Rickey Henderson

Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 25 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics.

Nicknamed "the Man of Steal", he is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner.

He holds MLB records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks and leadoff home runs.

Henderson was born on December 25, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois, in the back seat of an Oldsmobile on the way to the hospital.

Henderson later joked, "I was already fast. I couldn't wait."

He was named Rickey Nelson Henley, after singer-actor Ricky Nelson, and is the son of John L. Henley and Bobbie Henley.

When he was two years old, 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.

His mother married Paul Henderson in Rickey Henley's junior year of high school and the family adopted the Henderson surname.

As a child learning to play 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.

In 1976, Henderson graduated from Oakland Technical High School, where he played baseball, basketball and football, and was an All-American running back with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

He also ran track, but did not stay with the team as the schedule conflicted with baseball.

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.

Henderson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.

He spent the first season of his minor league career with the Boise A's of the Northwest League.

In 46 games, Henderson batted .336 and hit three home runs and two triples.

Henderson spent the following season with the Modesto A's.

He batted .345 in 134 games during his record-setting season with Modesto.

Henderson, along with Darrell Woodard, nearly broke the league record for team stolen bases.

The Modesto A's finished the season with 357 stolen bases, just shy of the league record of 370.

While Woodard tied the single-season player record with 90 stolen bases, Henderson beat the record by stealing 95 bases, and was awarded the Sundial Trophy, given to the Modesto A's Most Valuable Player.

Henderson spent the 1978 season with the Jersey City A's of the Eastern League.

Henderson holds the single-season record for stolen bases (130 in 1982) and is the only player in AL history to steal 100 bases in a season, having done so three times (in 1980, 1982, and 1983).

His 1,406 career steals is 50% higher than the previous record of 938 by Lou Brock.

In 1983, Henderson married his high-school sweetheart, Pamela.

They have three children: Angela, Alexis, and Adrianna.

Henderson is the all-time stolen base leader for the Oakland Athletics and previously held the New York Yankees' franchise record from 1988 to 2011.

He was among the league's top ten base stealers in 21 different seasons.

Henderson was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1990, and he was twice the lead-off hitter for World Series champions: the 1989 Oakland Athletics and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.

A 12-time stolen base champion, Henderson led the league in runs five times.

His 25-year 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 base and run totals made him one of the most dominant and innovative players of all time.

He was further known for his unquenchable 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."

At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time American League (AL) All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in walks.

In the entire history of Major League Baseball through the 2008 season, only 57 position players are known to have batted right and thrown left, and Henderson is easily the most successful player to do so.

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."

In 2009, he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance.