Ricky Henderson, playing with his second Minor League team, joined the Jersey City Athletics for the 1978 season.
The Athletics had left Philadelphia twenty-four years earlier in 1954, but their AA affiliate, the Jersey City A’s, were ninety miles north of Philly.
Only a year and a half later, he was already in the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics, just one year before the Phillies would win the World Series.
Rickey Henderson wasn’t ever a Phillie. He didn’t play at Philadelphia University. He didn’t perfect his craft on the streets of Philly or in the city’s many sandlots. But what he did over a more than twenty-year career with the franchise that originally rose to prominence in Philadelphia at Connie Mack Stadium — remains unparalleled even today.
When you think about the Philadelphia Athletics, you think about Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Ty Cobb, and Connie Mack Stadium. When you think of The Oakland Athletics, you think of Rickey Henderson.
Henderson was a World Series Champion in 1989 and 1993, a ten-time All-Star, a Gold Glover, and an unbelievable twelve-time AL Stolen Base Leader. Over his career, he stole 1,406 bases and had 2,295 career runs over a 25-year career, making him the “King of Stolen Bases” to accompany his 297 home runs and 3,055 RBIs.
Between 2006-2007, Rickey Henderson was a base stealer and first base coach for the N.Y. Mets. One year after he left, the Phillies would win their first World Series since 1980 — once again, just missing a Philadelphia connection.
Rickey Henderson passed away at age 65 this weekend.
PHOTO: FOX6 News Milwaukee/Facebook
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