Rickey Henderson would have as good a shot as anyone
Oakland Athletics legend the subject of new biography by Howard Bryant
What baseball needs is something it had for a quarter of a century but never truly appreciated.
It needs Rickey Henderson.
That's only one of the takeaways that comes from a biography eight years in the making from author Howard Bryant about an enigmatic Hall of Famer who is truly rooted in Oakland.
“Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original” is a fascinating read on many levels, starting with Henderson's arrival in Oakland from Arkansas with his family as part of the “Great Migration” of Black people leaving the South in hopes of better opportunity and a more level playing field.
The same migration that brought baseball greats such as Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, Curt Flood, Joe Morgan and others to Oakland as well as basketball legend Bill Russell.
Released last week, the book traces Henderson's path from an Oakland Tech football and baseball legend to minor league phenom to major league superstar who played with nine teams in 25 years, 14 of those in four different stints with the Athletics.
Bryant, 53, the author of three other books as well as countless stories and essays for ESPN, knows the terrain. A native of Boston, Bryant began his career with the Oakland Tribune, covering Oakland Athletic League high school sports, and later was an A's beat writer for the Mercury News.
“I was bouncing from Mcclymonds to Tech to Oakland High to Skyline and spending three years in the business doing that,” Bryant said. “It was like retracing steps in a lot of ways for me.”
In fact, one of the proposed titles of the book was “Rickey Henderson and the Legend of Oakland” but was thought to be “too regional” by publisher Mariner Books/harpercollins.
The cover photo from Bay Area photographer Brad Mangin depicts Henderson taking a lead off first base and torturing the opposing pitcher in the moments before an attempted steal, representing a style that has been lost in contemporary baseball. Henderson broke Lou Brock's single-season record (118) with 130 steals in 1982 and stole 1,406 for
Rickey Henderson, an Oakland Tech graduate, is MLB'S all-time run and stolen base leader.
his career — records that will never be broken.
“The sport is boring. It's not exciting,” Bryant said. “We all have different reasons why we watch, and Rickey was a reason to watch the game.”
Never more than the 1989 postseason, when Henderson destroyed Toronto in the American League Championship series as well as the Bay Bridge World Series with the Giants. Few players in the history of the sport took over the game to such an extent.
Henderson was never one to court the media. True to form, Henderson cooperated with Bryant on the unauthorized biography before having second thoughts and shutting down. Bryant had written “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron” and at a birthday function for Aaron's 80th birthday in 2014, Henderson's wife Pamela made her pitch. Bryant said the book couldn't have been done without her.
“Before we went to the gala that night, Pam said to me, `I want you to do for Rickey what you did for Henry Aaron,' Bryant said. “Pamela Henderson is dedicated to Rickey's greatness.”
Bryant listed 116 interviews in sourcing the book, which is a textured portrait of factual information and apocryphal legend.
Henderson could be selfcentered and was fixated on contract numbers, feeling he wasn't getting what he was worth. But he was also a popular teammate and clubhouse card sharp. He was adored by baseball fans, particularly in Oakland. Henderson was championed by former A's manager Billy Martin, a man who battled his own demons and lobbied for his trade from the A's to the Yankees.
Despite Henderson's statistical brilliance — he's the all-time leader in runs scored with 2,295 and hit 297 home runs — it wasn't until after he retired that a true appreciation of what he'd accomplished began to take shape.
A's manager Mark Kotsay was a teammate in San Diego when Henderson broke
Ty Cobb's record for runs scored. Asked before a recent game how often Henderson would be stealing in today's game, Kotsay said, “Every pitch. There is no comp for Rickey Henderson. He was ahead of his time.”
As Bryant notes, Henderson began hitting more home runs in New York with help from batting coach Willie Horton regarding what is referred to in today's game as “launch angle.”
Henderson took criticism for taking days off, despite the fact that he punished his body like no other with forceful head-first slides into second and third base at an unheard-of rate. Base stealers such as Tim Raines and Vince Coleman were done running in their early 30s. Rickey stole 66 bases for the A's at age 39.
The days off are now termed “load management” and are common practice.
“If you were an outfielder, you were expected to play 155, 160 games,” Bryant said. “Willie Mays played 150 games 13 straight years. How much better would Mays have been with a little bit of rest?”
As baseball is gradually shedding some of the “unwritten rules,” Henderson was a showboat before his time. He made snatch-catches in the outfield and popularized “The Pick,” where he picked at fabric on his jersey as he rounded the bases on elongated home run trots.
Henderson walked 2,190 times, second to Barry Bonds all-time, and had a career on-base percentage of .401, a figure exceeded by only Mike Trout and Joey Votto among current players. Those two areas have gained importance in the analytics era since Henderson's retirement.
“It's like getting contact lenses for the first time. You start seeing other things,” Bryant said. “And one of the things I thought was cool was it was really the analytics guys that rehabilitated Rickey.”
Never a great communicator, attributed in part to an undiagnosed learning disorder as a youth, Henderson worked diligently on his speaking skills, taking a course at Laney College and delivering a memorable Hall of Fame speech.
Having written extensively on cultural issues, the use of performance-enhancing drugs and other serious topics, Bryant was looking for something different in writing about Henderson.
“I wanted to do something fun. I wanted it to have weight,” Bryant said. “I wanted to have something more than superficial, but something I found enjoyable. Every now and then you get an idea that stays with you.”
Mission accomplished.