You love baseball. Tim Kurkjian loves baseball. So while we await its return, every day we’ll provide you with a story or two tied to this date in baseball history.
ON THIS DATE IN 1991, Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock’s career record for stolen bases.
Henderson pulled the historic bag out of the ground, raised it above his head and, into a microphone, announced to the Oakland Coliseum crowd, “Today, I am the greatest of all time!”
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And, he was and is. Henderson is the greatest base stealer in history; his 1,406 steals are 468 more than Brock, who has the second most of all time. Henderson also is the greatest leadoff man ever. Part of that was his power: He hit 81 leadoff home runs, 27 more than Alfonso Soriano, who is second on the list. Henderson is first in runs scored; that was the first individual statistic kept in baseball because it was considered the most important one: scoring a run is the goal. Henderson also is second in walks and fourth in times reached base. He was a devastating offensive player for almost his entire 25-year career. He was a plus defensively. He is, by any measure, a top-three left fielder of all time.
And Rickey is Rickey. There are all sorts of urban legends about some of the colorful things he has said and done, none of which was harmful or malicious. But one of his managers in New York, Bobby Valentine, tells this story. Rickey broke another record, which demanded another standing ovation. Rickey loved a standing ovation. He was standing on first base and tipped his cap to the crowd at Shea Stadium. Rickey loved to tip his cap. The steal sign for Rickey was a clap of the hands. After the ovation had died down, Rickey looked at third-base coach Cookie Rojas, who looked at Rickey and clapped his hands.
“And Rickey tipped his cap to Cookie,” Valentine said.
Twenty years after Henderson broke Brock’s record, I saw Lou Brock at the pro shop in Cooperstown, New York, on Hall of Fame weekend. He is the sweetest, kindest man, a gentleman in every sense of the word. The conversation shifted to that day in Oakland when Rickey broke the record. Brock said that he and Rickey had grown close during Henderson’s pursuit, and together they wrote a short speech that Rickey would read, on the field, immediately after he broke the record.
Rickey would keep the speech in the pocket of his uniform. But when Henderson stole base No. 939, he got caught up in the moment, started speaking, as Brock, watching from a distance, said, “No, Rickey, the speech?!”
Brock smiled. He spoke to Rickey. Rickey said, “Sorry, I forgot.”
Other baseball notes from May 1
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In 1987, Bobo Holloman died. In 1953, his only major league season, he was a struggling reliever headed to the minor leagues. But in a spot start, his first major league start, he threw a no-hitter — the first by a St. Louis Browns pitcher since 1934 by … another Bobo, Bobo Newsom. Holloman made only nine starts after his no-hitter. He finished his career with three victories.
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In 1964, second baseman Jose Lind was born. He was great defensively, tremendously athletic. He could really jump. Appropriately, he was born in a leap year.
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In 1991, Marcus Stroman of the Mets was born. In his county in Long Island, he was named high school pitcher of the year, and Mets pitcher Steven Matz was named hitter of the year. Stroman is listed at 5-foot-9 in some places, 5-7 in others. He is 5-7. Before a start at Fenway Park a couple of years ago, my producer insisted that we have a height-off. “First time I have ever won one,” Stroman said.
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In 1990, Scooter Gennett was born. David Ortiz, Gary Sheffield and Rafael Palmeiro never hit three homers in one game. On June 6, 2017, Gennett hit four home runs in a game.
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In 1991, Nolan Ryan threw his seventh no-hitter. He was 44. He struck out 16.
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In 2012, Magic Johnson joined the Dodgers ownership group. Soon after, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, who was a great high school hoops player, said he could beat Magic in one-on-one. Kemp was 28. Magic was 51. Magic told me with a smile, “Look, that’s my sport. He can’t beat me in my sport. No way. Just like I would never say I could beat him at his sport. No way. I don’t want to play his sport. His sport is way too hard.”