hit .227 in the World Series (5 for 22) with 5 walks and 6 runs scored plus a steal vs. Philadelphia…was on second base and scored the tying run when Joe Carter homered to win the Series. 1994 âReturned to the A’s and his opening day start in Milwaukee was his tenth for Oakland…no one has made more opening day assignments for the Oakland Athletics…as usual was among the league leaders in walks (fifth with 72) and on-base percentage (eighth at .411)…stole 22 bases including the 1100th of his career on June 7th vs. Milwaukee…his 416 steals since 1988 is the best total over the seven year span (Coleman is second with 372)…three of his six homers were leadoff shots to run his career total to a major league record 66 leadoff homers…on April 13th played in the 2000th game of his career becoming only the 159th player to reach that mark…in June he hit .298 and scored 23 runs in 23 games…had a 12 game stretch June 6-18th where he reached base safely 29 times with 16 hits and 13 walks and scored 17 runs…on the season scored at least one run in 50 of the 87 games he appeared in and reached safely by either a hit or walk in 74 of his 87 games…continued to move up on baseball’s all-team leader charts as he finished the season first in career steals (1117), 15th in walks (1478) and 24th in runs scored (1652)…Rickey is the Oakland career leader in games (1440), at bats (5191), runs (1102), hits (1518), doubles (242), triples (39, tied), walks (1037), steals (769), batting (.292) and on-base pct. (.413)…he is the Athletics franchise (1901-94) leader in runs and steals. 1995 âPlayed in 112 games with Oakland and batted .300 with nine home runs and 54 RBI…Also stole 32 bases in 42 tries . . . Hit .300 for the fifth time as an Athletic, marking the 16th time an Oakland player has hit .300 … Carney Lansford (3 times) and Joe Rudi (twice) are the only other players to have done it more than once … Led the majors with a .419 (31 for 74) average with runners in scoring position, which included a .486 (18 for 37) mark with RISP & two outs … Was also second in the AL with a .383 (44 for 115) batting average from the seventh inning on … Also led the majors with a .382 (50 for 131) average with men on base and an average on 4.36 pitches per plate appearance … Finished eighth in the league in stolen bases, adding 32 steals to his ongoing major league record which now stands at 1149 … Holds nearly every Oakland A’s career record including games (1552), at bats (5598), runs (1169), hits (1640), doubles (273), triples (40), walks (1109), total bases (2452), steals (801), batting (.293) and on-base percentage (.412) … also ranks second in extra base hits (466), fifth in RBI (591) and strikeouts (801), tied for fifth in HR (153) and seventh in slugging (.438) … Holds the all-time A’s records in runs, walks and steals, ranks third in games and at bats, fourth in hits, sixth in strikeouts and total bases, seventh in extra base hits, eighth in doubles and tied for 10th in homers … His 1550 career walks place him 12th on baseball’s all-time list and he is tied for 18th in runs scored (1719) … Finished the year with 2338 which ranks 94th all-time … Made his 11th opening day start, an ongoing A’s record … Signed by the San Diego Padres as a free agent on Dec. 29, 1995. 1996 âMade his National League debut after 17 seasons in the American League with three different teams … Ranked fourth in the National League with 125 walks … His 37 steals marked the 17th time in his career that he has reached 30 thefts in a season … Led off three games with a home run, extending his Major League record to 70 … Hit .338 with 18 runs scored in Aug. … Batted .333 in the National League Division Series vs. St. Louis … Collected his 2,400th hit with a three-run home run off Osvaldo Fernandez on July 7 vs. San Francisco. 1997 âSplit the season between the Padres and the Anaheim Angels … July 14, Henderson swipes his 1,200th base, in the sixth inning against the Giants … August 12, Henderson leads off the seventh with his 250th career homer, against Montreal … August 13, the Angels trade pitchers Ryan Hancock and Steven Agosto and a player to be named to the Padres for Henderson … To make room for the future Hall of Famer, the Angels release another future HOFer, Eddie Murray … 1998 âJanuary 22, Free agent Henderson signs on for a fourth tour of duty with the Oakland Aâs … Henderson is playing his 20th major league season … August 31, Henderson scores the 2,000th run of his career in the Athleticsâ 15-6 loss to Cleveland. He joins Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, and Willie Mays as the only players to reach the milestone … September 27, Henderson becomes the oldest SB leader in major league history as he finishes the year with an AL-high 66 … December 13, Henderson is signed by the Mets as a free agent … 1999 âApril 27, Henderson steals his 1,300th career SB, against the Padres … October 8, the Mets score six runs in the sixth inning, to tie a division series record, on their way to a 9-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. The win gives them a 2-games-to-1 lead over Arizona in the division series. Henderson steals his sixth base, also a record for a division series … 2000 âIn his 22nd major league season … March 30, with a swipe of second, Henderson joined Ted Williams as the only players to steal a base in four decades … May 10, with the Mets, Henderson became the 21st major-leaguer to garner 10,000 at bats in his career. Henderson finished the night with 10,002 ABs and trails only Cal Ripken Jr. among active players … After being released by the Mets on May 13, Henderson signed with the Mariners, joining his seventh ML team … May 20, Henderson wastes no time hitting a home run in his first at bat as a Mariner, increasing his career record for leadoff homers to 76 … May 21, he hit a leadoff home run for the second consecutive game … On September 15, Henderson scored in his first two at bats to pace the Mariners to a 10â2 win over the Orioles. That moved him into 2nd place on the all time list of runs scored (2,175), one ahead of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron and behind only Ty Cobb … May 23, Henderson drew his 2,000th career walk in the 9th inning, making him the third player to reach that level, behind Babe Ruth and Ted Williams … 2001 âPlayed his 23rd season, returning to the Padres … Henderson signed a minor-league contract with the Padres on March 19, and was called up in April after injuries to outfielders Tony Gwynn and Mark Kotsay … Used as a pinch-hitter and platoon outfielder, he passed Babe Ruth as the career walks leader on April 25, drawing a base on balls against Philadelphia Phillies’ reliever Jose Mesa … On May 16, Henderson led off with a home run, extending his major-league record for leadoff home runs to 79. This is more than twice the total for the #2 and #3 players on the list: Brady Anderson (44), and Bobby Bonds (35) … On October 4, Henderson hit a home run to become baseball’s all-time career runs scored leader with 2,246 … On October 7, Henderson collected the 3,000th hit of his career, a leadoff bloop double. Ricky then left the game. The game was the final one of Tony Gwynn’s career … topped 20 steals for the 23rd straight season … 2002 âBegan his 24th major league season, signing with the Red Sox out of spring training … stole a base on April 13 against the Yankees, becoming the oldest man to steal a base since Dave Winfield … passed the 1,400 steal mark, adding to his all-time record…
Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
On Yankees’ disabled list (March 30-April 22, 1985), which included rehabilitation assignment to Fort Lauderdale (April 19-22)… On disabled list (June 5-29 and July 26-September 1, 1987)… On disabled list (April 12-27, 1991… On DL May 28-June 17 and June 30-July 16, 1992… On disabled list (May 11-27, 1994)… On San Diego’s disabled list (May 9-24, 1997)… On disabled list (May 3-22, 1999).
