Baseball's Greatest Base Stealer Dies at 65

Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the brash speedster who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball's leadoff position, has died at age 65, per the AP. Henderson died on Friday. The Athletics said Saturday they were "shocked and heartbroken by his passing," but did not specify a cause of death. Known as baseball's "Man of Steal," Henderson had a lengthy list of accolades and accomplishments over his nomadic 25-year career—an MVP, 10 All-Star selections, two World Series titles, and a Gold Glove award. But it was stealing bases where Henderson made his name and dominated the sport like no other.

• Henderson broke through with 100 steals in his first full season in the majors in 1980, topping Ty Cobb's AL single-season record with Billy Martin's "Billy Ball" Oakland Athletics. He barely slowed playing for nine franchises over the next two decades.
• He broke Lou Brock's single-season record of 118 by stealing 130 bases in 1982 and led the league in steals for seven straight seasons and 12 overall. Henderson broke Brock's career record when he stole his 939th base on May 1, 1991, for Oakland. He famously pulled third base out of the ground and showed it off to the adoring crowd before giving a speech that he capped by saying: "Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today I am the greatest of all time."
• Henderson finished his career with 1,406 steals. His 468-steal edge over Brock matches the margin between Brock and Jimmy Rollins, who is in 46th place with 470.

• Henderson is also the career leader in runs scored with 2,295 and in leadoff home runs with 81, ranks second to Barry Bonds with 2,190 walks, and is fourth in games played (3,081) and plate appearances (13,346). He finished his career with 3,055 hits over 25 seasons spent with Oakland, the New York Yankees, Toronto, San Diego, Anaheim, the New York Mets, Seattle, Boston, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

(More Ricky Henderson stories.)