When I was a kid, I was taught not to steal… but apparently Rickey Henderson didn’t get that memo. He had never met a base that he could not steal. As great a lead-off hitter as he was, he was an even better baserunner, swiping bases across Major League 25 seasons.
Rickey Henderson was nicknamed the “Man of Steal” due to his blazing speed and uncanny ability to steal bases. On June 7, 1994, Henderson stole his 1,100th career base as a member of the Oakland Athletics. When it comes to larceny on the base paths, nobody did it better than Henderson.
My Favorite Player…
When I was a kid, if you asked a Little League player who their favorite baseball player was, you might get answers like Cal Ripken Jr, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr, or Ryne Sanberg… but for me, it was always Rickey. He was my guy and the reason that I have been a loyal A’s fan for thirty-something years.
I cannot pinpoint where my Henderson fandom began, but I aspired to be like Rickey. I wasn’t blazing fast on the field, and I didn’t steal many bases, but I did try to adopt his low-crouched batting stance, which served me well enough to get plenty of base hits to the gaps as a mediocre JV player in high school… but I still had that urge to be a kleptomaniac. I wanted to steal.
Rickey Steals History…
I may have had a handful of steals in my career, and my son has surpassed my career totals just this season alone… My kids know who Rickey is and know that he is untouchable. He has 1,406 total stolen bases. He is the only player in MLB history to steal more than 1,000.
The closest active player to Henderson’s record is 37-year-old Kansas City Royals outfielder Starling Marte with 361 stolen bases. Nine of the top-10 active stolen base leaders are over 30 years old. Two active players in the top-20 could potentially come close to Henderson based on their young ages, 26-year-old Bobby Witt Jr. (170 SB) and 24-year-old Elly De La Cruz (149 SB).
Henderson made his Major League debut as an Athletic on June 24, 1979, recording two hits in four at-bats and stealing his first base. He would register 33 stolen bases in 89 games in his first season in the majors. In 1980, he swiped 100 bases, becoming only the third player (Maury Willis, 104 SB, and Lou Brock, 118 SB) to do so in a single season.
Henderson captured the single-season stolen base record from former St. Louis Cardinal, Brock, by stealing 130 bases in 1982. Nobody has come close to touching this record. By the mid-season All-Star break, he had already stolen 84 bases, which, since 1988, no other player, besides Rickey, had stolen as many bases in an entire season, when he stole 93 bases.
On May 1, 1991, Henderson stole third base and once again passed Brock (938 SB) for the all-time stolen base record. To make this moment even more memorable, he pulled the base out of the ground and held it above his head… literally stealing the base. One year later, how would Henderson celebrate the anniversary of his record… by stealing his 1,000th base, of course.
July 16, 1993, Henderson broke the world stolen base record when he stole his 1,066th base, surpassing former Hankyu Braves (currently the Orix Buffaloes in Nippon Professional Baseball) outfielder Yutaka Fukumoto, who was basically Japan’s Rickey Henderson, exhibiting an almost identical playing style.
On This Day in 1994…
In a 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, Henderson had a productive day, leading off for the A’s. He recorded one hit, three walks, scored two runs, and reached another milestone when he stole his 1,100th career base, further adding to his unreachable stolen base record.
In a game against the Colorado Rockies, 44-year-old Rickey Henderson swiped his final base on August 29, 2003, as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His 1,406 career steals will likely never be broken… but if it is, I hope I am still alive to see it.
