MVP Profile: Rickey Henderson, 1990

Outfielder, Oakland Athletics

Age:  31

8^th season with Athletics (7^th complete)

Bats – Right, Throws – Left

Height: 5’10” Weight: 180

 

Prior to 1990:

Born Rickey Nelson Henley on Christmas Day of 1958 in Chicago, he moved with his mother and siblings to Arkansas, and later to Oakland. His mother remarried and Rickey and his brothers took on the name Henderson from their stepfather. At Oakland Technical High School, Henderson starred in football and basketball as well as baseball. Noted for his upbeat nature as well as solid work ethic, his initial hope was to continue with football. But at his mother’s urging he pursued a baseball career after high school rather than a football scholarship to college. Chosen by the hometown A’s in the fourth round of the 1976 amateur draft, Henderson signed and was first assigned to Boise of the Class A Northwest League, where he batted .336 with 29 stolen bases in 46 games. In 1977 he was with Modesto of the Class A California League where he was coached in the art of base stealing by manager Tom Trebelhorn and stole 95 bases in 134 games while also hitting .345 with 11 home runs and 69 RBIs and also drawing 104 walks and scoring 120 runs. Named to the league All-Star team, Henderson advanced to Jersey City of the Class AA Eastern League in 1978 where he was again a league All-Star after batting .310 and stealing 81 bases. He started 1979 with Ogden of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League and in 71 games was hitting .309 with 44 stolen bases when he was called up to the A’s in June. In 89 games with the woeful A’s, the 20-year-old rookie batted .274 and topped the club with 33 stolen bases. With the arrival of manager Billy Martin in 1980 and his aggressive brand of “Billy Ball”, the A’s improved dramatically and left fielder Henderson became part of a highly regarded outfield along with CF Dwayne Murphy and RF Tony Armas. He batted .303 with 100 stolen bases, which set an AL record at the time. He was also among the league leaders in walks drawn (117) and on-base percentage (.420) and improved his defensive play. During the strike-interrupted 1981 season, Henderson topped the AL in runs scored (89) and hits (135) as well as stolen bases (56). The A’s reached the postseason and advanced to the ALCS before falling to the Yankees. Henderson placed second in league MVP voting. The A’s dropped to fifth in 1982, but their star leadoff hitter stole a record 130 bases and topped the AL in walks drawn (116) while batting .267 with 10 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 119 runs scored. His characteristic headlong slide while stealing led to a jammed shoulder that hindered him after setting the stolen base record and his average suffered. Typically speaking of himself in the third person, he was often considered to be overly brash. But his performance remained strong in 1983 as the “Man of Steal” stole 108 bases and hit .292 while again topping the AL in walks drawn with 103. Henderson’s stolen base total dropped to 66 in 1984, which was still enough to lead the league, and he batted .293 with 16 home runs, 58 RBIs, and a .399 OBP that was helped along by 86 bases on balls. In an austerity move in the offseason, the A’s traded him to the New York Yankees in a seven-player deal. The Yankees signed him for five years and $8.6 million to complete the transaction. With his new club in 1985, Henderson was shifted to center field and remained an offensive force as he hit .314 and led the AL with 146 runs scored and 80 stolen bases to go along with 24 home runs, 72 RBIs, 99 walks drawn, and a .419 OBP. Aiming for the fences more in 1986, Henderson’s home run total rose to 28 and his batting average dropped to .263 and his OBP to .358. He still topped the AL with 87 stolen bases and 130 runs scored. His string of seven consecutive AL stolen base titles ended in 1987, a year in which he missed 67 games with a hamstring injury. He still stole 41 bases and batted .291 with 17 home runs, 37 RBIs, and a .423 OBP while splitting his time between center field and left as well as DH. Healthy and back in left field in 1988, Henderson was back on top in stolen bases with 93 while hitting .305 with 118 runs scored as his home run total dipped to 6. The Yankees were sputtering during the first half of the 1989 season and Henderson was batting only .247 with 25 stolen bases when he was dealt back to the A’s in June for pitchers Eric Plunk and Greg Cadaret, in addition to outfielder Luis Polonia. Back in Oakland, the defending AL champion, he returned to form. For the year he led the league in stolen bases with a combined 77, in runs scored with 113, and in walks drawn with 126. He ended up hitting .274 with a .411 OBP and the A’s again topped the AL West and won the league pennant as Henderson was the MVP of the ALCS, where he batted .400 with two home runs and 8 steals in five games. He also hit .474 in the World Series sweep of the San Francisco Giants.

 

1990 Season Summary

Appeared in 136 games

LF – 118, DH – 15, PH – 2, PR – 1

 

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

 

Batting

Plate Appearances – 594

At Bats – 489

Runs – 119 [1]

Hits – 159

Doubles – 33 [14, tied with Ellis Burks]

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 28 [6, tied with Bo Jackson]

RBI – 61

Bases on Balls – 97 [4]

Int. BB – 2

Strikeouts – 60

Stolen Bases – 65 [1]

Caught Stealing – 10 [15, tied with five others]

Average - .325 [2]

OBP - .439 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .577 [2]

Total Bases – 282 [6]

GDP – 13

Hit By Pitches – 4

Sac Hits – 2

Sac Flies – 2

 

League-leading runs scored were +15 ahead of runner-up Cecil Fielder

League-leading stolen bases were +22 ahead of runner-up Steve Sax

League-leading OBP was +.039 ahead of runner-up Fred McGriff

 

