Oakland A’s Rickey Henderson gestures toward the stands after hitting a first inning home run off San Francisco Giants’ starting pitcher Don Robinson during the fourth game of the World Series at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Oct. 28, 1989. (AP Photo/Leonard Ignelzi)

The Ultimate Game Changer

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

There are so many stats in today’s game that when I read them before broadcasting a game, they might make you dizzy. There are stats for everything baseball; some are silly, like when a guy hits a home run inside a dome stadium compared to when he hits a home run in an open-air stadium. Yes, they keep track of that, of course. But who cares? For me, the only difference in a Homerun is an ‘inside the park”; everything else is bla bla bla, but it gives the PR departments something to write about, and that is fine. By-the-way, TV loves that.

Rickey Henderson is number one in the game’s history in stolen bases with 1,406; he is also number one in scoring runs with a total of 2,295; Ty Cobb ranked second. If you take a minute to digest those numbers, you realize those are two of the most important stats in baseball. Rickey Henderson was a threat from the undeck circle. Everybody knew what he was going to do, and he did it. Pitchers were always concerned when Rickey Henderson reached first base. In Major League Baseball today (MLB), pitchers are limited to two pick-off attempts or step-offs per plate appearance. Before this new rule, a pitcher could throw 10 or more times to first base to keep a runner close to the base, and when Rickey Henderson got on first base via hit or walk, pitchers were on notice. Pitchers “could not stop Rickey” once he reached base, and they knew it.

Rickey Henderson was not just a singles hitter or stolen bases specialist. In his 25 years (consecutive years) playing in the MLB, he also hit 297 home runs. Rickey would let a pitch come right through the heart of the plate for a strike; he would not complain. He was the most selective hitter, working pitchers to thousands of 3 and 2 counts until he succeeded. Once he got on base, the “cat-and-mouse “game began. Everybody knew he was going; he did and stole the base. He mixed all that talent with excellent style, the joy of playing the game, and a million-dollar smile.

The Rickey Run. This was when the A’s were on a collective offensive slump. Rickey would walk, steal second, and then score with a base hit, or he would get on, then steal second, and then steal third, and then a sacrifice fly, and A’s had a Rickey Run! Dave Stewart would go 7 or 8 innings, and the bullpen with closer Dennis Eckersley and the A’s would win by one run. Why one run? Credit Rickey Henderson, the Man of Steal.

I believe that Willie Mays was the greatest player of all time, but Rickey Henderson is on that Mount Rushmore of players, a man who could do it all, with class, with that fabulous physique and the joy that you could see on that big smile.

I feel proud and privileged to have seen and covered Rickey Henderson when he first came to the A’s as a rookie in 1979 to play left field. I remember that excellent outfield of Rickey Henderson in left, Dwayne Murphy in center, and Tony Armas in right field. I will never forget Rickey Henderson as one of the greatest baseball players I have ever seen. All of Rickey’s accomplishments you can find were contained in the sports section. The only time he made the front page of a paper was his passing on Friday. Never a scandal, lived through the steroids era, never betting issues, nothing negative (even playing for the Yankees’ #1 market and most controversial media in the world). Rickey Henderson was a family man who loved what he did in his profession.

What is a game changer? “Game changer” is frequently used because it’s a concise and impactful phrase that effectively conveys the idea of something significant altering the status quo or introducing a major new development. That was Rickey Henderson.

For most baseball fans, people who covered and knew Rickey Henderson, the media, and the players, it was like everybody expected him to live forever, and we were all right because he will live forever in our minds. Oakland has been mostly in the negative column during the past few years, the team’s relocation to Las Vegas with a stop in Sacramento, the strife in City Hall, and many social issues. God gave us Rickey, and he left us way too early. One of the best things the team ever did was name the Coliseum playing field Rickey Henderson Field. My wife suggested that ‘the powers to be’ now name Hegenberger Road, Ricky Henderson Boulevard. This would make Oakland proud; this city needs a makeover, and they need to change their image.

Quote: “If you walked him, it’s like giving up a triple” -Pitcher Charlie Hough.