It is a sad day for the entire baseball world as Oakland Athletics legend, Rickey Henderson has passed away at the age of 65.
Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in Major League Baseball history and no one else came close to matching his power, ability to get on-base, and to steal bases. He won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1990, in 1989 he was the ALCS MVP, he made 10 all-star teams, won two World Series rings, a three time silver slugger, and won a gold glove.
He ranks first all-time in stolen bases, runs scored, second in walks, and fourth in times on base. Henderson was drafted by the A’s in 1976 in the fourth round out of Oakland Technical High School. At age 20, he made his MLB debut with Oakland.
In his debut he recorded two hits including a double in four at-bats, and stole a base. His first career home run was off Steve Comer of the Texas Rangers. Henderson played until he was 44 years of age with his last year in the majors in 2003 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The final career home run for him came off Woody Williams of the St. Louis Cardinals and the last hit of his career came off Houston Astros starter Wade Miller.
Three times Henderson stole over 100 bases with a MLB record of 130 in 1982.
Overall Henderson finished his career with 3,055 hits, 510 doubles, 66 triples, 297 home runs, 1,115 RBI, 2,190 walks, 1,406 stolen bases, a .279 batting average, an OBP of .401, slugging percentage of .419, and an OPS of .820.
Besides playing for the A’s and Dodgers, he also played for the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and the then Anaheim Angels.
Still with all the things that have been happening with the A’s franchise, losing Henderson hits that much harder.
Yet Henderson will get remembered by fans for his personality and how he talked in third person. Especially memorable was his speech after surpassing Lou Brock and he said “today, I am the greatest of all time!”
Here are some others from him.
“If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game.”
“People say I stole a lot of bases. I stole the bases for a reason. I crossed the plate.”
“My impact on the game was going out there and making things happen.”
“To all the kids out there: Follow your dream. Believe in your dream. Because dreams do come true.”