On Saturday, baseball lost one of its most important figures with the passing of all-time stolen base leader, Rickey Henderson. The Hall of Fame outfielder died on Friday after a bout with pneumonia at 65 years of age.
Shortly after the unfortunate news broke, countless sports media members weighed in with some of their favorite moments and stories about perhaps the most electrifying man in the history of baseball.
Henderson is of course best remembered for his unmatched ability on the basepaths, stealing a total of 1,406 bases over the course of his 25-year MLB career. On top of holding the career stolen base record, Henderson also ranks as the top run scorer in the history of baseball with 2,295 runs scored.
Naturally, many highlighted his elite-level longevity and blazing speed in posts on social media remembering Henderson as a player.
Former NBC Sports Bay Area studio host Brodie Brazil shared a video of Henderson’s record-breaking 939th career steal in a 1991 game against the New York Yankees.
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg noted Henderson’s speed, power, and flair in his tribute post of Henderson, who he believes is the most dynamic baseball player ever.
Former Boston Red Sox player turned NESN color analyst Lou Merloni had the pleasure of playing with Henderson in 2002, detailing in a post how he felt it was an “honor” to play with Henderson.
While his career accolades undoubtedly stand the test of time, others in sports media highlighted his charisma both on the baseball field and in front of a camera.
Whether it be commonly referring to himself in the third person in interviews or simply being “as cool as the other side of the pillow” in the words of the late great Stuart Scott, there simply weren’t very many with as much personality in baseball as Rickey Henderson.
Darren Rovell shared a 2009 clip from ESPN’s Mike & Mike clip where Henderson detailed how he opted to get a $1 million check from the Oakland Athletics framed instead of cashing it. Ultimately, the Athletics accounting department called Henderson, telling him to cash the check and replace it with a replica.
Former MLB pitcher John Rocker shared one of his favorite stories about Henderson, a clip from Harold Reynolds detailing how he received a call from Henderson after winning the stolen base title in 1987. Henderson, who was forced to miss significant time due to injury that year, told Reynolds that he “should be ashamed” of only finishing the year with 60 stolen bases on the year.
The phrase “one of a kind” often gets overused when it comes to athletes in any sport. But given the lengthy list of accomplishments and untouchable records Henderson has recorded throughout his legendary career and his polarizing personality to boot, there truly may never be another Rickey Henderson in the history of baseball.
Based on these touching tributes following his passing, it is certainly safe to say that Henderson will never be forgotten for all he has done for the world of sports.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.