Rickey henderson net worth

American baseball player (–)

For the Australian rules football player, view Ricky Henderson.

"Man of Steal" redirects here. For the basketball player with this nickname, see Eric Murdock.

Baseball player

Rickey Henderson
Henderson with the Oakland Athletics in
Left fielder
Born:()December 25, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died: December 20, () (aged&#;65) San Francisco, California, U.S.
June 24,&#;,&#;for the&#;Oakland Athletics
September 19,&#;,&#;for the&#;Los Angeles Dodgers
Batting average
Hits	3,
Home runs
Runs batted in	1,
Stolen bases	1,
Runs	2,
Stats at Baseball Reference&#;
MLB records 1, career stolen bases 2, career runs stolen bases, single season
Induction
Vote	% (first ballot)

Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (December 25, – December 20, ), nicknamed "Man of Steal", was an American professional baseballleft fielder who played 25 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from to , including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics.

He is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner.^[1][2] He holds MLB records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks, and leadoff home runs.

At the time of his last major league game in , the time American League (AL) All-Star ranked among the sport's foremost all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in walks. In , he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Henderson holds the single-season record for stolen bases ( in ) and is the only player in AL history to steal bases in a season, having done so three times (in , , and ). His 1, career steals is 50% higher than the previous record of by Lou Brock.

This article was last updated by Aditya Rana on December 8, The Hall of Fame outfielder, famous for his unmatched speed and dynamic gameplay, earned much of his wealth during a year career from to The "Rickey Henderson Triple" — a step and two stolen bases. Born on December 25,in Chicago, IllinoisHenderson moved to Oakland, Californiawith his family during his childhood.

Henderson is the all-time stolen found leader for the Oakland Athletics^[3] and previously held the Recent York Yankees' franchise record from to ^[4][5] He was among the league's top ten ground stealers in 21 different seasons.

Henderson was named the AL's Most Valuable Player (MVP) in , and he was twice the lead-off hitter for Society Series champions: the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays. A time stolen base champion, Henderson led the league in runs five times. His season career elevated him to the top ten in several other categories, including career at-bats, games, and outfield putouts and total chances.

His high on-base percentage, power hitting, and stolen anchor and run totals made him one of the most dominant and innovative players of all time. He was further recognizable for his passion for playing baseball and a buoyant, eccentric, and quotable personality that both perplexed and entertained fans.

Once asked if he thought Henderson was a future Hall of Famer, statistician Bill James replied, "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers."^[6]

Early life

Henderson was born on December 25, , in Chicago in the support seat of an Oldsmobile on the way to the hospital.

Henderson later joked, "I was already fast. I couldn't wait."^[7] The son of John L. Henley and Bobbie Henley, he was named Rickey Nelson Henley, after singer-actor Ricky Nelson.^[8] When he was two years aged, his father moved to Oakland, California.

Rickey lived with his grandmother in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, from when he was two until he was seven, when he migrated to Oakland with his family. His father died in an automobile accident 10 years after leaving home.^[9] His mother married Paul Henderson in Rickey Henley's junior year of high school and the family adopted the Henderson surname.^[8] As a child learning to participate baseball in Oakland, Henderson developed the ability to bat right-handed although he was a naturally left-handed thrower—a rare combination for baseball players, especially non-pitchers.^[10] In the entire history of Major League Baseball through the season, only 57 position players are known to have batted right and thrown left, and Henderson is easily the most flourishing player to do so.^[11] Henderson later said, "All my friends were right-handed and swung from the right side, so I thought that's the way it was supposed to be done."^[12]

In , Henderson graduated from Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, California, where he played baseball, basketball and football, and was an All-Americanrunning back with two 1,yard rushing seasons.

He also ran track, but did not stay with the team as the schedule conflicted with baseball.^[13] Henderson received over a dozen scholarship offers to play football. Despite a childhood dream to play for the Oakland Raiders, he turned down the scholarships on the advice of his mother, who argued that football players had shorter careers.^[13][14]

Minor leagues

Henderson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth rotund of the Major League Baseball draft.^[15] For the first season of his minor league career he was with the Boise A's of the Northwest League.

In 46 games, he batted and hit three home runs and two triples.^[16] Henderson spent the following season with the Modesto A's, where he batted in games during a record-setting season. Henderson, along with Darrell Woodard, nearly broke the league record for team stolen bases.

The Modesto A's finished the season with stolen bases,^[17] just shy of the league register of ^[18] While Woodard tied the single-season player record with 90 stolen bases,^[17] Henderson thrash the record by stealing 95 bases, and was awarded the Sundial Trophy, given to the Modesto A's Most Valuable Player.^[16][19]

Henderson spent the season with the Jersey City A's of the Eastern League.

