Baseball Hall of Famer and stolen base king Rickey Henderson has died. He was 65 years old. Henderson’s friend and teammate Dave Winfield was one of those who announced the tragic news, which was later confirmed by the New York Post.

Henderson was born on Christmas Day 1958 in Chicago. However, he spent much of his childhood in Oakland. The Athletics came to town not long after Henderson, and after he graduated high school, his hometown team called his name in the fourth round of the 1976 MLB Draft. Three years later, he arrived at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to make his major league debut.

After a disappointing rookie season, Henderson broke through in 1980 with a superstar performance. The 21-year-old showed excellent bat-striking skills and a keen eye at the plate, ranking third among qualified batters in walk rate and OBP. Of course, he put that OBP to good use, leading the majors with 100 stolen bases. It was the first of seven times he led the majors in steals. He also made his first of 10 All-Star teams that summer and finished 10th in MVP voting that fall. In retrospect, however, he deserved to do much better. According to FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, MVP George Brett was the only AL player with a higher WAR this season.

More to come…