#21 Rickey Henderson

 

Rickey Henderson
OF
1979-2003
10x All Star, MVP, All Time Stolen Base Leader
Baseball Hall of Fame 2009

The most disruptive top of the lineup force in the history of the game. He's the all time leader in stolen bases, he's the all time leader in leadoff home runs. The all time leader in runs scored. He's second all time in walks. He's a member of the 3000 hit club. 

If you're advanced stats guy- he's 14th all time in position player WAR. 

He's a .284 career postseason hitter, with 2 World Series rings. He's the lone member of the 1000 steals club. HIs numbers dropped off later in his career but Rickey kept playing because Rickey loved baseball. 

What's more Rickey was cool. He was fast, his uniform looked different on him - he had the chains and the shades and he made old white writers uncomfortable. He was the straw that stirred the drink for the 89 A's which was one of the great teams of all time. 

He suffers a little bit from the Yogi stuff of being more known for the insane things that came out of his mouth and the hilarious stories than his greatness on the diamond. He was the best leadoff hitter that ever played the game, the best base stealer that ever played game, and one of the best players that ever played the game.

He was elected to Cooperstown in 2009.

Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Basketball Coach and amateur baseball arguer. If you wanna know how this list came together check here criteria. He thinks that George Brett winning batting titles in 3 decades is pretty awesome. 




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