After the insignificant league season ended, he played the – winter season for the Navojoa Mayos of the Mexican Pacific League. He played in six games for the team, which won its first championship.^[20] In , Henderson started the season with the Ogden A's of the Pacific Coast League.

In 71 games for Ogden, he had a batting average of and stole 44 bases.^[16]

Major leagues

Oakland Athletics (–)

Henderson made his major league debut with Oakland on June 24, , getting two hits in four at-bats, along with a stolen base.^[21] He batted with 33 stolen bases in 89 games.^[22] In , Henderson became the third modern-era player to snatch bases in a season (Maury Wills in and Lou Brock's in had preceded him).^[23] His steals broke Eddie Collins' franchise record of 81 in with what were then the Philadelphia Athletics and set a novel American League (AL) record, surpassing Ty Cobb's 96 set in ^[23] He also batted , had hits (tied for ninth in AL), scored runs (fourth in AL), drew walks (second in AL), had a on-base percentage (third in AL) and led the AL by reaching base times.^[24]

That winter, Henderson played in the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League; his 42 stolen bases broke that league's log as well.^[25]

Henderson was an MVP candidate a year later, in a season shortened by a players' strike.

He hit , fourth in the AL, and led the league in hits (), runs (89) and in steals (56). Henderson was also third in on-base percentage (), tied for second in triples (7), fourth in walks (64), eighth in total bases () and second in times reaching base ().

In so doing, he became the emblematic figure of Oakland manager Billy Martin's aggressive "Billy Ball" philosophy, which received much media attention.^[26] Finishing second to the Milwaukee Brewers' Rollie Fingers in the MVP voting, Henderson earned his only Gold Glove Award in fielding that season.

He later became known for his showboat "snatch catches", in which he would flick his glove out at incoming fly balls, then whip his arm behind his advocate after making the catch.^[27]

In , Henderson broke Lou Brock's new major league single season write down by stealing bases, a total which has not been approached since.

He stole 84 bases by the All-Star break; no player has stolen as many as 84 bases in an entire season since , when Henderson himself stole ^[28] He also led the AL in walks (), was fourth in runs () and third in on-base percentage ().^[24]

Inspired by Dodgers leadoff hitter Rudy Law, Henderson adopted an exaggerated crouch as his batting stance, which reduced his strike zone without sacrificing much power.^[29] Sportswriter Jim Murray described Henderson's strike zone as being "smaller than Hitler's heart".^[30] In , he described his approach to Sports Illustrated:

I found that if I squatted down real low at the plate I could see the ball better.

I also knew it threw the pitcher off. I found that I could put my weight on my back foot and still rotate my hips on the swing. I'm down so low I don't have much of a strike zone. Sometimes, walking so much even gets me mad. Last year Ed Ott of the Angels got so frustrated because the umpire was calling balls that would've been strikes on anybody else that he stood up and shouted at me, "Stand up and knock like a man." I assume I do that to people.^[31]

Regarding Henderson's season, the mids novel The Hidden Game of Baseball looked at such statistics as expected runs with a jogger on first and no outs, expected runs with runner on second and no outs, and only expected runs with no one on and one out.

The authors concluded that with Henderson's stolen bases he contributed runs to the A's offense. By being caught stealing 42 times, he cost his team runs, and therefore, the authors concluded, the net effect of his running activity was merely extra runs for the season.^[32] A later analysis determined his net contribution was runs for the season.^[33]

In , he led the AL in stolen bases (), walks () while finishing fourth in runs scored ().

He was also second in on-base percentage (), tied for ninth in triples (7) and fifth in times on build, reaching times.^[24]

In , Henderson slap 16 home runs while primary the league in stolen bases (66), finishing second in runs scored () and third in on-base-percentage ().

After the season, he was traded to the New York Yankees along with Bert Bradley for five players: Tim Birtsas, Jay Howell, Stan Javier, Eric Plunk, and José Rijo.^[24]

New York Yankees (–)

In his first season with the Yankees, Henderson led the league in runs scored () and stolen bases (80), was fourth in batting average (), walks (99) and on-base percentage (), seventh in slugging (), third in OPS ().^[34] Combining his stolen bases with his 24 dwelling runs,^[35] he became the first AL player to join the 20–50 club,^[36] and its first member to reach 20–^[37] He also won the Silver Slugger Award, and was third in the voting for the MVP award.

