Rickey Henderson, MLB's all-time stolen bases leader, dies at 65

Rickey Henderson, MLB's all-time stolen bases leader and a baseball icon, died at age 65, the league announced Saturday.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of my husband, Rickey Henderson," Henderson's wife, Pamela, and his daughters said in a statement. "A legend on and off the field, Rickey was a devoted son, dad, friend, grandfather, brother, uncle, and a truly humble soul. Rickey lived his life with integrity, and his love for baseball was paramount."

Henderson recorded 3,055 hits with 297 home runs and 1,115 RBIs over his 25-year career as a prolific leadoff hitter between 1979 and 2003. His 1,406 steals, 2,295 runs scored, and 81 leadoff homers are tops in major-league history.

"Rickey epitomized speed, power, and entertainment in setting the tone at the top of the lineup," commissioner Rob Manfred said. "When we considered new rules for the game in recent years, we had the era of Rickey Henderson in mind."

A 10-time All-Star, Henderson also took home a Gold Glove, three Silver Sluggers, and the 1990 AL MVP. He led his hometown Oakland Athletics to the 1989 World Series title and won that year's ALCS MVP after hitting .400/.609/1.000 with two homers and eight steals against the Blue Jays. Henderson won a second ring with Toronto in 1993.

But it was on the bases where Henderson truly reigned supreme. He tortured opposing catchers, leading the league in steals 12 times and winning in seven straight years from 1980-86. Henderson had three 100-steal seasons, including a modern-era record 130 in 1982, and stole 90 bases four times and 80 six times. He won his final stolen-base crown in 1998 when he stole 66 during his age-39 season.

"Somebody asked me did I think Rickey Henderson was a Hall of Famer. I told them, 'If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers,'" statistician Bill James wrote of Henderson in his 2001 Historical Abstract.

On May 1, 1991, Henderson stole his 939th base to break Lou Brock's all-time record. Following the steal, he delivered a signature speech to an adoring Oakland crowd.

Henderson entered Cooperstown wearing an Athletics hat in 2009. That same year, the A's retired his No. 24, the number he's most associated with. Henderson was also an inaugural member of the A's Hall of Fame in 2018.

Born in Chicago on Christmas Day 1958 and raised in Oakland, Henderson debuted with his hometown team partway through 1979 and stole 100 bases the following year. He revitalized the A's franchise during his early days, helping them to a playoff berth in 1981.

Oakland traded him to the Yankees in 1985, and he enjoyed some of his best individual seasons in New York. Henderson stole 326 bases in 596 games as a Yankee to become the franchise's stolen-base leader; it took Derek Jeter almost 17 seasons to break Henderson's record. The Yankees dealt him back to Oakland in 1989.

A half-season in Toronto in 1993 interrupted Henderson's second and third stints with the A's. Though he stole just 12 bases in 44 games with the Blue Jays, Henderson left his mark on the franchise, drawing a leadoff walk off Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the '93 World Series to set the stage for Joe Carter's winning homer.

Henderson bounced around in his later years, suiting up for the San Diego Padres and A's twice each, as well as the Anaheim Angels, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers over his final decade in the majors. In 2001, he recorded his 3,000th hit and broke Ty Cobb's runs scored record.

Known for his quirky personality as much as his play, many stories and myths have circulated about Henderson over the years. He was said to have framed his first million-dollar paycheck instead of cashing it. He often referred to himself in the first person and played the game with a unique swagger that could leave his opponents in awe.

Many found Henderson's personality to be self-serving and cocky, but teammates often spoke glowingly of him. At his Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he displayed a rarely-seen softer side while talking about his love of the game.

"Rickey stories are legion, legendary, and mostly true," former Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson, who acquired and traded Henderson multiple times, said in a statement, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "But behind his reputation as self-absorbed was a wonderful, kind human being who loved kids. His true character became more evident over time.

"Nine different teams, one unforgettable player. Sandy gonna miss Rickey."