The latest case of unusual reporting involves the passing of former MLB legend Rickey Henderson at 65. That news officially came out early Saturday afternoon, with the New York Post and TMZ key early sources there:
However, this came after almost a day of rumors around Henderson’s passing spreading all over social media. And while many of the accounts spreading those weren’t particularly prominent, at least two were. Those would be former MLB manager (and current White Sox studio analyst) Ozzie Guillen and former MLB player Dave Winfield, who both discussed this much earlier Saturday:
As per TMZ, Henderson passed Friday in the Oakland area after battling pneumonia. So the incident happened long before the reporting, and some of the potential lag there is about the timing of when the family wanted to announce this. Casey Pratt, the chief of communications for the Oakland mayor’s office (and a former sports broadcaster at Bay Area ABC affiliate ABC7 who was known to be plugged in to the A’s) hinted at something along those lines Friday night:
And we’ve certainly seen that recently, including with ESPN NFL analyst Randy Moss’ specific health news being announced (and somewhat incorrectly so) by writer and broadcaster Larry Fitzgerald Sr. before Moss and his family were ready to release it, leading to pushback from Moss’ son Thaddeus. Still, it’s unusual to see this amount of lag between rumors of a death (including some from very prominent baseball figures) and actual published reporting on it.
At any rate, Henderson’s passing is certainly a sad one for baseball. He played 24 major league seasons with nine teams from 1979-2003, including four separate stints with Oakland. He holds MLB records for career stolen bases (1,406), runs (2,295), unintentional walks (2,129) and home runs to lead off a game (81), as well as the most stolen bases in a season (130).
And Henderson’s passing is notable for Oakland as well, especially after the A’s have now ended their time there. Indeed, the city’s USL team announced Saturday that they plan to honor him going forward while playing at the Coliseum, which saw its playing surface dedicated as Rickey Henderson Field in 2017.
The A’s also eventually offered their own tribute to him:
Henderson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility back in 2009. And he was a larger-than-life personality, an incredible quote, and a notable figure who brought so much interest to the game. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.