Baseball's Mister Christmas

Baseball's greatest leadoff hitter ever is a Christmas Day baby. Rickey Henderson, turning 62, 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.

Comments

Rickey24 said…
Always at the top of any lineup. Bar None
5'10 and jacked
A running back playing baseball
January 8, 2021 at 2:59 PM
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