On this date in 1982, Rickey Henderson was in his fourth MLB season with the Oakland Athletics. What he accomplished that year has yet to be matched over 30 years later. Henderson's Throwback Thursday moment is one of the most memorable in baseball history.
Henderson set the MLB's single-season steals record with his 119th stolen base against the Milwaukee Brewers and broke the previous mark of 118 set by St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock in 1974.
The 25-year MLB veteran played with the Athletics (14 seasons), New York Yankees (five seasons), San Diego Padres (three seasons), New York Mets (two seasons) and had short one-year stints with the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Anaheim Angels and Seattle Mainers. His MLB-record of 1,406 stolen bases will perhaps never be matched. He leads Brock, who is second all-time, by 468 swiped bags.
Check out the video below of Henderson's record-setting night back on Aug. 27, 1982:
Henderson stole 100 bases or more in three MLB seasons and led the American League in steals 12 times. He also holds the MLB all-time record for runs scored (2,295) and lead-off home runs (81). At 31 years old he won the AL MVP award in 1990 as a member of the A's after batting .325/.439/.577 with 119 runs scored, 28 home runs, 61 RBIs and 65 stolen bases in 136 games.
He also won a World Series with the Athletics in 1989 and another with the Blue Jays in 1993. During Oakland's run to the World Series in '89, Henderson won the MVP of the ALCS against the Blue Jays, during which he batted .400/.609/1.000 with 8 runs scored, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 8 stolen bases in five games.
The Hall of Famer typically spoke in the third-person, but his record-setting night in 1982 was one of the few times he resorted to the first-person.
"Lou Brock was a great base stealer but today I am the greatest."