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Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff man in the history of the game. He’s most remembered as the career leader in stolen bases.

Cardinals speedster Lou Brock set the record in 1977, breaking Ty Cobb’s decades old mark. Brock held it until 1991 when Henderson made it his own.

Rickey finished with 1,406 thefts, nearly 50% more than Brock’s 938.

Henderson also is number one all time in runs scored. He had 13 seasons with at least 100, including six with 110 or more.

The all-time leader in unintentional walks, Rickey was issued 90 or more free passes in a dozen seasons, topping the 100 mark seven times.

The two teams Henderson is most remembered playing with are the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. Shown here are two autographed cards, one representing each team. Rickey played a combined 19 years for the two clubs over the course of his 25-year playing career in Major League Baseball.

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While Rickey Henderson set the AL on fire with his base-stealing and all-around play, Tim Raines did the same in the NL. Widely considered the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time, Henderson was a one-of-a-kind player.

From 1981-1987, the two men were very similar in terms of production. Henderson’s slash line during the run was .290/.401/.453. An All Star in each of those seven seasons, Raines was not far behind at .310/.396/.448.

In those heart-of-the-80s seasons, Henderson snatched 568 bags and was caught 137 times, good for a 80.4% success rate. The 1986 batting champ, Raines success rate of 87.2% in that time was superior as he stole 504 bases and was caught just 74 times.

Raines wrote of the comparison between the two speedsters in his autobiography, Rock Solid: My Life in Baseball’s Fast Lane.

“I heard it said time and time again that I was ‘the Rickey Henderson of the National League.’ That didn’t bother me. Rickey was an outstanding player. But maybe he was ‘the Tim Raines of the American League.'”

Shown here are four Tim Raines autographed baseball cards from the early 1980s.

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Rickey Henderson led the American League in stolen bases every year but one in the 1980s. In the years he did lead the league, save the ’81 strike-shortened year, Henderson averaged more than 92 steals a season.

In 1987 injuries limited Henderson to just 95 games. That season a career-high 60 stolen bases from Harold Reynolds led the league.

On the Dan Patrick radio show Reynolds told a story about a phone call he received from Rickey.

“The season ends, the phone rings. ‘Henderson here.’ He always talks in the third person. So I say, ‘What’s up, Rick?’ He goes, ‘Man you oughta be ashamed.’ I go, ‘What are you talking about?” He says, ‘Sixty stolen bases? You oughta be ashamed. Rickey has 60 at the break.’ Click. He hangs up.”

There is only one Rickey Henderson.

Rickey Henderson played for the Yankees for five seasons from 1985-1989. He led the AL in steals in four of the five seasons and posted a 135 OPS+ during his time with the Yanks.

In the collection is a payroll check from just before the opening of the 1987 campaign dated March 31.

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On the back of the check is Rickey Henderson’s endorsement signature. Stories on Henderson’s eccentricities abound but one thing is for sure — he loved to play baseball.

Two days after his election to the Hall of Fame a 50-year old Henderson remarked, “I believe today, and people say I’m crazy, but if you gave me as many at-bats that you would give the runners out there today, I would out-steal every last one of them… they can always ring my phone and I’ll come on down and help their ball club, that’s how much I love the game.”