I lived in the Bay Area when he set the single season stolen base record. When he was at or near the record one of UHF stations interrupted my after school cartoons to go live to the A's game when he got on first base.
Rickey is my favorite baseball player of all time . . . the night the Yankees traded him back to the A's, I was 14 and spent the night crying in my parents' basement. Greg Caderet, Eric Plunk, and Luis Polonia never really did it for me as a fan.
Rickey got his 3,000th hit as a Padre, in Tony Gwynn's last game. So, for a few innings, I think they might have been the only 3,000 hit teammates in MLB history, but I may very well be wrong. Here is Tony's tribute to Rickey on that night:
Rickey and Molitor on the 93 Jays. I was thinking Winfield as well but he was there in 92. Jeter and Boggs on the Yankees. Arod and Jeter. Ripken and Murray. Palmeiro and Arod. etc...
Joe--a sweet look at an eccentric fellow who had a rare gift, spoke in the third person, and didn’t mind getting dirty. Old school ball from a guy who wasn’t all that old. Much appreciated.
Thanks for this piece on Rickey, Joe. You have a unique and unerring insight into the essential character of our players, and the talent to lay it out like you did here. You always leave us wanting more, and we know you probably have it.
This one hurts. My grandpa would love watching him steal bases. He would just smile. I hope he’s sharing some stories of watching Negro league greats in heaven with him. RIP Rickey
I lived in the Bay Area when he set the single season stolen base record. When he was at or near the record one of UHF stations interrupted my after school cartoons to go live to the A's game when he got on first base.
Very few are known by one name.
RIP, Rickey
Rickey is my favorite baseball player of all time . . . the night the Yankees traded him back to the A's, I was 14 and spent the night crying in my parents' basement. Greg Caderet, Eric Plunk, and Luis Polonia never really did it for me as a fan.
Great as Rickey was, Phil Mushnick points out that he was not the greatest base runner(as opposed to base stealer) and not a "winning" oriented player. This is a very sober look at Rickey the player and is food for thought: https://nypost.com/2024/12/26/sports/rickey-henderson-was-far-from-mlbs-greatest-baserunner/
Rickey got his 3,000th hit as a Padre, in Tony Gwynn's last game. So, for a few innings, I think they might have been the only 3,000 hit teammates in MLB history, but I may very well be wrong. Here is Tony's tribute to Rickey on that night:
https://youtu.be/u06T5C3Nx5w?si=P9wkua0Y8KoAOr3b&t=619
Rickey and Molitor on the 93 Jays. I was thinking Winfield as well but he was there in 92. Jeter and Boggs on the Yankees. Arod and Jeter. Ripken and Murray. Palmeiro and Arod. etc...
The 1928 A’s had 3 - Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb and Eddie Collins.
More recently, Eddie Murray & Dave Winfield on the '95 Indians.
I figured it had happened earlier. Thanks!
I love these little tidbits about RIckey's stolen base record:
Rickey (1,406) has 114 more stolen bases than Lou Brock (second all-time at 938) and Starling Marte (the active leader at 354) combined.
The distance between Rickey and Lou Brock is eight miles. (well, 7.97 miles)
Sandy Alderson with the best tribute yesterday. After he said a bunch of nice things about Rickey, he ended by saying: "Sandy gonna miss Rickey".
Well done, Mr. Alderson, well done.
Saw him play for the Newark Bears. He played just as hard with the same passion as ever.
Loved, loved, loved the way he played the game and loved him as a Yankee. Legend.
Joe--a sweet look at an eccentric fellow who had a rare gift, spoke in the third person, and didn’t mind getting dirty. Old school ball from a guy who wasn’t all that old. Much appreciated.
Thanks for this piece on Rickey, Joe. You have a unique and unerring insight into the essential character of our players, and the talent to lay it out like you did here. You always leave us wanting more, and we know you probably have it.
This one hurts. My grandpa would love watching him steal bases. He would just smile. I hope he’s sharing some stories of watching Negro league greats in heaven with him. RIP Rickey
He looked to still be in tremendous shape at 65. I figured he’d be with us another quarter century.
Imagine 25-year-old Henderson hitting the market today. Yup. We’d have our first billion dollar contract.
More Rickey stories! Please!
Man of Steal indeed.
Not that it matters, but I think 2024 would have been his 67th Christmas.