Rickey Henderson, the thrilling and charismatic Hall of Fame outfielder who, with his signature crouched stance, blazing speed and unlikely home run power, was widely regarded as the greatest leadoff hitter in Major League Baseball history, died Friday. He was 65.
His death was announced by his family. They did not cite a cause or say where he died, but they thanked the staff at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
Often called “the man of steal” by sports writers, Henderson holds the career record for stolen bases with 1,406. He stole more than 100 bases in three seasons, and his 130 in 1982 is the single-season record.
Henderson also owns the record for runs scored, with 2,295. Eighty-one of those runs were the result of leadoff home runs — another record. His 2,190 walks rank him second behind Barry Bonds.
“Without exaggerating one inch, you could find 50 Hall of Famers who, all taken together, don’t own as many records, and as many important records, as Rickey Henderson,” baseball statistician and historian Bill James once wrote.
Henderson played for nine teams over 25 seasons, but he spent most of his career with his hometown Oakland A’s (on four separate occasions) and the New York Yankees from 1985-89, spring training in Fort Lauderdale.
In addition to being one of baseball’s most exciting players, Henderson was legendarily eccentric.
Drafted by the A’s in the fourth round in 1976, Henderson showed his potential almost immediately in the minor leagues.
Oakland called up Henderson about halfway through the 1979 season. The A’s were terrible, but Henderson hit .274 and led the team in stolen bases with 33. The next year, the A’s hired Billy Martin as manager, and the team improved. So did Henderson: He hit .303, walked 117 times, stole 100 bases and played in the first of 10 All-Star games during his career.
Rickey Nelson Henley was born in Chicago in the back seat of his family’s Oldsmobile on Christmas morning in 1958.
On May 1, 1991, while playing for the A’s, Henderson stole third against the Yankees. It was his 939th stolen base, surpassing Lou Brock’s record.
There was a celebration on the field. Speaking to the crowd on a microphone, Henderson said: “Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing. But today, I am the greatest of all time.”
Information on survivors was not immediately available.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Originally Published: