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On This Date in Sports July 29, 1989

In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com

Rickey Henderson who had recently returned to the Oakland Athletics demonstrates just how much havoc he can cause of the base paths as steals five bases and scores four runs without recording an official at-bat. Henderson walks four times with Randy Johnson getting the start for the Seattle Mariners in Oakland. However, Rickey Henderson’s base running is not enough as the Mariners stun the Athletics 14-6.

Rickey Henderson was born in the back seat of an Oldsmobile on Christmas Day in 1958 in Chicago. After his father left the family, he moved with his mother to Oakland, taking the last name of his stepfather. In high school, Rickey Henderson was a multi-sport start, playing football, basketball, and baseball. After graduating Henderson, was drafted in the fourth round by the hometown Oakland Athletics.

After making his major league debut in 1979, Rickey Henderson had a breakout season in 1980 under manager Billy Martin who encouraged him to steal a base at every chance he had. This led to him stealing 100 bases and started a stretch where he led the American League in steals 11 of the next 12 years, only missing out in 1987 when Harold Reynolds of the Seattle Mariners won the stolen base crown. This included the 1982 season when Henderson set a new single-season record by stealing 130 bases.

Following the 1984 season, Rickey Henderson was traded to the New York Yankees with five prospects, Stan Javier, Jay Howell, Jose Rijo, Tim Birtsas and Eric Plunk going to Oakland in return. Henderson continued his assault on the record books with the Yankees over the next four year, before 1989 when the Yankees decided to begin rebuilding. This led the Yankees to send Rickey Henderson back to the Athletics on June 21, 1989, receiving Luis Polonia, Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk in return.

Battling the California Angels for first place the Oakland Athletics entered a Saturday Afternoon home game against the Seattle Mariners and their hard-throwing rookie pitcher Randy Johnson. The Mariners managed by one-time Riddler henchman Jim Lefebvre were without their other stud rookie, Ken Griffey Jr who was injured slipping in the shower. With Storm Davis on the mound for Tony LaRussa, the A’s found themselves in a big hole early as Seattle built a snowman scoring eight runs, with a steady parade of singles. Davis would not finish the inning as Gene Nelson recorded the final two outs. Hoping to get back in the game, Rickey Henderson led off the game with a walk and then proceeded to steal second and third, before he came into score when Johnson failed to field a grounder off the bat of Carney Lansford. The Mariners added two runs sparked by a ground rule double from Alvin Davis. Henderson again led off the third inning with a walk, stole second and scored on a double by Carney Lansford to cut the deficit to 10-2. Nelson and the Oakland pitching staff continued their struggles in the fourth inning as he loaded the bases and walked Harold Reynolds to make it 11-2. Matt Young came in and walked Greg Briley to make it 12-2, with Alvin Davis scoring two more with a single to make it 14-2 in favor of Seattle. Young and Jim Corsi held the Mariners in check the rest of the way, but 14 runs were more than enough for the young Randy Johnson. In the fifth inning, Rickey Henderson again was issued a leadoff walk and stole second, continuing to prove the saying that walk to Rickey was like a double or a triple. Henderson later scored when Jim Presley mishandled a ground ball by Mark McGwire, as Oakland scored twice to get within in ten runs. In the sixth inning, Henderson again walked and was part of a double steal with Stan Javier. Both Henderson and Javier scored on a double by Lansford to close out the scoring in the game. Bill Swift finished the game pitching the final three innings to earn a save for Seattle. With the game out of hand, Henderson would sit the final innings as the Mariners recorded a 14-6 win to improve to 49-53 on the season while Oakland sat at 61-42 after the loss.

The Athletics would go on to win the World Series, with Rickey Henderson playing a key role, winning the ALCS MVP. Henderson would go on to shatter the record for base running with 1,406 career stolen bases and 2,295 runs scored. Rickey Henderson also ranks second all-time in bases on balls with 2,190.