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Why Rickey Henderson is in the Hall of Fame

Posted by Andy on February 4, 2009

Well, here's one way of looking at it. What was Henderson famous for? Bases on balls, stolen bases, and runs scored (very often in that order.)

Here are the most career games since 1956 with at least 2 BB, 2 SB, and 2 R:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Rickey Henderson     49 Ind. Games                
 Tim Raines           20 Ind. Games                
 Joe Morgan           14 Ind. Games                
 Davey Lopes          11 Ind. Games                
 Ozzie Smith           9 Ind. Games                
 Alex Cole             9 Ind. Games                
 Lou Brock             9 Ind. Games                
 Otis Nixon            8 Ind. Games                
 Kenny Lofton          8 Ind. Games                
 Chuck Knoblauch       8 Ind. Games                
 Gary Pettis           7 Ind. Games                
 Billy North           7 Ind. Games                
 Lenny Dykstra         7 Ind. Games                
 Eric Davis            7 Ind. Games                
 Cesar Cedeno          7 Ind. Games                
 Bobby Bonds           7 Ind. Games                
 Barry Bonds           7 Ind. Games                

The highest-ranking active players (not counting, chuckle, Barry Bonds) are Brian Roberts, Scott Podsednik, Chone Figgins, and Luis Castillo with 5, and Omar Vizquel, Hanley Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, and Bobby Abreu with 4. Methinks nobody is going to catch Henderson. Not ever.

4 Responses to “Why Rickey Henderson is in the Hall of Fame”

  1. JohnnyTwisto Says:

    Ty Cobb, Billy Hamilton, and Eddie Collins are the names who come to mind who might be in Henderson's ballpark.

  2. tomepp Says:

    Notice who's #2 on the list -- the second-best leadoff hitter of our generation (if not all-time), who also deserves to be in the HoF. Though miles behind Rickey, he's still almost 50% ahead of #3, nearly double #4, and more than double anyone else.

  3. Resumen de noticias - 04/02/2009 - Planeta Béisbol Says:

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  4. Resumen de noticias - 04/02/2009 - Planeta Béisbol Says:

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