The Athletics, as the club is known for now, made their home opener at the Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California on Monday against the visiting Chicago Cubs. But before the game started, the A’s paid tribute to one of the best ever to do it in baseball — Rickey Henderson.
Athletics players were introduced before the contest, each one wearing the No. 24 in honor of Henderson, the A’s legend, who passed away last December at the age of 65 years old. Henderson spent 14 of his 25-year career in the big leagues with the Oakland A’s.
The @Athletics honor Rickey Henderson with every player wearing No. 24 in their home opener
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— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2025
During Henderson’s time with the A’s, he slashed .288/.409/.430 with 167 home runs and 648 RBIs. But he was, of course, best known for his prowess in base stealing. No one stole bases better than Henderson before, during and even up to this day. He stole a record total of 1,406 bases during his MLB career. Second on the all-time list is Lou Brock, who had 938 stolen bases — a lot, but still way behind Henderson’s s total.
As an additional perspective of the magnitude of that accomplishment by Henderson, the leader in stolen bases among active players is Starling Marte, who only has 354 per Baseball Reference.
Apart from the players, Athletics coaches also donned the No. 24 in the Cubs game.
A’s star outfielder Lawrence Butler also honored Henderson by wearing customized Nike cleats that had the A’s legend’s images on them along with a text that read: “MAN OF STEAL.”
Lawrence Butler pulled out all the stops to honor Rickey Henderson for the A’s home opener
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— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2025
“I got ‘Man of Steal’ on the back of them,” Butler said (h/t Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). “Hopefully, I steal two or three bases today with them. You know ‘Angels in the Outfield,’ well, this is Rickey in the outfield with me.”
Unfortunately for the Athletics, they were not able to win one for Henderson on Monday, as they got absolutely rocked by the Cubs in an 18-3 loss. A’s starter Joey Estes was shelled for six earned runs on nine hits in four innings of work on the mound. The team’s bullpen didn’t do any better either, as 12 more runs were scored by Chicago after Estes left. Cubs catcher Carson Kelly even hit for a cycle in the contest
The 2-3 A’s will look to bounce back and prevent a three-game skid when they take on the Cubs again for the second leg of the series this Tuesday.
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