Rickey Henderson, baseball’s all-time leader in stolen bases, runs and leadoff home runs and a Jefferson County Sports Hall of Fame All-Time Great, has died. Henderson would have turned 66 on Christmas Day.
The JCSHOF confirmed Henderson’s death.
“I received a text message early this morning from Oakland Athletics scout Kelcey Mucker that Rickey had passed away due to pneumonia,” said Jeff Gross, JCSHOF chairman. “A huge loss to the game of baseball of one of its all-time greats. Prayers to all of the Henderson family.”
Henderson was born Rickey Henley but adopted his stepfather’s surname. He wrote in his 1992 autobiography “Off Base” he was born in Chicago in the back of an Oldsmobile on its way to the hospital, but after his father left the family his mother moved him and his older brothers to his grandmother’s farm in Pine Bluff.
“The chickens were my favorite,” Henderson wrote. “I could play with those chickens all day long. I’d chase them, then they’d chase me. Man, those chickens were fast. Put dozens of chickens together in one coop, and they run every which way. I had to be fast to keep up with them, but there wasn’t a chicken on that entire farm that could outrun me. And I was teeny-weeny. I think that’s when Momma realized I was going to be faster than most kids.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Henderson then moved with his family to Oakland, Calif., at a young age and was drafted by the hometown Athletics in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major-league debut with the A’s in 1979 and earned the first of his 10 All-Star selections in 1980. Henderson won World Series with the Athletics in 1989 and Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, was American League Championship Series MVP in 1989 and league MVP in 1990, when the A’s made their third straight World Series. The left fielder was a Gold Glove winner in 1981.
Henderson also played with the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Anaheim Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He played in four stints with the A’s before retiring in 2003.
Henderson is the only player with more than 1,000 career stolen bases (1,406). Second-place Lou Brock, who was born in El Dorado, had 938.
Henderson’s 2,295 runs scored is 50 more than second-place Ty Cobb. Henderson also batted .279 with 3,055 hits, 297 home runs, and 1,115 runs batted in.
Henderson was announced Dec. 11 one of six All-Time Greats for the JCSHOF, along with NFL linebacker and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Coach Monte Coleman, MLB outfielder Torii Hunter, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Don Hutson, NFL offensive tackle Willie Roaf and Pine Bluff High School multisport great Basil Shabazz. These athletes, along with the rest of the initial Hall class, will be inducted April 26 in a ceremony at the Pine Bluff Country Club.