Rickey Henderson, baseball’s greatest leadoff hitter and ‘Man of Steal’, dies aged 65 Rickey Henderson, baseball’s greatest leadoff hitter and the all-time stolen base king, died Friday in Oakland at the age of 65 after battling pneumonia, multiple sources confirmed on Saturday.
A 10-time All-Star, two-time World Series champion, and 1990 American League MVP, Henderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2009.
Born Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson on Christmas Day in 1958, he often joked that his fast arrival in the back seat of an Oldsmobile in Chicago foreshadowed his legendary speed.
Henderson’s career was defined by his fearless baserunning, including his record-breaking 130 stolen bases in 1982, a single-season mark that still stands.
That was something I always wanted to be, and now that the [Baseball Writers’ Association of America] has voted me into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my journey as a player is complete.
