Image Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Ricky Henderson – Career, records and everything you need to know about the MLB legend who passed away at 65

Henderson finished with a career .820 OPS, including 297 homers, lifetime .279 batting average and .401 on-base percentage.

Image Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

MLB‘s stolen-base king and greatest of all time, Rickey Henderson, has passed away at the age of 65. MLB confirmed this on Saturday after reports of his death circulated. According to TMZ, Henderson died Friday in the Oakland, Calif., area after battling pneumonia.

R.I.P. Rickey Henderson 🙏 pic.twitter.com/JiR1uI404s
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) December 21, 2024

Breaking down the numbers from Henderson’s career

Henderson, who would have turned 66 on Christmas Day, has left a legacy behind with a 25-year MLB career. He stole a record 1,406 bases and was selected to 10 All-Star teams.

He set a threat on the bases and sailed into Cooperstown in 2009 following 94.8 percent of the Hall of Fame vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Henderson finished with a career .820 OPS, including 297 homers, 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 issued 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.”

Henderson’s 25-year journey with MLB

Henderson’s career story starts with the A’s when he was selected in the fourth round of the 1976 draft. He made his debut three years later for the hometown side. After one year, the ‘Man of Steal’ stole 100 bases and in 1982, he reached 130 stolen bases to break the record of Lou Brock who had 120 in a season.

The Yankees signed Henderson in 1984 in a five-player deal to Oakland. The franchise wanted him along with Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield to boost their lineup. However, the Yankees never reached the playoffs in his four seasons.

His former teammate, Don Mattingly expressed his thoughts on Henderson, “Rickey was simply the best player I ever played with. He could change the outcome of a game in so many ways. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about him.”

He later moved to the Bronx and reunited with Billy Martin. In 1988, Rickey was traded back to Oakland, in a deal for three players. In 1989, Henderson was the ALCS Most Valuable Player as the A’s won the World Series. He also won AL MVP honors for the first and only time in his career in the same year.

The Blue Jays acquired him and won the World Series in 1993. Later, he broke the all-time record of Lou Brock by stealing his 939th base. He joined the Mets in the 1999 season and helped his side to reach the NLCS. Henderson was released by the Mets in May 2000.

2003: Rickey Henderson’s 1,406th and final stolen base of his career. pic.twitter.com/dnJ5F1TLG5
— Stirrups Now! (@uniformcritic) December 12, 2022

Former Mets manager, Bobby Valentine spoke to The Post on Saturday, “With the Mets I was really lucky to have him. 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 announced his retirement at the age of 44 after playing for the Mariners, Padres, Red Sox and Dodgers in his final years. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2009 for a great contribution to the game.

Henderson’s all achievements in his MLB career:

10x All-Star
2x World Series Champion
All-Time Stolen Base Leader
All-Time Runs Scored Leader
1990 AL MVP
3x Silver Slugger
First Ballot Hall of Famer

“Nothing is impossible for Rickey,” Henderson once said. “You don’t have enough fingers and toes to count out Rickey.”

Image Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Blue Jays

MLB

MLB All-Star

Rickey Henderson

The Yankees

Gulshan Sharma

nba

soccer

wnba

A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors’ championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he’s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He’s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.