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 19, HR – 17, RBI – 35, SB – 39, AVG – .335, OBP – .440, SLG – .601

 

Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at Seattle 4/13, (in 5 AB) vs. Boston 5/5

Longest hitting streak – 9 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 5 AB) at NY Yankees 4/30, (in 4 AB) at Cleveland 7/6, (in 5 AB) at NY Yankees 9/8

HR at home – 8

HR on road – 20

Multi-HR games – 3

Most RBIs, game – 3 on five occasions

Pinch-hitting/running – 0 for 1 (.000) with 1 BB & 1 SB

 

Fielding

Chances – 299

Put Outs – 289

Assists – 5

Errors – 5

DP – 0

Pct. - .983

 

Postseason Batting: 8 G (ALCS vs. Boston – 4 G; World Series vs. Cincinnati – 4 G)

PA – 37, AB – 32, R – 3, H – 10, 2B – 2,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 4, BB – 4, IBB – 0, SO – 6, SB – 5, CS – 1, AVG - .313, OBP - .378, SLG -.469, TB – 15, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 1

 

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

Silver Slugger

All-Star (Started for AL in LF)

 

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Rickey Henderson, Oak.: 317 pts. – 14 of 28 first place votes, 81% share

Cecil Fielder, Det.: 286 pts. – 10 first place votes, 73% share

Roger Clemens, Bos.: 212 pts.  – 3 first place votes, 54% share

Kelly Gruber, Tor.: 175 pts. – 45% share

Bobby Thigpen, ChiWS.: 170 pts. – 43% share

(1 first place vote for Dennis Eckersley, Oak. who ranked sixth)

 

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A’s went 103-59 to finish first in the AL Western Division by 9 games over the Chicago White Sox. The A’s started and ended fast on their way to a third straight AL West title, and despite significant injuries that allowed their depth and pitching strength to be highlighted. Won ALCS over the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 0, for their third straight pennant. Lost World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 0.

 

Aftermath of ‘90:

The A’s dropped to fourth in the AL West in 1991, and Henderson, while still an All-Star, had an off-year in which he batted .268 with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs. His 58 stolen bases still led the league, he scored 105 runs, and he had a .400 OBP thanks to his 98 walks. In 1992 he was twice on the disabled list due to hamstring problems and in 117 games hit .283 with 15 home runs, 46 RBIs, 48 stolen bases, and a .426 OBP. Oakland returned to the top of the division but lost to Toronto in the ALCS. Henderson departed the A’s for a second time during the 1993 season, as he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of July. Batting .327 with 17 home runs and 31 stolen bases at the time of the deal, he stole 22 bases in 44 games for the Blue Jays, although his average was only .215. Toronto won a second straight World Series while the A’s dropped to the bottom of the AL West. Henderson stole five bases in the postseason and then returned to Oakland as a free agent in 1994 with a two-year, $8.6 million deal. With his skills diminishing, he hit .260 during the strike-shortened season with 22 stolen bases and a .411 OBP. His average rebounded to .300 in 1995 and he hit 9 home runs and stole 32 bases for the fourth-place club. In the offseason he signed a two-year $6.2 million free agent contract with the San Diego Padres. The Padres won a division title in 1996 and Henderson batted .241 with a .410 OBP thanks to 125 walks drawn. Additionally, he stole 37 bases and scored 110 runs. Having a lesser year in 1997, he was traded to the Anaheim Angels in August and for the season batted a combined .248 with 8 home runs and 45 stolen bases, although he still drew 97 walks for a .400 on-base percentage. A free agent once more, he returned to Oakland in 1998 and at age 39 led the AL in stolen bases (66) and walks drawn (118) while hitting .236 with 14 home runs. Henderson next signed on with the New York Mets in 1999 and was The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year as he batted .315 with a .423 OBP and 37 stolen bases with 12 home runs. He was involved in controversy following the Game 6 ALCS loss to the Braves when it was reported that he was playing cards in the clubhouse while the Mets’ season was coming to an end, an allegation he denied. He was released during the 2000 season and signed with the Seattle Mariners. He batted a combined .233 for the year and stole 36 bases. He returned to San Diego in 2001 as his production continued to decline. That year he moved past Babe Ruth into first place on the all-time list of walks drawn but he ended up hitting just .227 in 123 games. He went to the Boston Red Sox in 2002 at age 43 and began the 2003 season with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League, but he got one last major league shot in July when he joined the Dodgers and batted .208 in 30 games. For his major league career, Henderson batted .279 with 3055 hits that included 510 doubles, 66 triples, and 297 home runs, 81 of which were leadoff home runs. He scored 2295 runs and compiled 1115 RBIs while stealing 1406 bases, drawing 2190 walks, and amassing a .401 on-base percentage. As a member of the A’s the numbers were .288 batting average, 1768 hits, 1270 runs scored, 289 doubles, 41 triples, 167 home runs, 648 RBIs, 867 stolen bases, 1227 walks drawn, and a .409 OBP. On his way to becoming the all-time base stealing leader, he led the American League 12 times and had three hundred-steal seasons. His 2129 unintentional walks remain a major league record to date. Appearing in 60 postseason games, Henderson hit .284 with 5 home runs, 20 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases. A ten-time All-Star, he also received one Gold Glove and three Silver Sluggers. The A’s retired his #24 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2017 the A’s named their home field at the Oakland Coliseum in his honor.

 

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.