Blink and you would’ve missed him.
It’s not just that Rickey Henderson was fast, though the all-time MLB leader in stolen bases certainly was fast.
It’s not just that Henderson possessed an uncanny knack, as if he knew, instinctively, when the pitcher would begin his delivery and what kind of pitch he would throw.
And it’s not just that Henderson got on base a lot — though, with a career .401 on-base-percentage, he did, and that certainly helped.
“If my uniform doesn’t get dirty, I haven’t done anything in the baseball game,” Henderson once said.
It was, for the Hall of Famer who died this week at the age of 65, all of these things and more.
An accomplished high school running back, Henderson turned down collegiate football scholarships and instead signed with the Oakland A’s in 1976.
In 1980, his first year as a full-time regular in the majors, Henderson recorded 100 swipes, breaking Hall of Famer Ty Cobb’s 65-year-old American League record.
Two years later, at the age of 23, he nabbed the modern single-season record, stealing 130 bases to best Hall of Famer Lou Brock’s previous high of 118.
Henderson’s audacity, for those who faced off against him, was nothing short of tantalizing.
“He always said, ‘Rickey’s gotta go!’ right before he stole,” Hall of Famer Rod Carew wrote three years ago.
Former Mets and Yankees manager Buck Showalter, whose connection to Henderson goes back to the 1970s, said the outfielder’s abilities and preparation were special.
“I played against Rickey when he was with Jersey City in the Eastern League in 1978,” Showalter said in a statement Saturday. “He batted .310 but didn’t hit a home run in 133 games. People don’t realize how dedicated he was to being the best he could be. He took great care of his body and was ahead of his time in nutrition and conditioning. In my opinion, he was the best leadoff hitter of all time.
The righty stole bases in every city, at every stop.
“He epitomized speed, power and entertainment in setting the tone at the top of the lineup. When we considered new rules for the game in recent years, we had the era of Rickey Henderson in mind,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Saturday.
Even in his age-41 season, he was still chugging along mightily; that year, splitting his time between the Mets and Mariners, he stole 36.
His record, like his jersey in Cooperstown, are eternal.
“My favorite hero was Muhammad Ali,” Henderson said during his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech. “He said one time, quote, ‘I am the greatest,’ end of quote. That was something I always wanted to be, and now that the [Baseball Writers’ Association of America] has voted me into the Baseball Hall of Fame, my journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time, and at this moment, I am very, very humbled.”