Rickey Henderson: The great players mourn the loss of the MLB leader in all-time steals
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Rickey Henderson: The great players mourn the loss of the MLB leader in all-time steals

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 5: Rickey Henderson addresses the crowd during a pre-game ceremony inducting the inaugural members of the Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame before the game between the Athletics and the New York Yankees on September 5, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Yankees 8-2. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)

Rickey Henderson was the platonic ideal of a leadoff hitter, not to mention beloved as a person. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)

The MLB world lost its leader in stolen bases on Saturday with the death of Rickey Henderson, one of baseball’s biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s.

Henderson will always be remembered as the man who stole 1,406 bases, a mark that could be considered one of the truly unbreakable MLB records. The active player closest to that mark is Starling Marte with 354, about a quarter of Henderson’s total.

However, Henderson was so much more than just a demon on the basepaths. He had power, with 297 home runs in his career. He had plate discipline and retired as the all-time MLB leader in walks with 2,190 (only Barry Bonds has surpassed that mark). He had a Gold Glove defense and two World Series rings. And he had a larger-than-life personality, yet was as generous as any star:

When a league loses a player like that, his teammates feel it. Even before news of Henderson’s death broke, tributes poured in from Henderson’s former teammates, opponents and coaches in the major leagues, not to mention all the players who idolized him.

Dave Winfield, Henderson’s Hall of Fame teammate on the New York Yankees, was the first to do so:

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