His runs scored were the most since Ted Williams had in ,^[38] and he became the first player since Jimmie Foxx in to amass more runs scored than games played.^[39] Henderson also became the first player in major league history to reach 80 stolen bases and 20 home runs in the same season.^[40] He matched the feat in , as did Eric Davis of the Cincinnati Reds; they linger the only players in major league history to reach those thresholds.^[41] It was with the Yankees that Henderson, who had previously worn number 35 with Oakland, which was already taken by his Yankees teammate Phil Niekro, switched to his now famous 24, a number he would wear for the relax of his career (with exceptions: (1) he briefly wore number 14 in while playing with the Blue Jays, (2) he wore his "old" number 35 in and while playing with the Mariners and the Red Sox, and (3) he wore number 25 while playing with the Dodgers).^[35]

In , he led the AL in runs scored () and stolen bases (87) for the second year in a row, and was seventh in walks (89) and extra base hits (64) while hitting 28 home runs (9 of which led off games) and had 74 runs batted in (RBIs).^[42]

In , he had a below-average season by his standards, fueling criticism from the Novel York media, which had never covered Henderson or his eccentricities kindly.^[43] Yankees owner George Steinbrenner issued a press release claiming that manager Lou Piniella wanted to trade Henderson for "jaking it" (playing lackadaisically).^[44] Still, Henderson had his best on-base percentage to that point in his career (), with a batting avg., was fifth in the AL in stolen bases (41) and hit 17 home runs despite playing only 95 games.^[45] It was the only season from to in which Henderson did not lead the AL in steals.

Seattle's Harold Reynolds led the league with 60 steals; Reynolds tells the story of getting an impish device call from Henderson after the season:

The phone rings. "Henderson here." I say, "Hey, what's going on, Rickey?" I consider he's calling to congratulate me, but he goes, '"Sixty stolen bases?

You ought to be ashamed. Rickey would have 60 at the break" then click, he hung up.^[7]

In , Henderson led the AL in steals (93), was third in runs scored (), fifth in OBP () and seventh in walks (82), while hitting ^[24] Though only in New York for 4+1&#;2 seasons, Henderson set the Yankees' franchise record with stolen bases; the previous high () had been held by Hal Chase, who last played for the Yankees in , when the team was still recognizable as the Highlanders.

On May 28, , Henderson's total was surpassed by Derek Jeter,^[46] who by that point had already played 1, more games as a Yankee than Henderson.^[47]

Return to Oakland (–)

On June 21, , the Yankees traded Henderson assist to Oakland for Plunk, Greg Cadaret, and Luis Polonia.^[48] After the trade, his 52 steals and 72 runs scored led the Athletics into the postseason;^[24] his walks for the year were the most for any AL hitter since Frank Howard's in ^[49] Henderson was named MVP of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) after hitting , scoring eight runs and delivering two home runs, five RBIs, seven walks and a slugging percentage.^[24] He had eight stolen bases in the five-game series, breaking Brock's postseason series record of seven,^[50] which he set in and repeated in ^[a] Leading the Athletics to a four-game sweep over the San Francisco Giants and the franchise's first World Series title since ,^[51] Henderson hit with an slugging average (including two triples and a homer), while stealing three more bases.^[24] On August 22, , he became Nolan Ryan's 5,th strikeout victim, but Henderson took an odd delight in the occurrence, saying, "If you haven't been struck out by Nolan Ryan, you're nobody."^[52]

A year later, Henderson finished second in the league in batting average with a identify of , losing out to the Kansas City Royals' George Brett on the final night of the season.

Henderson had a remarkably consistent season, with his batting average falling below for only one game, the third of the year. Reaching safely by a hit or a walk in of his games, he led the league in runs (), stolen bases (65), on-base percentage () and OPS () was second in slugging percentage (), fourth in walks (97) and extra ground hits (66), sixth in place runs (28) and total bases () and had 61 RBIs.

Henderson won the AL's MVP award and helped Oakland to another pennant. He again performed well in the World Series ( batting, slugging, a abode run and three steals in four games), but the A's were swept by the underdog Cincinnati Reds.^[53]

On May 1, , Henderson broke one of baseball's most noted records when he stole the th base of his career, one more than Brock's total compiled from to , mainly with the St.

Louis Cardinals. After his historic achievement, Henderson shouted out: "I'm the Greatest".^[54][55]

On July 16, , Henderson broke the world stolen base record by stealing his 1,th base, breaking the tape held by Yutaka Fukumoto.^[56] In 90 games with Oakland, he was batting with 17 residence runs and 47 RBIs.

He also had scored 77 runs, stolen 31 bases, drew 85 walks, had a on-base percentage and was slugging ^[24]

Toronto Cerulean Jays ()

In July , the Athletics traded Henderson to the playoff-bound Toronto Blue Jays for Steve Karsay and José Herrera.^[24] He performed disappointingly for the Jays, hitting only in 44 games, which was probably due to the fact that he fractured a bone on his hand early on with the team, after being hit by a pitch, although he still contributed 22 stolen bases and 37 runs scored.

However, his hitting woes continued in the post-season, batting in the American League Championship Series and in the World Series. Nevertheless, Henderson was involved in the concluding play of the World Series that year. He and Paul Molitor scored on Joe Carter's Series-ending home run, one of the most famous moments in baseball history.^[57]

Third stint with Oakland (–)

After the season, Henderson re-signed as a free agent with Oakland in December ^[24] In and , Henderson finished in the top 10 in the league in walks, steals and on-base percentage.^[24] His average in marked his sixth and last season in the AL with a or better average.^[24]

San Diego Padres (–)

Henderson signed with the San Diego Padres in the offseason.

