Dave Stewart was too numb to move and too stunned to talk when he received the telephone call Friday that left him sobbing.
He was set to turn 66 years old on Christmas Day.
Stewart and Henderson were the best of friends. They grew up together in Oakland, played together for the Oakland Athletics, won a World Series together in Oakland, and together threw out the ceremonial last pitches before the Athletics’ final game in September at the Oakland Coliseum.
Now, three months after the Athletics franchise played its final game in Oakland, Henderson is gone.
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He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, stealing the most bases and scoring the most runs in MLB history.
Henderson, a part-time instructor and ambassador with the A’s, who was heartbroken when the club announced it would depart Oakland, leaves an indelible mark that will be forever treasured.
If you were an A’s fan, you were a Rickey Henderson diehard.
If you were an player, you will forever cherish your favorite Rickey Henderson stories.
And if you were a lifelong friend like Dave Stewart, this was one of the worst days of your life.
Stewart, born and raised in Oakland, who won a World Series together with Henderson in 1989, said his all-time favorite moment at the Oakland Coliseum was watching Henderson break Lou Brock’s all-time career stolen base record two years later. Henderson wound up with 1,406 career stolen bases.
“When he became the king of stolen bases,’ Stewart said, “that was the greatest day for me.
“When you grow up with your homie and you watch him do great things, you feel like you’re a part of it. That’s my greatest moment.’
When Henderson broke the record, he yanked the second-base bag out of the dirt, held it high in the air, and shouted out: “I am the greatest!’
No one ever accused Henderson of humility, but he had had a flair that was unparalleled.
“Rickey just had his own style,’ said Dennis Eckersley, his former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer said.“I think he was clueless to the point where he didn’t realize he was showing people up.”
Former A’s infielder Mike Gallego once told the San Francisco Chronicle: “He had no intention of embarrassing anybody. He was playing baseball in the big leagues like he was playing in his backyard. We emulated Pete Rose and guys like that. Rickey emulated Rickey Henderson.”
Henderson, who led the league in stolen bases in 12 different seasons, averaging 74 steals a season in his 25-year-career, was a fourth-round pick of the Athletics in the 1976 draft out of Oakland Tech High School. He was drafted one year after Stewart was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of St. Elizabeth High School.
They became teammates in 1989 with the A’s winning the World Series over the San Francisco Giants. Henderson was the MVP of the ALCS, hitting .400 and stealing eight bases and Stewart was the MVP of the World Series, going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings.
It was the team’s first World Series win in 15 years, since Oakland was a title town in the 1970s with the A’s winning championships in 1972-74, the Golden State Warriors winning the NBA title in 1975, and the Oakland Raiders winning the 1980 Super Bowl.
This is why it was heartbreaking for Stewart and Henderson to see the team depart
“It’s disappointing to see the A’s leaving,” Henderson said. “But we’ve gone through so much with all the teams. When you have a city that had three big-name professional sports teams, and you can’t keep any of them, something’s wrong. It’s sad for the city.”
Stewart and Henderson, who moved to Oakland as a kid, first met when they were teenagers playing in Babe Ruth leagues. They later played against one another in high school, until becoming pro ballplayers, with Henderson becoming the most feared baserunner in baseball history.
“In my opinion, Rickey is one of the top three or four players to ever play the game,’ Stewart said. “I look at a guy who can carry a team not just for one or two days, but for a month or two at a time. He was just unbelievable.”
Now, he is gone, but will forever be remembered and revered by A’s fans.
“My career of being a baseball player in Oakland was fantastic,’’ Henderson said after being elected into the Hall of Fame. “I wouldn’t give it back for anything else. I had a wonderful time, the fans of Oakland were the best fans who were ever behind me and even when I was on another team, they always cheered.’
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