(Photo by Bleed Cubbie Blue)
If you go back in time to the wonderful 80's, you will baseball in a whole new light. Home runs were a luxury, stealing bases and scoring runs were the norm. The game was simple, get on base how you can. When play defense in the outfield, you play it with the hustle that can help a team prosper. It is how the game was played back in these days. For one man, he did that with determination and style.
Rickey Henderson was small in stature (5'10" 180 lbs.), but he played like he was 7 feet tall. His knack to get his team on the board was second-to-none. He was as you can say a throwback. He was a team player but was also willing to carry a franchise with an AL MVP in 1990 and an ALCS MVP in 1989. It was also that knack that has him on top of MLB's unbreakable all-time records. Here's a looksie:
STOLEN BASES
Rickey was blessed with God-given speed and on the base path, you had no choice but to let him go to the next base. His 1,406 stolen bases are just astounding and is ahead of the second-place holder, the late Lou Brock, by 468 SB's. In fact, the active leader in stolen bases is Starling Marte. He has 354 to his credit. Yep, I think Rickey Henderson is going to be #1 in this category for a long, long time. He also holds the record for being thrown out in a stolen base attempt, also. His 130 SB's in a season is also an MLB record. In that respective, Jose Reyes has had the most stolen bases in a season since 2000......with 78. It's safe to say that he is the best stolen base artist in history.
RUNS SCORED
See, the thing was that when Rickey stole a base, it would be easier to score runs. In that case, Rickey did that a lot, 2,295 to be exact. With the Athletics, he had the courtesy of Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and others to get him home. Throughout his career, Rickey had the courtesy to be surrounded by teammates to get across home plate. He led the league in runs scored in a season five times. The active leader in runs is Freddie Freeman with 1,298. I also checked the list, and a lot of these players are in their 30's so this record is also safe for now.
LEADOFF HOME RUNS
Despite the fact that Rickey was known for his speed, he was able to hit the ball out of the park. He did it, just after the umpire yells, "Play ball!" His 81 leadoff home runs are far and away the best in all-time. George Springer is second on the list with 60. You would think about walking him so that this would cut down on this, but you couldn't because of the whole stolen base and the runs scored aspect.
To his credit, Rickey Henderson was an underrated defensive player. He was able to make a great diving catch or get a runner out trying to advance. He had one Gold Glove to his credit back in 1983.
Not only was he determined to excel on the baseball diamond, he did it with style. Always wearing a big gold chain and stylish clothes off of it, Rickey brought swagger to baseball. I wouldn't be talking about Rickey Henderson with swagger and not mention his home run trot. He would crash the ball, look at it for a little bit, do a little sidestep and tug at his jersey. He would also do a routine where he would tap his head and face.
The term, "five-tool player" is used to label players who excelled at base hits, stealing bases, hitting home runs, fielding and throwing. Despite the stats not being in his favor, Rickey Henderson did excel in these five categories. He had almost 300 home runs and over 3,000 hits to his credit.
He will always be linked to the Oakland Athletics. He was there for the final home game in Oakland last September and the Coliseum bears his name, Rickey Henderson Field. His Hall-of-Fame plaque has him with an A's hat. He won a World Series title with them in 1989.
Whenever there is a conversion about one of the greatest players in MLB history, you bet Rickey Henderson will be in that convo.
RICKEY HENDERSON 1958-2024
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