Rickey Henderson’s Net Worth: The Late MLB Player’s Salary: According to Celebrity Net Worth, Henderson earned $44 million during his year career in the big leagues in salary and $10 million in endorsements. At the time of his death, he had a net.

In , he again finished in the top ten in the National League (NL) in walks, OBP, steals and runs.^[58]

Anaheim Angels ()

On August 13, , the Padres traded Henderson to the Anaheim Angels for minor leaguers Ryan Hancock and Stevenson Agosto, as well as a player to be named later.^[59] The Padres acquired George Arias to complete the trade.^[60] As an Angel, Henderson batted only for the rest of the season.^[24]

Fourth stint with Oakland ()

In January , Henderson signed as a free agent with the Athletics, the fourth time he played for the franchise.^[24] That season he led the majors in stolen bases (66) and the AL in walks (), while scoring runs.^[24] In so doing, the year-old became the oldest player to lead a league in stolen bases, and the oldest player to reach 50 steals.^[61]

New York Mets (–)

In , he was seventh in the NL in on-base percentage.^[62] Henderson was voted the National League comeback player of the year by The Sporting News.

He wore number 24, which—although not officially retired—had not been regularly worn by a Mets player since Willie Mays' retirement in Nonetheless, Henderson and the Mets were an uneasy fit. After the Mets' loss in the NLCS, the New York flatten made much of a card game between Henderson and Bobby Bonilla.

Both players had been substituted out of the lineup, and they reportedly left the dugout before the playoff game had concluded.^[63]

Henderson sought a promote on his $&#;million salary for the season, but the Mets refused to renegotiate.

He also feuded with manager Bobby Valentine and complained about traveling to Tokyo for the season opening series against the Chicago Cubs. Worse, he put in minimal effort, effectively tanking, and forcing his release. Henderson batted with no home runs and two RBIs.

The Mets offered him to every team in the league, with no takers. The team then put him on waivers and granted him his release in May,^[64][65] which Mets' general manager Steve Phillips called "addition by subtraction".^[66]

Seattle Mariners ()

After his release from the Mets, Henderson signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners.^[67] In his second game as a Mariner, on May 20, Henderson hit a leadoff abode run, thus becoming the third player to hit a dwelling run in four different decades (Ted Williams and Willie McCovey were the others).^[68] Despite starting the season in the National League, Henderson finished fourth in the AL in stolen bases (31).^[69]

Return to San Diego ()

A free agent in March , Henderson returned to the Padres.

During the season, he broke three major league career records and reached an additional major career milestone. He broke Babe Ruth's record of 2, career walks,^[58]Ty Cobb's record of 2, career runs,^[70] and Zack Wheat's record of 2, career games in left field, and on the final day of the season (October 7) collected his 3,th career hit, a leadoff double off Rockies pitcher John Thomson in San Diego.^[71][72] That final game was also Tony Gwynn's last major league game, and Henderson had originally wanted to sit out so as not to detract from the occasion, but Gwynn insisted that Henderson play.^[73]

Boston Red Sox ()

At age 43, Henderson was the oldest player in the American League.^[74]

While playing in Boston, Henderson wore his old number 35, as his regular number 24 was already taken by Red Sox teammate Manny Ramirez.^[75][76]

Newark Bears and Los Angeles Dodgers ()

As the season began, Henderson was without a team for the first time in his career.

He played in the independent Atlantic League with the Newark Bears, hoping for a chance with another major league organization.^[77][78] After being named the Atlantic League All-Star Game MVP, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed him in July.^[79] In 30 games with the Dodgers, he had 15 hits and three stolen bases, with a batting average.^[24]

Career statistics

Note: All-time MLB leader in category is in bold.

Source:^[24][80]

In 60 postseason games, including 3 World Series (, '90, and '93), Henderson batted (for) with 47 runs scored, 12 doubles, 4 triples, 5 home runs, 20 RBI, 33 stolen bases, 37 walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage.^[24]

Retirement

Before the season, his last in the majors, Henderson discussed his reputation for hanging onto his lengthy baseball career:

Each and every day I put a record, but we never talk about it.

We'll discuss about a home run hitter 24/7. Well, they haven't broken any all-time records, but they hit homers, and that's what matters nowadays. You continue playing, you accomplish a lot, and you'd think people would glance at it as a fantastic career.

Instead, Rickey thinks people want Rickey to quit more than anything."^[81]

Henderson played his last major league game on September 19, ; he was beat by a pitch in his only plate appearance, and came around to score his 2,th run.

