Rickey Henderson, the Man of Steal

“Humility gives us a good foothold in prayer. There is no hope of prevailing with God unless we abase ourselves, that He may exalt us in due time.” – C.H. Spurgeon

I belong to several Facebook discussion groups that focus on baseball history. Although some of them deal with the relatively recent past, I prefer the more vintage ones that cover the period from World War II through the 1960’s… or the “Golden Era” from 1920 to 1940… or the “Dead Ball Era” from 1900 to 1919. I even love references to how baseball was played before the turn of the 20th century, when men like Adrian “Cap” Anson, “Big Ed” Delahanty, Denton True “Cy” Young, and Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourne ruled the game.

Recently, I got into a discussion about Rickey Henderson, the speedy outfielder who played for nine different teams from 1979 to 2003. Many baseball experts consider Henderson to be the greatest leadoff hitter of all time because he collected 3,055 hits, scored 2,295 runs, stole 1,406 bases, and walked 2,190 times. Henderson also led off the game with a homer 81 different times, another record that will likely stand forever.

However, Rickey had some real holes in his game, too. For instance, his career batting average was only .279 and his OBP (on-base-percentage) was just .401. And although his 1,406 stolen bases are 468 more than Lou Brock’s previous record of 938, Henderson also holds the mark for the most times caught stealing with 335.

Speaking of Lou Brock, who played for the Cubs and Cardinals from 1961 to 1979, when Henderson was closing in on his stolen base record, Lou made sure that he was in the crowd to congratulate Rickey. A quiet, dignified man, Lou stood silently, dressed in a business suit, while Rickey ripped the base from its moorings and held it aloft, declaring to a national audience that, “Today, I am the greatest of all time!”

I was watching at the time and couldn’t believe Henderson’s lack of humility and lack of class. But then again, knowing Ricky’s inflated ego and habit of referring to himself in the third person, I wasn’t really surprised.

Today, Rickey is 64 years old and can’t run as fast as he once could. I hope that age has taught him a few lessons along the way, one of which is to let your actions – not your mouth – speak for you.

“But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President