Tribute to Rickey Henderson, MLB’s Undisputed Greatest Leadoff Hitter originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Undisputed singular superlatives are rare in sports, because debates are natural and constant turnover always produces a counterpoint. The physical evolution of humanity explains that today’s all-time greats can expect to be surpassed.
Rickey Henderson was one of the rare exceptions. He rose from the youth baseball diamonds of Oakland to become the undisputed greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history.
The news that Rickey had died on Friday, confirmed by NBC Sports California, hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut. He’s so fit. So lively. So built to last. Only 65 years old. He’s gone, but the heroics that landed him in the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot will live on forever.
No one could give their team an advantage so quickly. Home run, hit or walk, it’s the pitcher’s choice and neither was appealing. Pitching for Rickey was like walking a tightrope. One mistake and you’re done. His strike zone, thanks to his trademark squat, was the size of a postage stamp. Pitches who dared to enter often left the ballpark, leaving little more than a vapor trail as he walked around the bases.
Pitches that dodged Rickey’s strike zone landed him at first base, where he was unparalleled at irritating opposing managers, unnerving opposing pitchers and delighting fans of his team.
Rickey lived for star moments on big stages and under bright lights, so the sight of him walking to first base was an event in itself. Like Stephen Curry pulling up for a 3 with the Warriors trailing by two in the final minute. Or Shohei Ohtani stepping into the batter’s box with the bases loaded. Or vintage Tiger Woods, two strokes back, teeing off at Augusta National on Sunday morning.
Audience members collectively leaned forward as they moved to the edge of the seat. The show was about to start. The pitcher and catcher were on high alert. The next batter was irrelevant. It was all about Rickey. What would he do? Everyone knew it. He would steal a base. He did it anyway. He was a peacock in uniform, with pride and bravado central to his identity.
Remember, when Rickey became Major League Baseball’s all-time stolen base leader, eclipsing Hall of Fame outfielder Lou Brock, the year was 1991. Rickey was 32 years old. In his prime. He played twelve more seasons.
Who on God’s green earth sets a career record – any career record – right in the middle of a career? It’s unfathomable. Well, it was — until Rickey accomplished the feat in 1,001 fewer games than Brock, who was 39 when he swiped his 939th and final base.
Rickey stole another 467 bases before retiring in 2003, at age 44, with 1,406 steals. In the 21 years that have passed, no one has approached Brock’s total, let alone Rickey’s. He stole more than twice as many bases as Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, more than three times as many as Hall of Famer Craig Biggio and more than four times as many as Hall of Famer Willie Mays, whose Hall credentials, like those of Henderson, belong in a separate wing in Cooperstown.
Rickey was such a disruptive baserunner that it seemed as if certain pitchers preferred to challenge him with strikes simply to avoid the anxiety that comes with putting him on base. He influenced timing, focus, rhythm and pitch selection.
The problem with throwing to Rickey was that he had the means to punish the ball with a vengeance. He is the all-time leader in leadoff home runs with 81, indicating that no one was better at putting his team on the scoreboard in the first inning. He finished his career with 297 home runs, surpassing the totals of sluggers like Will Clark, Pat Burrell and Roger Maris.
What to do with a man who would mess you up if you didn’t throw strikes or take you deep if you did?
Noted baseball guru Bill James, the father of sabermetrics and the statistician/historian who coined the “win shares” statistic, summed up Rickey’s career with this excellent description: “If you could split him in half, you’d have two Hall of Famers . .”
If you were to put together the ultimate baseball lineup, only one spot avoids discussion. Distraction. That belongs to Rickey, the all-time leader in runs, leadoff home runs and steals.
Rickey entertained, produced and commanded undivided attention. His production and impact stand out among all legends, regardless of sport.
We have never seen Rickey as he was before he arrived on June 24, 1979. We didn’t see it while he was playing, and we haven’t seen it in the 21 years since he left the batter’s box.
Maybe one day we’ll see a different Rickey, one whose physique is chiseled from marble, who promises game-changing speed, power and patience and has the strength to play for 24 years.
Or maybe not, regardless of human evolution.
