Henderson’s long, dazzling career highlighted in new book
NEW YORK — Theft never looked so good.
Rickey Henderson stealing bases was a thrilling spectacle. So was watching him hit and trying to spot the ball as it entered the stratosphere. Yet as amazingly talented as Henderson was on the diamond, bad press dogged him, especially here in New York.
That wasn’t without basis; Henderson was an ego to be reckoned with.
“I don’t need no press now, man,” he infamously told reporters when he joined the Yankees.
The difference between Henderson and so many who strut is that he had the talent to back up the swagger.
Henderson shattered records, and sometimes it seemed as if he would play forever. Only three others — Hank Aaron, Carl Yastrzemski, and Pete Rose — played more games than Henderson.
Howard Bryant’s 10th book, “Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original,” is a deep and unvarnished look into one of baseball’s all-time greats.
Despite the access Bryant had — Pamela Henderson, the athlete’s wife, suggested writing the biography, and the author had four interviews with the baseball player among his dozens of other interviews — this is not an approved biography.
Instead, it’s an accurate account of who Henderson is, how he earned his place among the baseball greats, and what made him who he is. From tracking his dramatic birth in an Oldsmobile on Christmas 1958 to explaining the games, Bryant puts the man in context. Among the misconceptions Bryant clears up is that the birth was not during a blizzard.
As a former reporter for the Oakland Tribune (Disclosure: Bryant was in sports, and I was in news there in the early 90s), Bryant details the Black migration from the South and how it changed the city.
“Their exodus made a political statement,” he writes. “Black people weren’t just looking for good jobs but leaving something very specific and unique to them: violence at the hands of white southerners . They were leaving behind the notion that they were unentitled to be American.”
Bryant understands the people of Oakland and its beloved baseball team, The A’s, for which Henderson played four times.
His stats are stellar: Henderson stole 1,406 bases, including the 1982 season when he swiped 130. But he was far more than just the Man of Steal, as he was dubbed. Henderson also clocked 2,295 career runs, the all-time record, played in the All-Star games 10 times, and was a World Series champ twice. Incredibly fast and powerful, Henderson threw left, batted right, and crouched at bat, resulting in an exceptionally compacted strike zone.
While Henderson’s story began in that Oldsmobile, he had opportunities because his young mom, Bobbie Earl, had left her home of Pine Bluff, Ark., for a better life in Oakland. Bryant recounts games and adds perspective from players and coaches, but this book is nuanced because of the author’s understanding of Oakland.