Seattle Mariners Legend Ken Griffey Jr. Comments on Rickey Henderson's Impact
The baseball world was reeling on Saturday after news that Baseball Hall of Famer and all-time steals leader Rickey Henderson had died at the age of 65 after a bout with pneumonia.
Many former players, media, teams and teammates paid homage to Henderson, who played from 1979-2003 with nine different franchises.
Henderson played for part of the 2000 season with the Seattle Mariners and helped the team during their run to the American League Championship Series that year.
Henderson returned to Seattle on the last game of the 2024 season on Sept. 29 to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. It was the last game played by the Oakland Athletics, who will play in Sacramento for the next several seasons while their stadium in Las Vegas is being built.
Henderson, who played the better part of 12 seasons across three stints with Oakland, wore a split Athletics-Mariners jersey to acknowledge his history with both teams. Henderson won a World Series with Oakland in 1989 and won the only American League MVP of his career with the team in 1990.
Henderson's impact on the game was vast, and his influence on Seattle wasn't limited to just that 2000 season.
Mariners legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. released a statement that was shared on "X" via the Seattle Mariners official account discussing Henderson's impact on him and his career:
"Yesterday was the hardest day for me, probably, in my professional career. For all the guys we've lost this year, Rickey meant more to me than anyone. I was closest to Rickey. He was just so special to me.
Rickey was my favorite player growing up. I looked up to him. And then I got to know him and got to play with him. He was like an uncle to me. Rickey took the time to get to know me when I was a young player. Not just as the son of a ballplayer, but as a person, as a peer. And he was really someone who looked out for me. He'd call. He'd check in on me. He'd talk to me about what was happening in my career and in my life.
Rickey seemingly never had a bad day. You never knew if he was 4-for-4 or 0-for-4... he still had that smile. The Rickey smile. Every fan who ever showed up to watch Rickey play got the full Rickey experience.
One of the great moments of my career was early on, maybe 1993, and we played a Turn Back the Clock game against the A's. Rickey and I shared a glove in center field. I'd drop my glove behind second base as I jogged off the field and Rickey would pick it up. Who does that?
He was such a special person, as well as a special player. The amount of respect I had for him is impossible to overstate."
Baseball lost an all-time great player and one-of-a-kind person on Saturday. There will only ever be one Rickey Henderson.
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