Rickey Henderson Steals 117th but gets foiled trying for the record

On August 24, 1982, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Rickey Henderson steals 2nd and 3rd base in the first inning of the Detroit Tiger tandem of Jerry Ujdur and Bill Fahey. Henderson will score on a wild pitch. This was the last homegame before an 11 game road trip and the A’s were trying to make in possible for Henderson to get the record at home.

In the bottom of the 8th. Fred Stanley led off with a walk and Henderson followed with a single to left field that advanced Stanley to second. This late in the game it was apparent that this might be Henderson’s last chance to steal the two bases he needed to set the record in front of his hometown fans. Stanley, a frail looking fellow who was nicknamed “The Chicken” because of his odd walk and skinny torso, danced off second base. Ujdur quickly realized that Stanley was way too far off the bag and fired to shortstop Alan Trammell. Stanley bolted to third but Trammell tossed the ball to Enos Cabell, who chased Stanley back to second where Lou Whitaker took the final thrown and applied a tag on the Oakland runner. Meanwhile, Henderson stood perched on his bag. There was now one out with Henderson on first. Good news for the Tigers, right? Not so fast.

Before the tag was applied to Stanley, the Tiger manager was already on the top step of the visitors’ dugout hollering across the diamond. Who was Sparky yelling at? Anyone who would listen. He pointed at Stanley, gestured at the umpires, and screamed every foul word he knew at Martin.

The Oakland manager pulled his best “Who me?” act as he started his way up the dugout steps. The two managers proceeded to trade insults across the diamond, while Stanley, Henderson, and the players on the field looked on in confusion.

Sparky was furious at what he saw as a deliberate attempt by Stanley and the A’s to clear the bases in front of Henderson so he could try to set a record. Martin and Stanley had broken an unwritten rule of baseball: don’t show up your opponent. It made the white-haired Tiger skipper hopping mad.

Eventually, Sparky was guided back to his dugout seat by a pair of umpires, but his face was still fire engine red. It might have curled into a grin after what happened next.

A few pitches later, Henderson sprung and dashed his way to second base, seeking stolen base #118 and a tie with Brock. Ujdur delivered his pitch to catcher Bill Fahey (filling in for starter Lance Parrish that day), who bolted out of his crouch and fired the ball to Trammell. The peg was there in plenty of time and Trammell slapped the ball on Henderson.

You can read more about this game on Vintage Detroit
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Oakland Athletics 3, Detroit Tigers 0

Day

Game Played on Tuesday, August 24, 1982 (D) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

DET A    0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  6  0
OAK A    3  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  x  -   3  3  0

Play by Play

TIGERS 1ST: Whitaker struck out; Wilson made an out to third;
Herndon flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0,
Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson walked; Henderson stole second; Gross
walked; Henderson stole third and Gross stole second; Ujdur
threw a wild pitch [Henderson scored, Gross to third]; Murphy
walked; Murphy stole second; Armas grounded out (shortstop to
first) [Gross scored, Murphy to third]; Meyer hit a sacrifice
fly to center [Murphy scored]; Lopes made an out to third; 3 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 2ND: Ivie singled to center; Cabell made an out to
second; Leach struck out; 1B umpire Larry Barnett left with
stomach cramps; Jones forced Ivie (shortstop to second); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Page flied out to right; Heath walked; Heath
stole second; Stanley struck out; Henderson flied out to right;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 3RD: Fahey made an out to first; Trammell grounded out
(shortstop to first); Whitaker doubled to left; Wilson struck
out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Gross flied out to center; Murphy walked; Murphy
was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Armas flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 4TH: Herndon singled to left; Ivie flied out to right;
Cabell struck out; Leach walked [Herndon to second]; Jones
singled to pitcher [Herndon to third, Leach to second]; Fahey
flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Meyer struck out; Lopes struck out; Page struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 5TH: Trammell flied out to right; Whitaker flied out to
left; Wilson singled to right; Herndon forced Wilson (shortstop
to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Heath singled to right; Stanley made an out to
first; Henderson flied out to center; Gross flied out to right;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 6TH: Ivie flied out to center; Cabell grounded out (third
to first); Leach flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. 
Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Murphy struck out; Armas struck out; Meyer flied
out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 7TH: Jones singled to left; Keough threw a wild pitch
[Jones to second]; Fahey flied out to right [Jones to third];
Trammell flied out to center; Whitaker grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Lopes flied out to left; Page singled to center;
Heath grounded into a double play (third to second to first)
[Page out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics
3.

TIGERS 8TH: Wilson made an out to catcher; Herndon flied out to
right; Ivie grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Stanley walked; Henderson singled to left
[Stanley to second]; Stanley was picked off and caught stealing
third (pitcher to shortstop to third to second); Fred Stanley
let himself get picked off so Rickey Henderson could have a
clear path in order to steal 2B and tie the SB record;
Henderson was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop);
Gross walked; Murphy flied out to right; on his way onto the
field between innings, Dwayne Murphy argued the caught stealing
ruling on Rickey Henderson; Murphy was ejected by 3B umpire
Durwood Merrill; Athletics manager Billy Martin came out and was
ejected by Merrill; Athletics coach Charlie Metro ejected by
Merrill; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 9TH: MCKAY REPLACED MURPHY (PLAYING 2B); LOPES CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING CF); Cabell grounded out (third to first);
Leach flied out to center; Jones flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.