Baseball legend Rickey Henderson, career stolen base leader, dead at 65
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Rickey Henderson, Major League Baseball’s career stolen base leader, has died at age 65, according to multiple reports on Saturday.
TMZ reported Henderson passed away Friday near Oakland after being briefly hospitalised with pneumonia, while the San Jose Mercury-News said a family statement to confirm his death was expected later Saturday.
Henderson played 24 MLB seasons for nine different clubs from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with the Oakland A’s, with whom he won a World Series title in 1989.
Henderson also won a World Series crown in 1993, three months after being traded from Oakland to Toronto.
Nicknamed “The Man of Steal,” Henderson holds MLB records with 1,406 career stolen bases and 2,295 career runs scored and set the one-season record of 130 stolen bases in 1982. No other player has 100 steals in a season.
The 10-time All-Star outfielder was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009 in his first year of eligibility.
Henderson, who would have turned 66 on Christmas Day, finished with 3,055 hits, 297 home runs and 1,115 runs batted in with a .279 batting average.
He was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1990, among the 12 seasons when he was the AL stolen base leader.
In 1991, Henderson broke Lou Brock’s old MLB stolen base record by swiping his 939th career base.
