Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson (born December 25, 1958, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died December 20, 2024, San Francisco, California) was a professional baseball player who in 1991 set a record for the most stolen bases in major league baseball and in 2001 set a record for the most career runs scored. One of the game’s greatest leadoff hitters, Henderson won the World Series with the Oakland Athletics (1989) and the Toronto Blue Jays (1993).

Henderson was an All-American running back in football as a high school athlete in Oakland, California. He chose to play baseball over football, however, and competed in the minor leagues for four seasons. Henderson’s career in the major leagues began with the Oakland Athletics in June 1979. In 1980, his first full season, he became one of only three players ever to have stolen 100 bases, breaking Ty Cobb’s American League record of 96 bases. It was the first of seven consecutive seasons in which Henderson led the American League in stolen bases. In 1982 he broke Lou Brock’s single-season record of 118 stolen bases, set in 1974, with 130 stolen bases. Henderson added 108 stolen bases the following year.

Henderson was traded to the New York Yankees after the 1984 season but was traded back to Oakland midway through the 1989 season and helped the Athletics win the World Series. In 1990 Henderson—having hit 28 home runs, scored 119 runs, stolen 65 bases, and batted .325—was selected American League Most Valuable Player. He set the American League career stolen-base record that year with his 893rd steal, again breaking a mark set by Cobb. Henderson stole the 939th base of his career in 1991, breaking Brock’s major league record.

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Henderson played for numerous teams in the 1990s, including the Toronto Blue Jays, which he helped win a World Series in 1993. His frequent trades were fueled in part by contract disputes and the perception that he was not a team player.

The 2001 season was a landmark for Henderson. On April 25, while a member of the San Diego Padres, he broke Babe Ruth’s lifetime record for bases on balls (walks). When Ruth retired from baseball in 1935, he had 2,062 bases on balls, a testament to his ability to judge pitches and intimidate pitchers, and it was thought that the record would never be broken. Ted Williams (with 2,019) had been the only other player to even top 2,000 walks until Henderson, who ended the 2001 season with 2,141 walks. (The career walk record was broken again by Barry Bonds in 2004.) Henderson continued his record-breaking season on October 4, setting the all-time record for runs scored. His 2,246th run broke the career record for runs held by Ty Cobb, which had stood since Cobb’s retirement in 1928. On October 7, the last day of the 2001 regular season, Henderson became only the 25th player in major league history to have recorded 3,000 hits.

He last appeared in a major league game in September 2003, but he continued to play for independent minor league teams over the following two years. Henderson officially retired from baseball in 2007. Two years later he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. His autobiography, Off Base: Confessions of a Thief, was published in 1992.

Henderson died in 2024, several days before his 66th birthday. According to sources, the cause of death was pneumonia.

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