With rumours swirling early this morning on social media, multiple news sources are reporting that one of the greatest base stealers of all time has passed away. Rickey Henderson, who holds the Major League record with 1406 stolen bases and 2295 runs, has reportedly passed at the age of 65.

One of the greatest to don an Oakland A’s jersey, Henderson – nicknamed “The Man of Steal” – was drafted by Oakland in the fourth round of the 1976 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut in 1979, suiting up in 89 games.

Over the course of his 25-year career, Henderson earned 10 All-Star nominations, three Silver Slugger Awards, one Gold Glove Award, and two World Series Championships – one with Oakland in 1989 and with Toronto in 1993. Outside of the A’s and Blue Jays, Henderson also spent time with the Yankees, Padres, Mets, Mariners, Angels, Red Sox, and Dodgers before his last appearance in the Major Leagues in 2003. He spent time in Independent baseball for the next two seasons and officially retired from playing in 2005 – accepting a coaching position with the Mets to start the 2006 season.

Henderson retired with a .279/.401/.419 slash line with a 127 OPS+, 510 doubles, and 297 home runs. His best season came in 1990, when he led the league in OBP (.439), OPS (1.106), OPS+ (189), and runs (119) – earning the AL MVP Award for his efforts. The Oakland product led the league in steals on six different occasions (and the AL on 12) and swiped 130 bags in 1982, eight short of the single-season record set by Hugh Nicol in 1887. Henderson holds the record within the modern era (post-1900). He would finish his career with a 111.1 bWAR and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, earning 94.8% of the vote in his first year on the ballot.

The outfielder spent the latter half of the 1993 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, as general manager Pat Gillick acquired Henderson at the trade deadline from the A’s in exchange for Steve Karsay and Jose Herrera. With Toronto, he posted a .215/.356/.319 slash line with 22 stolen bases through 44 games. He suited up in both the ALCS and the World Series, collecting eight hits through both series with two RBIs and three stolen bases. Henderson was on second base when Joe Carter hit his World Series-clinching home run, with Mitch Williams using a slide-step to counter Henderson’s speed on the base paths after getting on base with a leadoff walk. Henderson would re-sign with Oakland the following offseason.

Along with his Hall of Fame honour, Henderson’s #24 is retired by the Athletics organization. He was inducted into the A’s Hall of Fame in their inaugural 2018 class.

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