Rickey Henderson (2009)


Date of Birth: 12/25/1958
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois

Rickey Henderson was an excellent athlete in high school, playing baseball, basketball, and football. He was drafted in 1976 by the Oakland Athletics and spent 1977 to 1979 in the minor leagues.

Oakland Athletics

In 1979, Henderson played in 89 games with the Athletics. The next season, his first full one in the major leagues, Henderson batted .303 with 179 hits, 22 doubles, and 100 stolen bases in 158 games. He led the AL in stolen bases in 1980, a feat he continued from 1981 through 1986, and again from 1988 through 1991, and for a final time in 1998. In addition to his other feats in 1980, Henderson showed excellent discipline at the plate, striking out just 54 times and walking 117 times.

In 1981, Henderson won his first Silver Slugger award, leading the AL in hits. He finished the season with 135 hits, 18 doubles, 56 stolen bases, 35 RBIs, 68 strikeouts to 64 walks, and a batting average of .319 in 108 games. He also won his only Gold Glove in 1981. Defensively, as the Athletics' left fielder in 107 games, he made 323 putouts and 7 errors and he had a .979 fielding percentage.

Henderson set a major league baseball record in 1982 by stealing 130 bases, the most any player had stolen in one season. That year, he led the AL in walks with 116 (to 94 strikeouts). He finished the season with 143 hits, 24 doubles, 51 RBIs, and a .267 batting average in 149 games.

Henderson continued to play well for the Athletics in 1983 and 1984. He again led the AL in walks in 1983 with 103. He finished the season with 150 hits, 25 doubles, 108 stolen bases, 48 RBIs, and a .292 batting average. The following season, his stolen bases number was down to 66 and his walks were down to 86, but his other numbers were similar to 1983. He finished the 1984 season with 147 hits, 27 doubles, 16 home runs, 58 RBIs, and a .293 batting average.

The Oakland Athletics traded Henderson in December, 1984, to the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees

Henderson played well for the Yankees in 1985, and he won his second Silver Slugger award. He batted .314 with 172 hits, 28 doubles, 24 home runs, 80 stolen bases, 72 RBIs, and 65 strikeouts to 99 walks in 143 games.

Henderson's batting average dropped to .263 in 1986, but his home run number went up to a career high of 28. He finished the season with 160 hits, 31 doubles, 87 stolen bases, and a career high 74 RBIs in 153 games.

Henderson played in just 95 games in 1987. He finished the season with 104 hits, 17 doubles, 17 home runs, 41 stolen bases, 37 RBIs, and a .291 batting average. The next year, he again had a full season, playing in 140 games. He finished the 1988 season with 169 hits, 30 doubles, 93 stolen bases, 50 RBIs, and a .305 batting average.

Return to the Athletics

In 1989, the Yankees traded Henderson back to the Athletics. He batted .274 in 65 games with the Yankees and 85 games with the Athletics. He led the AL in walks with a career high 126. He finished the season with 148 hits, 26 doubles, 77 stolen bases, and 57 RBIs.

Henderson had a strong postseason in 1989, and he won the ALCS MVP award. In 34 at-bats in 9 games, he batted .441 with 15 hits, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 11 stolen bases, and 8 RBIs. He struck out only 2 times and he walked 9 times.

Henderson had another good season in 1990, batting .325 in 136 games. He had 159 hits, 33 doubles, a career high 28 home runs, 65 stolen bases, 51 RBIs, and 60 strikeouts to 97 walks. He led the AL in on-base percentage with .439 and in OPS with 1.016. He won the AL MVP award and his third Silver Slugger award that year.

Henderson continued to play well for the Athletics in 1991 and 1992 but his batting average dropped to .268 in 1991 and .283 in 1992. He finished the 1991 season with 126 hits, 17 doubles, 18 home runs, 58 stolen bases, 57 RBIs, and 73 strikeouts to 98 walks in 134 games. He played in just 117 games in 1992, and he had 112 hits, 18 doubles, 15 home runs, 48 stolen bases, 46 RBIs, and 56 strikeouts to 95 walks.

Final Years as a Player

The Athletics traded Henderson to the Toronto Blue Jays in July, 1993. From 1993 until the end of his career in 2003, Henderson played for eight teams:

  • Toronto Blue Jays, 1993
  • Oakland Athletics, 1994-1995, 1998
  • San Diego Padres, 1996-1997, 2001
  • Los Angeles Angels, 1997
  • New York Mets, 1999-2000
  • Seattle Mariners, 2000
  • Boston Red Sox, 2002
  • Los Angeles Dodgers, 2003

Henderson continued to play well in his last ten years, but he had a batting average under .300 in every year except for 1995 and 1999. He played with the Athletics in 1995, and that year, he batted .300 with 122 hits, 31 doubles, 32 stolen bases, and 54 RBIs in 112 games.

In 1998, his last year with the Athletics, Henderson led the AL in walks with 118. He had 66 stolen bases that season, but his batting average had dropped to .236.

Henderson signed with the Mets in December, 1998. He had a strong season in 1999, batting .315 in 121 games. He had 138 hits, 30 doubles, 37 stolen bases, and 42 RBIs. Sporting News named him the Comeback Player of the Year in 1999.

Awards and MLB Records

  • AL MVP
  • ALCS MVP
  • Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year
  • Commissioner's Historic Achievement award
  • 1 Gold Glove
  • 3 Silver Slugger awards
  • Led the AL in stolen bases (12 times)
  • Led the AL in walks (4 times)
  • Leads all major league players in career stolen bases

Career Statistics

Statistics for Henderson in 25 seasons (1979-2003) in the major leagues include:

  • 6 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 179 in 1980
  • 5 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 33 in 1990
  • 4 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 28 in 1986 and 1990
  • 14 seasons with over 50 stolen bases, with a high of 130 in 1982
  • 7 seasons with a batting average of .300 or better, with a high of .325 in 1990

Career batting statistics for Henderson include:

  • 3,081 games played
  • 3,055 hits
  • 510 doubles
  • 297 home runs
  • 1,406 stolen bases
  • 1,694 strikeouts to 2,190 walks
  • .279 batting average
  • .401 on-base percentage
  • .820 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Henderson as a left fielder include:

  • 1,000 games played
  • 1,822 putouts
  • 39 errors
  • .979 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Henderson include:

  • 8 postseasons
  • 222 at-bats
  • 63 hits
  • 12 doubles
  • 4 triples
  • 5 home runs
  • 33 stolen bases
  • 20 RBIs
  • 32 strikeouts to 37 walks
  • .284 batting average

Post Playing Career

After retiring as a major league player, Henderson worked as an instructor and coach for the Mets in 2006 and 2007. He was also a special instructor in Spring training with the Oakland Athletics.

Henderson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2009 on the first ballot with 94.8% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Rickey Henderson
ESPN - Rickey Henderson
Baseball Reference - Rickey Henderson

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