Rickey Henderson — Baseball Hall of Famer, all-time MLB stolen base king and widely regarded as the greatest leadoff hitter ever — has died at the age of 65.
The A’s announced the news Saturday afternoon, as tributes poured in from around MLB. A cause of death has yet to be announced.
Henderson played for nine franchises over his 25-year MLB career, including four stints with the Oakland Athletics. He won two World Series and was named AL MVP in 1990. A 10-time All-Star, Henderson was the AL stolen base leader an unmatched 12 times and surpassed 100 steals in a single season on three occasions — one of only two players to accomplish the latter feat, alongside Vince Coleman.
In May 1991, Henderson’s base-stealing prowess earned him a place in baseball history when he swiped his 939th career base, breaking Lou Brock’s record. Henderson finished with 1,406 career stolen bases in his final MLB season in 2003, reinforcing the nickname “Man of Steal.”
It wasn’t just his feet that allowed Henderson to find success — he also did it with his bat. Henderson hit 297 home runs, drove in 1,115 runs and batted .279 in 3,081 games played. Of those 297 home runs, 81 came in leading off a game, an MLB record.
He also set MLB records for runs scored (2,295) and unintentional walks (2,129).
“If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game,” Henderson once said.
An impactful player all over the field
Henderson was born on Christmas Day 1958 on the way to the hospital in Chicago, which later led to him saying, “I was already fast. I couldn’t wait.”
After moving to Oakland when he was a child, Henderson became a multi-sport star in baseball, basketball, track and football. After turning down multiple scholarships to play football in college, he signed with the Athletics in 1976 after being drafted in the fourth round.
Three years later, Henderson made his MLB debut. In his first full season with the A’s, he broke Ty Cobb’s AL stolen base record with 100 steals and followed that two years later with 130, the first record previously held by Brock (118) that Henderson would break.
Henderson played his first six MLB seasons in Oakland before he was traded to the New York Yankees. He returned to Oakland in a June 1989 trade that helped boost the A’s toward a World…