The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #28 Rickey Henderson

Speeding in at #28 is the ultimate leadoff man Rickey Henderson. Rickey’s career was so unique that simply trying to describe it is an exercise in fun.  Rickey’s 1,406 career stolen bases are the most in MLB history and a whopping 468 ahead of Lou Brock for second place. There are only 47 players in history who even reached 468 stolen bases as a career total. The gap between Rickey and Brock is bigger than the gap between Brock and 45th place. Rickey’s 2,295 career runs are the most in history. His 2,190 non-intentional walks are also the most in history. He’s the only player in history with 3,000 hits and 2,000 walks. He’s the only player in history with 3,000 hits, 2,000 runs, and a .400 on-base percentage. Just to put into perspective how remarkable Rickey’s career was, if we cut in half his career hits, runs, walks, stolen bases, and home runs total, there is only one player in major league baseball history to reach those marks (Tim Raines). Rickey is the only player in MLB history with 100 walks, 100 stolen bases, and 100 runs in a single season and he did it three times. He joins Stan Musial as the only two players in history with 3,000 hits, 295 home runs, and a .400 OBP. He led the league in stolen bases a record 12 times including in 1998 when he reached an astonishing 66. Rickey was the table-setter for eight playoff teams and two World Series champions while also being named the 1989 ALCS MVP.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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