Transactions
Selected by Oakland Athletics in the 4th round of the free-agent draft (June 8, 1976); Traded by Oakland Athletics with Bert Bradley and cash to New York Yankees in exchange for Stan Javier, Jay Howell, Jose Rijo, Eric Plunk and Tim Birtsas (December 5, 1984); Traded by New York Yankees to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia (June 21, 1989); Granted free agency (November 13, 1989); Signed by Oakland Athletics (November 28, 1989); Traded by Oakland Athletics to Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Steve Karsay and a player to be named later (July 31, 1993) – Oakland Athletics received Jose Herrera as PTBNL (August 6, 1993); Granted free agency (October 29, 1993); Signed by Oakland Athletics (December 17, 1993); Granted free agency (October 30, 1995); Signed by San Diego Padres (December 29, 1995); Traded by San Diego Padres to Anaheim Angels in exchange for Ryan Hancock, Stevenson Agosto and a player to be named later (August 13, 1997) – San Diego Padres received George Arias as PTBNL (August 19, 1997); Granted free agency (October 27, 1997); Signed by Oakland Athletics (January 22, 1998); Granted free agency (October 26, 1998); Signed by New York Mets (December 16, 1998); Released by New York Mets (May 13, 2000); Signed by Seattle Mariners (May 19, 2000); Granted free agency (November 3, 2000); Signed by San Diego Padres (March 19, 2001); Granted free agency (November 5, 2001); Signed by Boston Red Sox (February 13, 2002); Released by the Boston Red Sox (October 13, 2002); Signed by Los Angeles Dodgers (July 15, 2003).
Henderson and Rogers Hornsby are the probably the two greatest players in baseball history who so frequently changed teams.
Who’s the Skip?
Henderson has played for 16 managers in his 25 major league seasons. He played for Billy Martin three times, and Lou Piniella, Tony LaRussa and Bruce Bochy twice. Here’s a complete list of Rickey’s managers:
Jim Marshall (1979), Billy Martin (1980-1982, 1985, 1988), Steve Boros (1983-1984), Jackie Moore (1984), Yogi Berra (1985), Lou Piniella (1986-1988, 2000), Bucky Dent (1989), Dallas Green (1989), Tony LaRussa (1989-1993, 1994-1995), Cito Gaston (1993), Bruce Bochy (1996-1997, 2001), Terry Collins (1997), Art Howe (1998), Bobby Valentine (1999-2000), Grady Little (2002), Jim Tracy (2003)
The Bird Killer
On July 6, 1984, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Brewers in Milwaukee, Henderson, playing for the New York Yankees, hit a routine fly to center. Brewers’ centerfielder Rick Manning camped under the ball and then suddenly lunged forward to reach for the ball, which he caught just before it came to the ground. Henderson’s fly ball had struck a bird, killing it. For the rest of the game, Brewer’s fans taunted Henderson in left field, flapping their arms and calling him a “bird killer.”
Quotes About Henderson
âBut it wasn’t until I saw Rickey that I understood what baseball was about. Rickey Henderson is a run, man. That’s it. When you see Rickey Henderson, I don’t care when, the score’s already 1-0. If he’s with you, that’s great. If he’s not, you won’t like it.â â A’s teammate Mitchell Page
Trivia:Â What was Rickey Henderson’s stolen base average against left-handed and right-handed pitchers?
Answer:Â 83.5% vs RHP and 75.5% vs LHP
All-Star Selections
1980 AL
1982 AL
1983 AL
1984 AL
1985 AL
1986 AL
1987 AL
1988 AL
1990 AL
1991 AL
Replaced
Mitchell Page, who was moved to the DH role in 1979. Henderson joined Larry Murray and Dwayne Murphy to form a young Oakland outfield.
Replaced By
This guy may never stop playing. But seriously, his last full-time job was as the San Diego Padres left fielder in 2001. The next season the Padres went “young,” replacing 42-year old Rickey with 37-year old gimp, Ron Gant.
Best Strength as a Player
Speed
Largest Weakness as a Player
Throwing arm
Other Resources & Links