Stolen base king Rickey Henderson died December 20, 2024 less than a week before his 66th birthday as a result of pneumonia.

A leadoff hitter, Henderson holds the record for stolen bases, leadoff home runs, and runs scored.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke on Henderson saying, “for multiple generations of baseball fans, Rickey Henderson was the gold standard of base stealing and leadoff hitting.  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. He 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.  Rickey earned universal respect, admiration and awe from sports fans. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to Rickey’s family, his friends and former teammates, A’s fans and baseball fans everywhere.”

Henderson once spoke on his success as a base stealer noting that he knew what the pitcher was going to do by watching his hips because they told which direction he would be moving.

Earlier this year Henderson spoke on stealing bases and the new rule limiting the number of times a pitcher can throw to a base saying, “if I was playing today, I would get 162, right now, without a doubt.  Because if they had had that rule, you can only throw over there twice, you know how many times they would be throwing over there twice and they’d be going, ‘Ah, (shoot), can y’all send him to third? Give him two bases and send him to third.’ That would be me.”

He spent 25 years in the MLB; playing for nine teams – Oakland A’s, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, the then California Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers -, was elected to the All-Star game 10 times, has two World Series championships, two MVP Awards, three Silver Slugger Awards, and a Gold Glove Award. When he broke Lou Brock’s stolen base record in 1991, Henderson removed third base, raising it in the air, and saying, “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today I am the greatest of all time.”

In 2009 he was elected to the MBL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with nearly 95 percent of the vote.

During the course of his baseball career, Rickey Henderson stole 1,406 bases – 100 in his rookie season – and scored 2.295 runs.  He ranks fourth in games played with 3,081.  He ranks first for unintentional walks with 2,129.

Rickey Henderson holds the distinction of being Nolan Ryan’s strike out victim number 5,000!

He was born Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson on December 25,1958 in Chicago, Illinois but was raised in the shadow of the home of the Oakland Athletics from the time he was seven years old.  In high school he was a three sport player – baseball, basketball, and football.  He had dreams of being a star running back for the then Oakland Raiders, Henderson stayed with baseball and was drafted by his hometown team – the A’s – out of high school in 1976.

Henderson is survived by his wife Pam and children Angela, Adrian, and Lexi.