On this date in 1991, Ricky Henderson (aka: The Man of Steal) passed the all-time base stealer Lou Brock stealing third base in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees for his 938 stolen bases. Born Ricky Nelson Henley in Chicago, Illinois, Henderson was named after the singer Rickey Nelson. His surname was changed after the passing of his father and the family moved to Oakland and his mother remarried. (Photo courtesy of TRB.com)
Henderson's talent of stealing bases was smiled upon by the baseball gods when Ricky was drafted (in the fourth round in 1976) by the Oakland A's: under skipper Billy Martin's unique approach to the game known as "Billy Ball" Henderson was given the green light to run and with Dwayne Murphy (a true fast-ball hitter) batting behind Ricky, pitchers had to throw Murphy the curve ball a perfect pitch to run on allowed Ricky to pass Brock's single-season record of 118 stolen bases in a season (Henderson would go on to steal 130 bases that season-a record he still holds).
Headed to Cooperstown
When Sabermetrics (Society for American Baseball Research) inventor Bill James was asked if Henderson was worthy of the Hall of Fame, James replied, "If you could split him in two, you would have two Hall of Fame pitchers." James is right not only did Henderson break Babe Ruth's record of 2,062 walks (ending with a career 2,190 base-on-balls) a record he held until passed by Barry Bonds, Ricky also passed Ty Cobbs record of 2,246 runs scored (with a career 2,295 runs) and holds the all-time stolen base record of 1,406 stolen bases. Trivia: In teammate Tony Gwynn's last game with the A's, Ricky had a lead-off home run, this game became the first and only time two players with over 3,000 hits have played in the same game.
Ricky Henderson will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009.
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