Rickey Henderson, who forged a Hall of Fame career as the game’s stolen-base king, has died, MLB confirmed on Saturday after reports of his passing began to circulate.
He was 65.
TMZ reported that Henderson, who would have turned 66 on Christmas Day, died Friday in the Oakland, Calif., area after battling pneumonia.
In a 25-year major league career, Henderson stole a record 1,406 bases and was selected to 10 All-Star teams.
Rickey Henderson and Charlie Hayes (left), during the Old Timer’s game at Yankee Stadium on June 20, 2015.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
He sailed into Cooperstown in 2009 after receiving 94.8 percent of the Hall of Fame vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
More than just a threat on the bases, Henderson set a standard as a leadoff hitter.
He finished with a career .820 OPS, which included 297 homers and lifetime .279 batting average and .401 on-base percentage.
“For multiple generations of baseball fans, Rickey Henderson was the gold standard of base stealing and leadoff hitting,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Rickey was one of the most accomplished and beloved Athletics of all-time. He also made an impact with many other Clubs during a quarter-century career like no other. Rickey epitomized speed, power and entertainment in setting the tone at the top of the lineup. When we considered new rules for the game in recent years, we had the era of Rickey Henderson in mind.”
Rickey Henderson greeted at the plate after being driven in by a broken bat hit by Bobby Bonilla on Opening Day on April 12, 1999.New York Post
One of the game’s most colorful personalities, Henderson was famous for referring to himself in the third person.
“Nothing is impossible for Rickey,” Henderson once said. “You don’t have enough fingers and toes to count out Rickey.”
Henderson is most remembered for tenure with the A’s — the organization with which he arrived to the major leagues — but he also had a successful stretch with the Yankees before playing for the Mets late in his career.
Former Oakland Athletics legend and Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson stands outside the Athletics dugout before the Major League Baseball (MLB) game between the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees on Sept. 20, 2024.JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A product of Oakland Technical High School, Henderson was selected by the A’s in the fourth round of the 1976 draft.
He debuted for his hometown team three years later. In 1980 he stole 100 bases — the first of three seasons in which he reached that plateau.
Henderson’s 130 stolen bases in 1982 eclipsed Lou Brock’s record of 120 in a season.
After the 1984 season, the Yankees acquired Henderson in a deal that sent Jose Rijo, Eric Plunk, Stan Javier, Jay Howell and Tim Birtsas to Oakland.
Henderson joined Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield to give the Yankees a formidable lineup, but the team never reached the playoffs in his four seasons.
“Rickey was simply the best player I ever played with,” Mattingly said. “He could change the outcome of a game in so many ways. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about him.”
Rickey Henderson was a force as a leadoff hitter.Getty Images
For part of his tenure in The Bronx, Henderson was reunited with Billy Martin, his manager with the A’s under whom he thrived early in his career.
After the 1988 season, Henderson was traded back to Oakland, in a deal for Plunk, Greg Cadaret and Luis Polonia.
The A’s won the World Series in 1989, after Henderson was the ALCS Most Valuable Player.
MLB Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson waves to the fans before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at T-Mobile Park.Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
The following year, Henderson won AL MVP honors for the first and only time in his career.
In 1993, he was part of a Blue Jays team that won the World Series.
But before leaving the A’s for a second time — he had three stints with the club — Henderson entered the record book by stealing his 939th base to break Brock’s all-time record.
Rickey Henderson spent two seasons with the Mets.New York Post
Henderson stole third base against the Yankees at the Oakland Coliseum in 1991 and yanked the bag out of the ground, raising it above his head in celebration.
Henderson arrived to the Mets before the 1999 season — he was part of a team that reached the NLCS that year — and stayed in Queens until May 2000, when he was released by the club.
Rickey Henderson steals a base during the 1999 season.AP
“With the Mets I was really lucky to have him,” former manager Bobby Valentine told The Post on Saturday. “To have a great player at the end of their career is the worst thing any manager can wish for and he had some real good moments for us, it’s just that he was playing on about half-of-Rickey, and half-of-Rickey was still better than most.”
Henderson played the next 3 ½ seasons with the Mariners, Padres, Red Sox and Dodgers before retirement at age 44.
“He was just amazing to watch,” Henderson’s former Yankees teammate Ron Guidry said. “There were great outfielders. There were great base stealers. There were great home run hitters. Rickey was a combination of all those players. He did things out there on the field the rest of us dreamed of.”
