Baseball Hall of Famer and stolen base king Rickey Henderson has died. He was 65 years old. Henderson’s friend and colleague Dave Winfield was among those to announce the sad news, which was later confirmed by the New York Post.
Henderson was born in Chicago on Christmas Day 1958. However, he spent most of his childhood in Oakland. The athletes arrived in the city not long after Henderson, and when he graduated from high school, his hometown team drafted him in the fourth round of the 1976 MLB draft. Three years later, he arrived at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to make his major league debut.
Following a terrible rookie season, Henderson hit the ground running in 1980. The 21-year-old showed impressive hitting ability and a keen eye at the plate, ranking third among professional hitters in walk rate and OBP. . Yes, he put that OBP to good use, leading the majors with 100 stolen bases. It was the first of seven times he led the All-Stars in steals. He also made his first 10th All-Star team that summer and finished 10th in the MVP voting that fall. However, in retrospect, he should have finished much higher. According to both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, the only AL player with a higher MPI that season was MVP George Brett.
Henderson was at his best in his third season, the strike-shortened campaign of 1981. He led the majors in runs scored and led the AL in hits and stolen bases. At the end of the year, he won the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger. However, he was overlooked in the MVP voting. He finished second behind the Brewers behind Rollie Fingers, but modern stats like fWAR and bWAR suggest he was the most productive player in the American League that season. Indeed, this was often the subject of Henderson’s work. She was always beautiful year after year, and although she did not lack praise and admiration, she was somehow overlooked. He made 10 All-Star teams and won three Silver Slugger Awards, one Gold Glove, and one MVP. However, all that would not be enough to realize his greatness.
Henderson became a star in his early twenties. He continued to produce in the field until he was forty years old. In his 15 best seasons from 1980-94, he was probably the best player in baseball. Whether you’re looking at runs scored, stolen bases, fWAR, or bWAR, no other player was even close to producing. With his combination of speed, defensive range, communication skills, plate discipline, and ultimately above-average power, he can impact a football game in all kinds of ways. He is best remembered as the all-time and modern single-season hitter, but also holds MLB’s all-time records for runs scored, walks, and home runs.
In addition to those career honors, Henderson was a transition player in the postseason. A two-time World Series champion who lifted the Commissioner’s Trophy for both Oakland in 1989 and Toronto in 1993, his 11 stolen bases during the 1989 postseason tied with Kenny Lofton for the most steals by a player in a single season, and -33 of his. career steals in the playoffs was the most by a player in history until Lofton broke that record during the 2007 ALCS.
Despite the havoc Henderson caused on the basepaths, he was a consistent hitter when the lights were on with a .284 / .389 / .441 slash line in 60 postseason games. Impressive as that performance in the playoffs is, Henderson’s performance during his 14-game World Series run is mind-boggling: he hit .339/.448/.607 with more walks than strikeouts while going seven through nine in the minor leagues. Those impressive numbers translate to a 194 wRC+ that leaves him tied with Babe Ruth (195) and Lou Gehrig (194) on the World Series career wRC+ leaderboard among players with at least 60 plate appearances during the Fall Classic.
While Henderson was the biggest player of the ’80s and early ’90s, the legend of the game kept his career going long enough for most players to put on spikes. After his 35th season in Oakland, Henderson went on to play in 1,001 more games in the majors while hitting among the A’s, Padres, Angels, Mets, Mariners, Padres, Red Sox, and Dodgers. Those last nine years of Henderson naturally weren’t at his seemingly superhuman peak in Oakland the Bronx, but he remained a productive player at the end of his major league career. From 1995 to 2003, Henderson hit .254/.390/.369 with a 111 wRC+ while swiping 289 bags, making him above average both at the plate and on the ground runs. Even when he played 30 games with the Dodgers at age 44, Henderson produced above-replacement value according to both Fangraphs (0.1 fWAR) and Baseball Reference (0.2 bWAR).
Henderson continued to play in the Independent League even after playing his last big league game as he posted an .897 OPS in the Atlantic League and an .856 OPS in the Golden League before calling it quits in 2005 at the age of 46. . the game that led him to continue playing in indy ball following the end of his big league career also led to him leaving the door open to return to the big league field even after his playing days. He continued his interest in pitching for the big league team again after being hired by the Mets as hitting coach in 2006 and famously suggested following his first election to the Hall of Fame in 2009 that even at age 50. might lead the league in stolen bases.
It is that heart and passion for the game that endeared Henderson to his teammates, coaches, and all those around the game who came in contact with him while endearing him to millions of fans around the world. Henderson’s otherworldly ability and love of the game led him to collect 3,055 hits, 1,406 stolen bases, 2,295 runs scored, 873 extra-base hits, and a career slugging percentage of 401 in his 3,081 games. as a major leaguer. MLBTR extends its condolences to Henderson’s family, friends, and teammates as we join the rest of the baseball world in mourning his passing.
