Rickey Henderson. Need I say more? Well, I'm going to.
The 25-year veteran outfielder has a résumé filled to the brim with accomplishments. He's been selected to ten All-Star teams, has two World Series rings, a Gold Glove Award, three Silver Slugger Awards, an American League MVP Award, and of course, he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Go ahead, catch your breath -- we are just getting started.
There are some interesting nuggets I came across recently that will make you an even bigger believer.
Man of Steal
Henderson's 1,406 stolen bases are not only an all-time record, but if you split him into two players, they would have enough swipes to rank both first (930) and 47th (467) all time.
Sports
He broke Lou Brock's record at 32-years-old and he was just getting started. He stole bases at a more efficient rate after breaking the stolen bases record (79.6 percent) than Brock did in his entire career (75.3 percent).
Not good enough for you? OK then ...
Rickey was a more efficient base stealer in his 40's (76.2 percent).
10/100
Henderson had 10 home runs and 130 stolen bases with Oakland in 1982. It's noted he's "baseball's only 10/100 man." As well as the first 10/90 players since Harry Stovey in 1890.
66
Henderson had 66 stolen bases in his first 66 games of the 1982 season. (!!!)
Another fun nugget
The Man of Steal had the ability to make it known that he will get on base by any means necessary.
He had three seasons with at least 100 walks and 100 stolen bases. Every other player combined for just two. He also tallied two, 20-plus homer, 80-plus stolen base seasons. Only Eric Davis of the Cincinnati Reds has even one. Also -- no other player in history has even a single 20-70 season.
1990 MVP season
Some of you reading this weren't even born in 1990. Rickey Henderson was dominating the game.
During his MVP season, he batted a .329/.345/.506 line. This was after falling behind 0-2 in the count and became the first player with an OPS of 1.000 or better and 65 or more stolen bases in a season since Ty Cobb in 1911. A year in which even I wasn't born yet.
***
[RELATED: A's name Coliseum playing surface after Henderson]
Lucky for us, we continue to see Henderson roaming the dugout and coaching boxes for the A's every now and then. He's a true A's-lifer.
How lucky are we?
Ryan Spaeder, the stat guy (that's not his official title, but that's how most people know him) was a huge help in the production of this piece, so I thank him a lot.
