Rickey Henderson Marquee Hall of Fame 2009

b. December 25, 1958 · Oakland Athletics 1979–1984, 1989–1995, 1998, New York Yankees 1985–1989, Toronto Blue Jays 1993, San Diego Padres 1996–1997, 2001, Anaheim Angels 1997, New York Mets 1999–2000, Seattle Mariners 2000, Boston Red Sox 2002, Los Angeles Dodgers 2003

Rickey Henderson stole 1,406 bases. The next man on the list is 468 behind. He also scored 2,295 runs, which is the record, drew more walks than anyone but Barry Bonds, and collected 3,055 hits across 25 seasons — a career long enough that he led the league in stolen bases in 1980 and again in 1998.

He led in steals twelve times, topping out at 130 in 1982, which is also the record. He was a leadoff hitter who hit 297 home runs, and his combination of getting on base and then leaving it made him arguably the most valuable leadoff hitter anyone has had.

He played for nine clubs, went back to Oakland four separate times, and was still trying to get signed in his late forties. The Hall of Fame elected him in 2009.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	10	1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991
Player of the Week	4	1982, 1985, 1990, 1991
Silver Slugger	3	1981, 1985, 1990
The Sporting News All-Star	3	1981, 1985, 1990
ALCS MVP	1	1989
Gold Glove	1	1981
Most Valuable Player	1	1990
Player of the Month	1	1985
The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year	1	1999

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1979	OAK	89	351	49	96	13	3	1	26	34	39	33	.274
1980	OAK	158	591	111	179	22	4	9	53	117	54	100	.303
1981	OAK	108	423	89	135	18	7	6	35	64	68	56	.319
1982	OAK	149	536	119	143	24	4	10	51	116	94	130	.267
1983	OAK	145	513	105	150	25	7	9	48	103	80	108	.292
1984	OAK	142	502	113	147	27	4	16	58	86	81	66	.293
1985	NYY	143	547	146	172	28	5	24	72	99	65	80	.314
1986	NYY	153	608	130	160	31	5	28	74	89	81	87	.263
1987	NYY	95	358	78	104	17	3	17	37	80	52	41	.291
1988	NYY	140	554	118	169	30	2	6	50	82	54	93	.305
1989	NYY/OAK	150	541	113	148	26	3	12	57	126	68	77	.274
1990	OAK	136	489	119	159	33	3	28	61	97	60	65	.325
1991	OAK	134	470	105	126	17	1	18	57	98	73	58	.268
1992	OAK	117	396	77	112	18	3	15	46	95	56	48	.283
1993	OAK/TOR	134	481	114	139	22	2	21	59	120	65	53	.289
1994	OAK	87	296	66	77	13	0	6	20	72	45	22	.260
1995	OAK	112	407	67	122	31	1	9	54	72	66	32	.300
1996	SDP	148	465	110	112	17	2	9	29	125	90	37	.241
1997	ANA/SDP	120	403	84	100	14	0	8	34	97	85	45	.248
1998	OAK	152	542	101	128	16	1	14	57	118	114	66	.236
1999	NYM	121	438	89	138	30	0	12	42	82	82	37	.315
2000	NYM/SEA	123	420	75	98	14	2	4	32	88	75	36	.233
2001	SDP	123	379	70	86	17	3	8	42	81	84	25	.227
2002	BOS	72	179	40	40	6	1	5	16	38	47	8	.223
2003	LAD	30	72	7	15	1	0	2	5	11	16	3	.208
Career	—	3081	10961	2295	3055	510	66	297	1115	2190	1694	1406	.279

On this day & linked events

1958

Born December 25, 1958

Chicago, IL, USA

2024

Died December 20, 2024

1979

Major-league debut: Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson made a major-league debut on June 24, 1979.

1989

Nolan Ryan's 5,000th Strikeout

Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan strikes out Oakland Athletics leadoff man Rickey Henderson to become the first pitcher in Major League history to record 5,000 career strikeouts.

2001

Rickey Henderson's 3,000th Hit

Rickey Henderson doubles in his only at-bat on the final day of the 2001 season for his 3,000th hit, the same afternoon Tony Gwynn played his last game.

2003

Final major-league game: Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson played a final major-league game on September 19, 2003.

Image: User Dlz28 on en.wikipedia, public domain