Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the greatest leadoff man and basestealer in history, has died, the league announced Saturday. He was 65.
Historian Bill James once wrote that “if you could split Rickey Henderson in two, you’d have two Hall of Famers.” Henderson is in the inner circle of the inner circle of the Hall of Fame, retiring with 3,055 hits and a record 1,406 stolen bases. He played for nine teams in 25 seasons, and that doesn’t include a few years in independent leagues at the end of his career.
To celebrate the Man of Steal, here are 10 mind-blowing stats about Henderson’s Hall of Fame career.
1. He’s the all-time stolen base king
Henderson is the all-time leader in stolen bases, and that undersells the accomplishment. He broke Lou Brock’s career stolen base record on May 1, 1991, and declared himself “the greatest of all-time.” He’s not wrong.
Henderson broke Brock’s career stolen base record in his 1,615th career game. He then went on to play another 1,466 games. Here is the all-time stolen base leaderboard:
- Rickey Henderson: 1,406
- Lou Brock: 938
- Billy Hamilton: 914
- Ty Cobb: 897
- Tim Raines: 808
The gap between Henderson and Brock is 468 stolen bases, which is the same as the gap between Brock and Jimmy Rollins, who ranks 46th all-time with 470 steals. Henderson’s total is almost exactly 50% more than Brock’s, and the gap between the two is equivalent to a top-50 stolen base total all-time. Henderson’s stolen base record is one of the most unbreakable in any sport.
2. He stole a marathon
At 90 feet per steal, Henderson’s 1,406 career steals equal 125,540 feet of stolen bases. That is 23.97 miles, or just short of a full 26-mile marathon. Henderson’s conditioning was out of this world good and, among other things, he chalked it up to running 3-5 miles every other day. Add that to his stolen bases and the man ran more than his fair share of marathons over the years.
3. He led the league in steals in his first seven full seasons
After being drafted in 1976, Henderson made his MLB debut in June 1979, and hit .279 with 33 stolen bases in 89 games as a rookie with the Athletics. Henderson played his first full season in 1980 and led his league in stolen bases that year, and in each of the next six seasons as well. In many years, the race was not close:
|
1980 |
100 |
Willie Wilson (79) |
|
1981 |
56 |
Julio Cruz (43) |
|
1982 |
130 |
Damaso Garcia (54) |
|
1983 |
108 |
Rudy Law (77) |
|
1984 |
66 |
Dave Collins (60) |
|
1985 |
80 |
Gary Pettis (56) |
|
1986 |
87 |
Gary Pettis (50) |
A hamstring injury limited Henderson to 95 games and 41 steals in 1987, ending his streak of leading his league in stolen bases. He got back on the horse the next year though and led the league in steals in 1988 (94), 1989 (77), 1990 (65), and 1991 (58). If not for that hamstring injury, Henderson likely would have led his league in stolen bases in each of his first 12 full seasons.
Alas and alack, Henderson had to settle for leading the league in 11 of his first dozen full seasons. All told, he led the league in stolen bases 12 times, the most in history. Hall of Famer Max Carey is the only other player to lead his league in steals at least 10 times.
4. He’s the only player to steal 130 bases in a season
Those 130 stolen bases in 1982 are the single-season record, 12 more than any player in the Modern Era (since 1900). Brock held the previous record with 118 steals in 1974. Henderson broke Brock’s record on Aug. 27, 1982.
Only eight times in the Modern Era (since 1900) has a player stolen 100 bases in a season. Henderson did it three times (1980, 1982, 1983). So did Vince Coleman (1985-87). Brock (1974) and Maury Wills (1962) are the other two members of the 100 steals in a season club.
5. He led MLB in steals at age 39
With the A’s in 1998, Henderson stole an MLB-leading 66 bases, eight more than any other player. That was his age-39 season. He also led baseball with 118 walks that season. Only six times has a player stolen even 30 bases at age 39 or older. Henderson did it three of the six times:
- Rickey Henderson, 1998: 66 (age 39)
- Davey Lopes, 1985: 47 (age 40)
- Rickey Henderson, 1999: 37 (age 40)
- Otis Nixon, 1998: 37 (age 39)
- Rickey Henderson, 2000: 36 (age 41)
- Kenny Lofton, 2006: 32 (age 39)
Henderson stole 109 bases in his 40s, the most in history. The second most in the Modern Era (since 1900) belongs to Lopes, who stole 74 bases in his 40s.
6. He once stole five bases in a game with zero at-bats
Only 28 times in history has a player stolen five or more bases in a single game. Henderson of course is responsible for one of the 28. He stole a career-high five bases on July 29, 1989. Amazingly, Henderson did not have an official at-bat in the game. He had four plate appearances and walked four times, all against Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. That’s your standard 0 for 0 game with five stolen bases. Henderson also scored four runs in the game.
7. He’s the career leader in unintentional walks
Even though he was the game’s greatest basestealing threat, opposing pitchers still had a hard time throwing Henderson strikes. He drew 2,190 walks in his career, second most all-time behind Barry Bonds (2,558). Bonds, however, was intentionally walked a record 688 times. Henderson was intentionally walked only 61 times. That makes Rickey the all-time leader in unintentional walks with 2,129. Bonds finished well behind him with 1,870 unintentional walks.
8. He reached base 25 times in the 1989 postseason
That’s 25 times in only nine games. Henderson had 15 hits, nine walks, and one hit-by-pitch as he helped the A’s win the 1989 World Series. He went 6 for 15 (.400) with seven walks and zero strikeouts in the ALCS against the Blue Jays, which earned him ALCS MVP honors. To put this another way, Henderson reached base 25 times in the 1989 postseason and made only 19 outs for a tidy .568 on-base percentage. That is the second-highest on-base percentage in a single postseason (min. 40 plate appearances) behind Bonds’ .581 mark in 2002.
9. He’s the all-time leader in leadoff home runs
Henderson is the greatest stolen base threat in baseball history. He was no slouch at the plate either. Henderson retired with 297 career home runs, which places him 165th all-time. A record 81 times Henderson led off a game with a home run. Here is the career leadoff home runs leaderboard:
- Rickey Henderson: 81
- George Springer: 60
- Alfonso Soriano: 54
- Craig Biggio: 53
- Mookie Betts: 52
On July 6, 1993, Henderson became the second player to hit a leadoff home run in both games of a doubleheader. Hall of Famer Harry Hooper had previously done it in 1913. Brady Anderson (1999) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2018) have since matched the feat.
Henderson hit his final big league home run on July 20, 2003. Naturally, it was a leadoff homer.
10. He hit a home run in 25 different seasons
Henderson played a game in 25 different big league seasons, tied with Hall of Famer Eddie Collins for the most in the Modern Era (since 1990). And in all 25 seasons, Henderson hit at least one home run. He is the only player to go deep in 25 different seasons. Ty Cobb did it in 24 seasons, and several players did it in 23 seasons, but Henderson is the all-time leader in seasons with a home run. Not bad for the game’s greatest basestealer, eh?