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Goodbye Rickey?

The best base stealer of all time slinks out of town

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Thursday May 18, 2000 03:02 AM

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

	• Storylines • Series to See • All Thumbs • Heroes & Bums • Short Hops • Yogi-isms

The best base stealer of all time slipped out of town last week, a victim of continued run-ins with his manager and team and his own well-publicized and lengthy history of insouciance.

Rickey Henderson left the New York Mets, and maybe baseball, forever, with a record that likely never will be approached. His mark of 1,339 career stolen bases is 401 more than Lou Brock and, truth be told, something that is simply not as valued in the game anymore.

Eighteen years ago, Henderson was the king of baseball when he swiped 130 bases, a record. He led the majors in stolen bases 12 times, another record. From 1980 to 1991, he led the American League in swipes every year but one. As recently as '98, he topped the league with 66 steals.

He was the last to steal at least 80 in a season, with 93 in '88.

In the '90s, no one has stolen more than 78 in a single season (Marquis Grissom of the Expos, in '92), so it seems that Henderson's single-season mark is safe.

And as long as there are big swingers, short fences and a live ball, it's unlikely anyone will give enough consideration to steals to top Henderson's career mark for stolen bases.

Ironically, it was the long ball that finally did in Henderson -- if, indeed, no other team decides to pick him up.

Henderson holds the career record for leadoff home runs, 75, and last Friday hit a ball to left off Florida's Ryan Dempster. Henderson went into a home run trot, but the ball bounced off the wall and Henderson was held to a single.

The Mets placed him on waivers -- it was only the latest incident in a no-hustle season in which Henderson was hitting only .219 - but no one picked him up and the team eventually released him.

If this was Henderson's last stand, it's certainly not the way the cocky, often abrasive speedster would have wanted to go. Still, he leaves as the game's greatest base stealer.

Even in this power-hungry day, that should mean something.

On to The Week at a Glance, which asks: How can Oakland have a losing record at home and still lead its division?

The answer: It's the AL West!

The Diamondbacks Don't look now, but the team Jerry Colangelo has built is the best in baseball right now. Pitching, hitting, a gimmicky ballpark -- they have it all in the Arizona desert.
Oh, those Tigers Just as they're given up for dead, the Tigers pull off a three-game sweep of the Yankees in Comerica -- after winning no more than two straight all season. It was the first time the Yankees had been swept on the road since last April, when Detroit did it to the New Yorkers in old Tiger Stadium.
Creaky arms Older pitchers like Joe Strong, Rich Sauveur and Jim Morris -- all 37 -- are popping up all over the place, forcing baseball experts to redefine the term "veteran."
Triple plays Who can't pull one off? The Braves managed one last week, against the Marlins, then the Expos turned one against the Cubs. Maybe it's the live ball just getting to the infielders more quickly. Maybe it's dead legs.
New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians, May 19-21 You have to figure the Yankees' shortcomings in Detroit were just a fluke. We'll find out for sure when they take on the Indians, winners of six of their last nine, in this weekend series at The Jake.
Arizona Diamondbacks at New York Mets, May 19-21 The best team in baseball -- did we mention that? -- against one that is struggling to find its way in the wake of Rickey Henderson's foolishness and an injured Rey Ordonez (who could be back for this series). The three-game set is in Shea, where anything can happen.
He's been so good for so long now, sometimes you just end up taking Mark McGwire for granted. But when he matches someone the caliber of Mickey Mantle on the home run list -- No. 8 overall -- well, folks, this is one of the greatest sluggers to ever play the game. Enjoy.
Jim Edmonds may have come into the season with a bad reputation, but what he's done so far in his new St. Louis home (.393, 12 homers, team-tops 32 RBIs) has made him a new hero in McGwireland.
The American League West may be the most tepid division in baseball. We have only one question: Does anyone here want to win this thing?
Mike Hargrove hasn't had to get mad yet, but it can't be far away. His new team, the Orioles, is thin on pitching, thin on hitting and now is challenging the Devil Rays for the AL East cellar.
Bum -- B.J. Surhoff: One of the reasons for the O's slide: Surhoff went 2-for-25 (.080) last week. And he's one of the more reliable Orioles hitters.
Bum -- Jermaine Dye: Maybe it's just coming back to Earth, but the April's AL player of the month just finished a 2-for-23 (.087) week in which he saw his average drop from .370 to .329.
Hero -- Mike Sweeney: Just to show you we're not picking on the Royals, Sweeney had a huge week (.522) that saw his average jump to .347 after a 4-for-5 day Sunday.
Hero -- Jolbert Cabrera: A .611 week for the Indians' outfielder, including 10 hits in three games.
Hero -- Mo Vaughn: Six home runs and 11 RBIs, including four home runs in his past three games. The only excitement the AL West may have.
Bums -- Mike Mussina and Mike Trombley: O's ace Mussina has given up six home runs in his last two starts, reliever Trombley three in seven pitches in his last outing.
Five of the Reds' last eight wins have featured go-ahead home runs by Ken Griffey Jr.
Seventeen of the last 19 outs that Diamondbacks hurler Byung-Hyun Kim has recorded have been strikeouts.
The Red Sox have not lost on a Sunday this year. Their last Sunday lost came Aug. 22, 1999.
Colorado's Todd Helton is hitting .536 at Coors Field.
After a .182 April, Pittsburgh's Wil Cordero is hitting .478 in May.
Our tribute to the banal banter of baseball "The ball is juiced everywhere except where we are playing." -- Yankees outfielder Paul O'Neill, after New York was swept by the Tigers

Statistics are through Sunday's games.

The Baseball Week at a Glance appears every Tuesday.

 

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