Though it became increasingly unlikely that he would go back, he continued to publicly debate his own official retirement.^[82] After leaving the Dodgers, Henderson started his second consecutive season with the Newark Bears in May ^[83] In 91 games he had a OBP, with more than twice as many walks (96) as strikeouts (41), and stole 37 bases while organism caught only twice.^[16] On May 9, , Henderson signed with the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the Golden Baseball League, an independent league.

This was the Surf Dawgs' and the Golden Baseball League's inaugural season, and Henderson helped the team to the league championship. In 73 games he had a OBP, with 73 walks while striking out 43 times, and 16 steals while being caught only twice.^[84] It would be his final professional season.

Henderson would not accept the conclusion of his major league career. In May , he was still insisting that he was capable of playing in the major leagues. NBC and ESPN reported that Henderson had announced his much-delayed official retirement on December 6, , but his agent denied the report the following day.

On February 10, , he accepted a position as a hitting instructor for the Mets, while leaving the door open to returning as a player. In July , Henderson discussed an offer he'd received to rejoin the Surf Dawgs for the season, which would have been his 31st in professional baseball, but suggested he'd had enough.

Six weeks later, though, on August 11, he claimed "It's sort of weird not to be playing, but I decided to accept a year off", adding, "I can't say I will retire. My heart is still in it I still love the game right now, so I'm going to wait it out and see what happens."^[85]

On May 18, , the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Oakland general manager Billy Beane was considering adding Henderson to the roster for one game in September, provided it did not "infringe on the integrity of the roster or of the season", so that Henderson could retire as an Oakland A's player.^[86] A month later, Henderson appeared to reject the overture, saying, "One day?

I don't crave one day. I want to play again, man. I don't want nobody's spot I just want to see if I deserve to be out there. If I don't, just earn rid of me, release me.

Daniel Wanburg. November 26, Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson was born on the 25th Decemberin Chicago, Illinois USA, and is a former professional baseball player, arguably the greatest lead-off hitter and base-runner in the history of the game. Henderson played for nine teams between andis a two times World Series champion, ten times All-Star, and is a Hall of Famer since

And if I belong, you don't have to pay me but the minimum—and I'll donate every penny of that to some charity. So, how's that hurtin' anybody? Don't say goodbye for me When I yearn that one day they crave to give me so lousy, I'll let you know."^[87] The Athletics retired Henderson's #24 on August 1, ^[88]

Henderson finally conceded his "official retirement" on July 13, "I haven't submitted retirement papers to MLB, but I think MLB already had their papers that I was retired." Characteristically, he added, "If it was a situation where we were going to win the World Series and I was the only player that they had left, I would set on the shoes."^[89]

Contrary to speculation,^[90][91][92] Henderson's refusal to officially retire had not been delaying his eligibility for Hall of Fame induction.

Since the s, the five-year waiting period has been based on major league service only. Henderson was elected as part of the Hall of Fame vote, in his first appearance on the ballot. At a press conference two days after his election, the year-old Henderson told reporters, "I assume today, and people say I'm crazy, but if you gave me as many at-bats that you would give the runners out there today, I would outsteal every last one of them they can always sound my phone and I'll arrive on down and help their ballclub, that's how much I love the game."^[93]

In , on the 20th anniversary of his record-breaking stolen base, the Oakland A's held "Rickey Henderson Bobblehead Day".

At Henderson's insistence, the giveaway plastic dolls had one atypical modification: "I told them, put a little dirt on mine, make sure that [it looks] like I'm playing the game." Almost eight years after his final game, Henderson also reiterated his desire to return: "Sometimes when I sit around and look at the game and things ain't going right, I just think, 'Just enable me put on the uniform and go out there and take a chance'."^[94]

Coaching

The New York Mets hired Henderson as a special instructor in , primarily to work with hitters and to teach base stealing.

Henderson's impact was noticeable on José Reyes, the Mets' former leadoff hitter.^[95] "I always want to be around the game," Henderson said in May "That's something that's in my blood. Helping them have success feels just as good."^[96]

On July 13, , the Mets promoted Henderson from special instructor to first anchor coach, replacing Howard Johnson, who became the hitting coach.^[97] Henderson was not retained as a coach for Henderson had periodically been a special instructor in the Athletics' spring training camps.

In , he worked on base stealing (most notably with Rajai Davis and Coco Crisp) and outfield drills.^[98]

Image and personality

Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci wrote in , "There are certain figures in American history who acquire passed into the realm of cultural mythology, as if truths could no longer contain their stories: Johnny Appleseed.

Wild Bill Hickok. Davy Crockett. Rickey Henderson. They exist on the sometimes narrow margin between Fact and Fiction."^[99]

Henderson referred to himself in the third-person.^[][]

According to Verducci, during one off-season, Henderson called Padres general manager Kevin Towers and left this message: "Kevin, this is Rickey.

Calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball."^[30] However, Henderson denied that this happened in a February 26, , interview on Mike and Mike in the Morning.^[] In , he discussed his unusual phraseology, saying, "People are always saying, 'Rickey says Rickey.' But it's been blown way out of proportion.

Rickey says it when Rickey doesn't do what Rickey needs to be doing.

Rickey Henderson will always be a legend in baseball. He played for the Oakland Athletics four separate times and racked up a substantial net worth during his career. Unfortunately, Henderson died at the age of 65 in Decemberjust days away from his 66th birthday. Henderson was a professional infielder who holds the register in the MLB for the most stolen bases.

Rickey uses it to remind himself, enjoy, 'Rickey, what you doing, you stupid. ' Rickey's just scolding himself."^[81] Henderson did use the first person pronoun on occasion, such as when he defended his position during a compress dispute: "All I'm asking for is what I want."^[30]

Henderson was so proud of a $1 million signing bonus that he framed it instead of cashing it, thus losing several months' interest.^[] Similarly, Henderson refused to spend his per diem capital that all players receive on road trips: instead, he would put the envelopes containing the cash in a box, and when one of his children performed well in school he would invite them to opt an envelope out of the box and keep its contents.

In , following an argument with pitcher Orlando Hernández, Henderson stated, "He needs to expand up a little bit. I ain't a kid. When I broke into the game, he was crawling on his hands and knees.

T he baseball world was stunned and let down on Saturday, as news broke of the passing of Rickey Henderson. An electric player in his time, Henderson broke several MLB records in a career that spanned from to Henderson reportedly died of complications from pneumonia. Tributes and condolences poured in from all angles, with professional athletes from other sports showing their love for the baseball legend as well.

Unless he's as old as I am. He probably is." (Hernández is approximately seven years younger.)^[]

Henderson had a reputation for forgetting or not learning people's names, including those of his teammates.^[][]

There are many unconfirmed stories about Henderson.

A Padres teammate (variously reported as Steve Finley or Tony Gwynn) once offered him a seat anywhere on the bus, saying that Henderson had tenure. Henderson supposedly replied, "Ten years? What are you talking about? Rickey got 16, 17 years."^[] One widely reported story was a fabrication that began as a clubhouse joke made by a visiting player.^[] While playing for Seattle in , Henderson was said to contain commented on first baseman John Olerud's practice of wearing a batting helmet while playing defense, noting that a former teammate in Toronto did the alike thing.

Olerud was reported to have replied, "That was me." The two men had been together the previous season with the Mets, as well as with the World Champion Azure Jays. Several news outlets originally reported the story as fact.^[][][]

Verducci wrote, "Rickey is the modern-day Yogi Berra, only faster." Henderson himself was resigned to his persona: "A lot of stuff they had me doing or something they said I had created, it's comedy.

I surmise that's how they want to judge me, as a character."^[99]

A bobblehead of Henderson as an Athletic appeared in Toy Story 4.^[]

Personal life and death

In , Henderson married his high-school sweetheart, Pamela.

They had three children.^[12]

Henderson died on December 20, , five days before his 66th birthday, at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center following a bout of pneumonia.^[][][] According to Dave Stewart, Henderson, who was asthmatic and endured related sinus issues, was in the hospital that day for a related surgery, but never recovered from the operation and perished.

The news spread that evening on X as an unconfirmed rumor, but was not confirmed by his family in the media until the monitoring day. ^[]

Legacy

On May 1, , Henderson stole his th base to pass Lou Brock and became the sport's all-time stolen base leader.^[54] Henderson's speech after breaking Brock's record was similar to the standard victory or award speech.

He thanked God and his mother, as well as the people that helped him in baseball. Because his idol was Muhammad Ali, Henderson decided to use the words "greatest of all time."^[] These words have since been taken by many to back the notion that Henderson is selfish and arrogant,^[] although years later, Henderson revealed that he had gone over his planned remarks ahead of time with Brock, and the Cardinals Hall of Famer "had no challenge with it.

In fact, he helped me write what I was going to say that day."^[81] On the day of the speech, Brock later told reporters amiably, "He spoke from his heart." Brock and Henderson had had a friendly bond ever since their first conference in Brock pronounced the adolescent speedster as the heir to his record, saying, "How are we gonna break it?"^[7]

Henderson has mixed feelings about his comments:

As soon as I said it, it ruined everything.

Everybody thought it was the worst thing you could ever state. Those words haunt me to this day, and will endure to haunt me. They overshadow what I've accomplished in this game.^[81]

At the end of his July Hall of Fame induction, Henderson alluded to his earlier speech, saying:^[]

In closing, I would like to say my favorite hero was Muhammad Ali.

He said at one time, quote, "I am the greatest," terminate of quote. That is something I always wanted to be. And now that the Association has voted me into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time.

