On the morning of Saturday, December 21st, there were unconfirmed rumors that were confirmed by the early afternoon. The baseball world had lost a true titan of the game far too young: Ricky Nelson Henley Henderson—the “Man of Steal”—had passed away at the age of 65.
Henderson was unequivocally the single greatest base thief of all time, a master of his craft. Henderson holds baseball’s career stolen base record at 1,406, which is 468 steals more than the next man up. He also holds three of the league’s highest single-season steal totals, including the top spot in the modern era after stealing 130 bases with the Oakland Athletics in 1982.