1 of 4 | Rickey Henderson reacts after hitting a house run on the All-Star Legends & Movie star Softball Sport at Citi Discipline in New York Metropolis on July 14, 2013. Henderson has died at age 65, Main League Baseball introduced Saturday. File Photograph by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 21 (UPI) — Baseball Corridor of Famer Rickey Henderson, hailed as the best leadoff hitter and base-stealer within the sport’s historical past, has died at age 65, Main League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred introduced Saturday.
Henderson, who was nicknamed the “Man of Steal” and achieved his biggest feats whereas taking part in for the Oakland Athletics, died simply in need of his 66th birthday on Christmas Day.
“For a number of generations of baseball followers, Rickey Henderson was the gold commonplace of base stealing and leadoff hitting,” Manfred said in a statement. “Rickey was one of the crucial achieved and beloved Athletics of all-time. He additionally made an affect with many different golf equipment throughout a quarter-century profession like no different.
“He epitomized velocity, energy and leisure in setting the tone on the prime of the lineup. After we thought-about new guidelines for the sport in recent times, we had the period of Rickey Henderson in thoughts.”
His spouse, Pamela Anderson, referred to as him “a legend on and off the sphere.”
“Rickey was a loyal son, dad, buddy, grandfather, brother, uncle, and a very humble soul,” she mentioned. “Rickey lived his life with integrity, and his love for baseball was paramount. Now, Rickey is at peace with the Lord, cherishing the extraordinary moments and achievements he leaves behind.”
No explanation for demise was given, though TMZ reported he had been hospitalized with pneumonia. Henderson performed 14 of his 25 main league seasons with the Athletics. He additionally suited up for the Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
He’s MLB’s all-time stolen base chief with 1,406 luggage. His 130 stolen bases for Oakland in 1982 set the single-season main league document.
Henderson additionally hit .279, with 297 profession residence runs, and received two Worlds Sequence titles, together with one with the A’s in 1989.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, with 94.8 p.c of the vote on his first poll.
“I like the sport of baseball,” Henderson at his induction ceremony on July 26, 2009. “It’s an honor to be inducted … and have my identify subsequent to gamers like Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Roberto Clemente and the record goes on and on.”
In 2017, he was honored by the staff when the sphere on the Oakland Coliseum was named “Rickey Henderson Discipline.”
“Rickey Henderson is the best Athletic of all time. It’s becoming we honor and acknowledge his affect on our franchise by naming our taking part in area after him,” Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval mentioned on the time.
Henderson was born in Chicago on Christmas Day 1958 and moved along with his household to Oakland on the age of seven, the place he grew up within the shadows of the Coliseum.
His old flame was soccer whereas starring at Oakland Technical Excessive Faculty and he hoped to in the future play for the Raiders. However he as an alternative opted for baseball and was drafted by the A’s out of highschool within the fourth spherical of the 1976 Draft.