And at this moment, I am [pause] very, very humble. Express gratitude you.

Asked if he believes the passage of time will refine his reputation, Henderson said:

If you talk about baseball, you can't eliminate me, because I'm all over baseball It's the truth.

Telling the truth isn't being cocky. What do you want me to say, that I didn't put up the numbers? That my teams didn't win a lot of games? People don't want me to say anything about what I've done. Then why don't you say it?

Because if I don't say it and you don't say it, nobody says it.^[81]

Henderson had more stolen bases in his career than Brock, one short of 50% more than the game's second-most prolific basestealer.^[] In , Henderson stole his 1,th base, surpassing the world record established ten years earlier by Yutaka Fukumoto for the Hankyu Braves in Japan's Pacific League.^[] In his prime, Henderson had a virtual monopoly on the stolen base title in the American League.

Between and , he led the league in steals every season except ,^[] when he missed part of the season due to a nagging hamstring injury,^[] allowing Mariners second baseman Harold Reynolds to win the title. Henderson had one more league-leading season after that stretch, when his 66 steals in made him the oldest steals head in baseball history.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Henderson also owns the register for times caught stealing (). Due to incomplete historical recordkeeping for that statistic, though, it is unknown whether he is the actual career leader.^[] However, Henderson's overall 81% success rate on the basepaths is among the highest percentages in history.^[] (Carlos Beltran ranks first among players with at least career attempts, at just over 86%.)^[]

On July 29, , Henderson stole five bases against the Mariners' left-handed Randy Johnson, his career high, and one shy of the single-game major league register.

Unusually, Henderson was hitless in the game (he had four walks). Henderson had 18 four-steal games during his career. In August , in a three-game series against the Brewers and a 2-game series versus the Yankees, Henderson had 13 stolen bases in five games.

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Floyd Rayford described the confusion he felt during a particular game, when Henderson was leading off first base and signaling him with two fingers. Henderson quickly stole second base, then third, and Rayford understood the gesture.^[30]

Longtime scout Charlie Metro remembered the havoc caused by Henderson: '"I did a lot of study and I found that it's doomed to throw Rickey Henderson out.

I started using stopwatches and everything. I found it was impossible to throw some other guys out also. They can go from first to second in seconds; and no pitcher catcher combination in baseball could throw from here to there to tag second in seconds, it was always 3, , So actually, the runner that can make the continuous, regular move like Rickey's can't be thrown out, and he's proven it."^[]

Sportswrite Joe Posnanski marveled that Henderson had career walks when leading off an inning:

Think about this again.

There would be nothing, absolutely nothing, a pitcher would want to dodge more than walking Rickey Henderson to lead off an inning. And yet he walked SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY SIX times to lead off an inning. He walked more times just foremost off in an inning than Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente, Luis Aparicio, Ernie Banks, Kirby Puckett, Ryne Sandberg and more than 50 other Hall of Famers walked in their entire careers.^[]

Henderson was a headfirst slider.

In September , Henderson discussed his base-stealing technique at length with Sports Illustrated:

I wanted to know how to dive into the base because I was getting strawberries on my knees and strawberries on my ass I was thinking about head-first versus feet-first, and wondering which would save my body.

With head-first I worried about pounding my shoulders and my hands, and with feet-first I would worry about my knees and my legs. I felt that running was more important to me, with my legs, so I started going head-first. I got my [low-to-the-ground] technique from airplanes I was on a plane and asleep and the plane bounced and when we landed we bounced and it woke me up.

Then the next flight I had the same pilot and the plane went down so smooth. So I asked the pilot why, and he said when you land a plane smooth, you get the plane elevated to the lowest position you can and then you smooth it in.

Same with sliding If you dive when you're running straight up then you possess a long distance to fetch to the ground.

What Was Rickey Henderson’s Net Worth? Henderson had a net worth of $20 million before he passed away, according to Celebrity Net Worth He had an overall wage of $44 million on top of another $10 million from recommendations, according to the outlet.

But the closer you get to the ground the less time it will get I was hitting the dirt so smooth, so fast, when I hit the dirt, there wasn't no hesitation. It was like a skid mark, favor you throw a rock on the water and skid off it.

So when I smash the ground, if you didn't have the tag down, I was by you. No matter if the ball beat me, I was by you. That was what made the finalize plays go my way, I think.^[]

Padres closer Trevor Hoffman said, "I don't know how to put into words how fortunate I was to spend period around one of the icons of the game.

I can't comprehend that yet. Years from now, though, I'll be qualified to say I played with Rickey Henderson, and I envision it will be like saying I played with Babe Ruth."^[30] When Henderson was 44 years old and playing for the Newark Bears in , Padres general manager Kevin Towers said, "I get e-mails daily from fans saying, 'Sign Rickey.' I get more calls and e-mails about him than anybody We've had some special players reach through San Diego.

