Rickey Henderson

1958-

American baseball player

One of baseball history's most prolific and long-careered players, Rickey Henderson is the sport's all-time leader in stolen bases, runs, and walks. With his powerful batting and speed, he has been deemed one of baseball's greatest leadoff hitters, and holds the record for most home runs at the start of a game (75). Since his 1979 major-league debut, the Golden Glove-winning outfielder and eleven-time All-Star has played on numerous teams, including the Oakland A's, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, and Boston Red Sox. Yet the Chicago-born athlete's stellar career has often been over-shadowed by his image as a boastful and egotistical player—despite his claims of being misunderstood. Still playing baseball and breaking records in the early 2000s, Henderson is regarded as a virtual shoo-in to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Richard Henley Henderson was born in the backseat of a car in Chicago, Illinois, on Christmas Day 1958. His parents separated two years later, and his mother, Bobbie, took Henderson and his siblings to live in Oakland, California. Here, Henderson attended elementary school and played baseball at local Bushrod Park. A star athlete at Oakland Technical High School, he played numerous sports; as a senior he rushed for 1,100 yards as a football player. He also distinguished himself in baseball, and was named to the All-Oakland Athletic League for three of his high school years. Upon graduating, the 5-foot-10 athlete received several football scholarship offers. Instead, he chose to forgo college and pursue a career in professional baseball. In 1976 the eighteen-year-old player was drafted in round four by the Oakland A's. He played as an outfielder in the minor-league farm system for the next three years, and was called up on June 23, 1979, for his first major-league game.

Known as Stolen Base King

In his first half-season as a rookie, Henderson demonstrated his speed and skill for stealing bases, logging thirty-three steals in only eighty-nine games. By the middle of his second full season—before the 1981 baseball strike cut the season short—Henderson was leading not only in stolen bases (56) but also in runs scored (89), hits (135), and outfield putouts (327). The latter honor led to a 1981 Golden Glove Award. Henderson's peak as "Stolen Base King" came in 1982, when he stole a record-setting 130 bases. The following season he logged 108 steals, breaking the 100-mark for the third and last time of his career.

Henderson perfected the art of stealing bases at a time when fans tended to champion power hitters. Speed demon Lou Brock , Henderson's predecessor in record-setting stolen bases, was on the verge of retirement when Henderson's career was beginning. Henderson took it upon himself to keep up the tradition, and the Chicago-born player was soon on the road to eclipsing Brock's career record.

In 1984 Henderson was traded to the New York Yankees, where he was reunited with former A's manager Billy Martin . In one of his best seasons to date, he hit twenty-four home runs and ended with a .314 batting average. Although he did not top his personal best in 1984, he led the league that year in stolen bases (80). His value on the Yankees was second only to champion slugger Don Mattingly.

Unusual for having a left-handed throw and a right-handed batting stance, Henderson excelled as both an outfielder and a hitter. In 1986 he hit a career high of twenty-eight home runs; he also scored 146 runs—more than any other player since Ted Williams . He averaged more than one run per game, a percentage comparable to that of legendary Yankee Lou Gehrig . As an outfielder he proved himself to be versatile, moving from left to center field in 1985 (he later returned to his preferred left field). For his deft-looking catches, Henderson earned the nickname "Style Dog." As a Yankee he continued to prove his base-stealing prowess, logging ninety-three steals in 1988.

Broke Records in Steals, Runs, and Walks

After a brief slump in 1989, Henderson was traded back to the Oakland A's in June, signing a four-year, $12 million contract, one of the most lucrative deals in baseball. The move seemed to rejuvenate Henderson, who batted .325 and scored 119 runs and twenty-eight homers in 1990. For these achievements he earned his first and only Most Valuable Player award. The following year, he broke Brock's career stolen-base record, logging his 939th steal on May 1. In a ceremony to honor his achievement, he told the crowd, "Today I am the greatest of all time" (BaseballLibrary.com). Statements such as these earned Henderson his reputation as a braggart; many fans were put off by his tendency to sing his own praises. "Those words [about being the greatest] haunt me to this day," he told Dennis Manoloff of the Plain Dealer. "They overshadow what I've accomplished in this game."

