Baseball's Mr. Christmas

Baseball's greatest leadoff hitter ever is a Christmas Day baby. Rickey Henderson, turning 61, burst into stardom with the A's, spent 4-1/2 productive seasons with the Yankees, and made several other stops during his 25 big league seasons -- a career that spanned four decades over two centuries.

The game's all time stolen base leader led his league in steals 12 times -- including seven years in a row. He scored more runs than anyone ever, and by walking 2190 times, maintained a career on-base percentage over .400.

His speed and power earned him another distinctive mark -- his 81 leadoff homers are the most ever. Following the post-World War II example of Jackie Robinson, and then Maury Wills and Lou Brock, Rickey -- even though just 5 feet 10 -- was an intimidating force to any and all pitchers.

While today's advanced analytics downplay the importance of speed -- though it does respect his knack for home runs and walks -- tell me you wouldn't want to write his name in at the top of your team's lineup.

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