But there's an aura about him nobody else has."^[30]

Tony La Russa, Henderson's manager in the late s in Oakland, said, "He rises to the occasion—the big moment—better than anybody I've ever seen."^[30] Coach Rene Lachemann said, "If you're one run down, there's nobody you'd ever rather hold up at the plate than Rickey." Teammate Mitchell Page said, "It wasn't until I saw Rickey that I understood what baseball was about.

Rickey Henderson is a run, man. That's it. When you see Rickey Henderson, I don't care when, the score's already 1–0. If he's with you, that's excellent. If he's not, you won't like it."^[26]

A's pitching coach Dave Duncan said of Henderson, "You have to be careful because he can knock one out.

But you don't want to be too careful because he's got a small strike zone and you can't afford to walk him. And that's only half the problem. When he gets on base he's more trouble still." Sportswriter Tom Verducci wrote, "Baseball is designed to be an egalitarian sort of game in which one player among the 18 is not supposed to dominate Yet in the past quarter-century Henderson and Barry Bonds have come closest to dominating a baseball game the way Michael Jordan could a basketball game."^[99]

In July , New York Sun sportswriter Tim Marchman posited that Henderson's accomplishments were "not because of his body, but because of his brain".

He praised his ability to detect if a pitcher was throwing to first or home plate, and his discipline to coax walks as a means to get on base.^[] Added Marchman:

Maybe he'd acquire a bit more credit for all this if he were some boring drip like Cal Ripken Jr., blathering on endlessly about humility and apple pie and tradition and whatever else, but we're all better off with things the way they are Everyone had their amusement when he broke Lou Brock's stolen base record and proclaimed, 'I am the greatest', but he was, of course, just saying what was plainly true."^[]

Career milestones

As of ^[update], Henderson ranks first all-time in runs scored (2,) and stolen bases (1,), fourth in career games played (3,), 13th in at bats (10,), and 26th in hits (3,).

He has the second-highest career power–speed number, behind Barry Bonds, at ^[][] Henderson reached 20+ homers and 50+ steals in the same season a record four times.^[] His document for most career walks (2,) has since been broken by Barry Bonds; Henderson is now second but continues to grip the record for most unintentional walks (2,).^[] While his career batting average of is considered somewhat modest for a leadoff hitter, his walks helped him post a stout on-base percentage (OBP) for his career.

He posted an OBP of at least in 16 separate seasons, with a high mark of in his MVP season. Henderson averaged walks per games over his career.^[35]

Henderson also holds the record for most home runs to lead off a game, with 81;^[]George Springer is second with 60 going into the season.^[] During the season, Henderson surpassed Babe Ruth for the career record in secondary bases (total bases compiled from extra base hits, walks, stolen bases, and times hit by pitch).

In , he led off both games of a doubleheader with homers. At the second of his last major league game, Henderson was still in the all-time top home manage hitters, with Bill James wrote in , "Without exaggerating one inch, you could find fifty Hall of Famers who, all taken together, don't own as many records, and as many important records, as Rickey Henderson."^[]

Henderson's record for the most postseason stolen bases was broken by Kenny Lofton's 34th career rob during the ALCS;^[] Henderson is the only American League player to steal more than bases in a single season (having accomplished the feat three times),^[] and he is the all-time stolen base leader for the Oakland A's.^[]

In , before breaking the career records for runs scored and walks, Henderson was ranked number 51 on The Sporting News' list of the Greatest Baseball Players,^[] and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.^[] In , The Sporting News updated their Greatest Players list, and Henderson had inched up to number ^[] On January 12, , Henderson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, receiving % of the vote.^[81] This was the 13th highest percentage in major league history.^[]

Asked to choose the best player in history, Henderson declined, saying, "There are guys who have done different things very well, but I don't know of anyone who mastered everything." Offered the chance to assess his own placement among the game's greats, he said, "I haven't mastered the homers or RBI.

The little things, I probably mastered." Of his various records and achievements, he values his career-runs-scored mark the most: "You have to score to win."^[81]

Records

Awards and honors

Award/Honor	# of Times	Dates	Refs
American League All-Star	10	, –88, –91	[24]
American League Championship Series MVP	1		[24]
American League Gold Glove Award (OF)	1	(strike shortened)	[]
American League hits champion	1		[24]
American League MVP	1		[]
American League Silver Slugger Award (OF)	3	, ,	[]
American League stolen base champion	12	–86, –91,	[24]
American League walks public figure	4	–83, ,	[24]
Major league on-base percentage leader	1		[24]
Major league runs scored chief	5	, –86, –90	[24]
Major league stolen base champion	6	, –83, –89,	[24]
TSN Comeback Player of the Year Award	1		[21]
World Series champion	2	(Oakland A's) (Toronto Blue Jays)	[24]

See also

Notes

References