Chronology

In the 1990s Henderson was traded several times, playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, and Anaheim Angels. In 1998 he joined the New York Mets as a free agent. The aging player continued to prove himself valuable, batting a .315 average. Yet his personality clashed with the team's management. Henderson's reputation soured after the 1999 National League Championship Series, when it was rumored that he and teammate Bobby Bonilla were playing cards in the club-house while their team suffered a crushing loss to the Atlanta Braves. Henderson denied the rumor, but some say it led to his release from the team in May 2000.

Henderson joined his seventh team, the Seattle Mariners, in 2000. By the following season he was without a contract, however, as the Mariners chose not to resign the 42-year-old player. After a brief period without a team, Henderson signed with the San Diego Padres. His batting average had dipped to .227, but he continued scoring runs, becoming baseball's all-time leader in that category in 2001. The same year, he surpassed Babe Ruth in career walks with 2,063. In his final swing of the season, he logged the 3,000th hit of his career. Signing with the Boston Red Sox, his ninth team, in 2002, Henderson proved his staying power by demonstrating one of the highest on-base percentages on the team.

The key to Henderson's longevity as a player? "[P]ushups, sit-ups, push-ups, sit-ups—and a lot of running," he told Manoloff of the Plain Dealer. "I'm not going to give [baseball] up if I can still perform, compete and enjoy the game." When he does retire, Henderson will be remembered for his base-stealing and lead-off hitting prowess, and for his many other record-breaking moments.

Career Statistics

Awards and Accomplishments

SELECTED WRITINGS BY HENDERSON:

(With John Shea) Off Base: Confessions of a Thief, HarperCollins, 1992.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

"Rickey Henderson." Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 28. Edited by Ashyia Henderson. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001.

Periodicals

Center, Bill. "Henderson's Raring to Go." San Diego Union-Tribune (March 20, 2001): D3.

Krasner, Steven. "Seldom-Used Henderson Provides the Spark for Sox." Providence Journal-Bulletin (August 18, 2002): D3.

Kroichick, Ron. "Well-Traveled Rickey Henderson Still Chasing Down Cobb, Ruth." San Francisco Chronicle (June 9, 2000): E1.

Manoloff, Dennis. "Catching Up with Rickey Henderson." Plain Dealer (September 29, 2002): D6.

Other

"Bobby Bonilla." BaseballLibrary.com. http://www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/B/Bonilla_Bobby.stm (December 8, 2002).

"Henderson, Rickey H." HickokSports. http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/hendersonrickey.shtml (December 4, 2002).

"Rickey Henderson." BaseballLibrary.com. http://www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/H/Henderson_Rickey.stm (December 4, 2002).

Sketch by Wendy Kagan

Rickey Henley Henderson 1958–, American baseball player, b. Chicago. An outfielder with the Oakland Athletics (1979–84, 1989–93, 1994–95, 1998), New York Yankees (1985–89), Toronto Blue Jays (1993), San Diego Padres (1996–97, 2001), Anaheim Angels (1997), New York Mets (1999–2000), Seattle Mariners (2000), Boston Red Sox (2002), and Los Angeles Dodgers (2003), he was the most prolific base stealer in major-league history, with 1,406 stolen bases. Capable both of breaking a game open with a home run and of disrupting opponents' defenses with his baserunning, he was almost unique among leadoff hitters, perhaps the greatest in baseball history. In 1982 he stole 130 bases, a single-season record, and in 1991 he stole his 939th base, breaking Lou Brock 's career record. In 2001 the ten-time all-star stroked his 3,000th hit and broke Ty Cobb's career record for runs scored and Babe Ruth's for walks, ultimately scoring 2,295 runs and receiving 2,190 walks. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.