July 5, 1993: Rickey Henderson homers to start both ends of a doubleheader

Rickey Henderson knew how to start the show. The right-handed batter (but lefty thrower) hit 81 career leadoff home runs, more than anyone else in major-league history.1

Near the end of his second tour with the Oakland A’s, he hit leadoff home runs in both ends of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1993, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Henderson was just the second player to accomplish the feat; Harry Hooper did it on May 30, 1913, for the Boston Red Sox against the Washington Senators.

“Rickey is already legendary,” A’s manager Tony La Russa said. “And when he does this, it just adds to the legend.”2 A crowd of 27,376 watched the action.

The 34-year-old Henderson was in his 15th big-league season and a hometown hero. Born December 25, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois, he graduated from Oakland Tech High School. The A’s drafted him in the fourth round of the June 1976 amateur draft, and he made his Oakland debut in 1979.

Henderson led the American League in stolen bases in eight of his first 10 seasons and set the major-league record with 130 thefts in 1982. He was voted the AL Most Valuable Player in 1990. A’s president Sandy Alderson said, “There’s not much he can’t do. Very few players like Rickey come along. Ever.”3

The A’s shipped Henderson to the New York Yankees on June 21, 1989. Rickey returned to Oakland as a free agent after the season and put together three more excellent campaigns. He was doing it again in 1993.

Heading into the doubleheader against Cleveland, Henderson was batting .308 with a .468 on-base percentage. He had 10 home runs, including one the previous evening against the Yankees, and 28 stolen bases.

Even with Henderson’s strong numbers, the A’s were maybe the most disappointing team in baseball. Division winners in 1992, they began the day with a record of 35–41, good for sixth place in the American League West, 4 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, who were tied for first. Injuries to slugger Mark McGwire and others had taken a toll.

Cleveland was also in sixth place, with a record of 38–43, 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading and the defending World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays. The Indians finished in fourth place in 1992 with a mark of 76–86.

Cleveland beat the A’s in the first game, 6–5. Henderson hit his leadoff homer off right-hander Paul Abbott. He ripped a pitch that sailed into the left-center-field stands. The Oakland Tribune called it a “no-doubt-about-it fly ball.”4

The game went back and forth over the next few innings. Cleveland scored twice in the second inning, and Oakland matched that mark in the third. The Indians leaped ahead, 4–3, in the fourth, while the A’s evened the score in the fifth.

Mike Aldrete’s two-run homer put Oakland ahead again, 6–4. Cleveland’s final comeback attempt began with two outs in the eighth inning. Álvaro and both singled off reliever . entered the game and allowed an RBI hit to the first batter he faced, . lineout to center fielder (no relation to Rickey) ended that threat.

Jerry DiPoto, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning for Cleveland, allowed only a harmless single in the bottom of the eighth. A’s closer Dennis Eckersley recorded his 19th save after pitching a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. Besides hitting the homer, Rickey Henderson singled, walked, and scored another run.

Cleveland right-hander Mark Clark, 3–3 with a 5.53 ERA, started the nightcap against Oakland left-hander Curt Young, who boasted a 1–0 record with a 4.50 ERA in his only two appearances of 1993.

Henderson gave Oakland the first-inning lead once again when he deposited a Clark pitch over the left-field fence for his 61st career leadoff homer. “It’s huge to get that first run,” La Russa said. “When you score first, your winning percentage is going to be real high, especially if you have a winning team.”5

The Indians, though, kept the pressure on the A’s. Albert Belle, Cleveland’s volatile slugger, homered to start Cleveland’s half of the second. Young also gave up a one-out single to Glenallen Hill, who stole second, but the A’s starter wiggled out of any more trouble.

Cleveland grabbed a 2–1 lead in the fifth inning. Lofton doubled with two outs, and La Russa replaced Young with Storm Davis, who surrendered an RBI single to Kirby, the first batter he faced.

The Indians added two more runs in the seventh inning. Espinoza led off with a single against Davis and stole second base. Felix Fermin belted a home run to left field, just the second homer of his career and first since 1990. “I don’t know what a home run feels like,” he said. “I just kept running. I thought it was a double, but when I got to third I knew it was gone.”6 Cleveland led, 4–1. Carlos Baerga knocked a ground-ball single to open the eighth inning. Belle followed by ripping his second home run of the game and 22nd of the season.

The A’s had two more chances to stage a dramatic comeback. They went down 1-2-3 in the eighth inning. Brent Gates and Ruben Sierra flied out, while Troy Neel grounded out.

Cleveland threatened in the top of the ninth. Lofton hit a two-out double off Boever, and Thomas Howard singled to put runners on first and third. Baerga, though, grounded out to Neel at first base.

Hernandez went to the mound again for the bottom of the ninth with Cleveland ahead, 6–2. He retired Terry Steinbach on a groundout but gave up an Aldrete single that scooted through the right side of the infield. Craig Paquette lined a base hit to left field, putting runners on first and second. That brought Mike Bordick to the plate. His single scored Aldrete and advanced Paquette one base. The game ended as Lance Blankenship hit into a double play.

Newspaper accounts gave plenty of coverage to Henderson’s big day. Had Henderson, who went 2-for-4 in the second game, ever heard of Hooper? Actually, he had. “I heard his name when I was talking to Bobby Bonds7 about lead-off home runs.”8 Hooper, a native of Bell Station, California, played 17 seasons in the major leagues and retired with a career .281 batting average and a .368 on-base percentage. The outfielder was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1971.

About his record-tying feat, Henderson said, “That’s a long time, but we don’t play many doubleheaders.”9 He added, “It’s a great feeling, but for me, the biggest thing is getting our team a run and getting us in the ballgame.”10

Clark, looking on the bright side, said, “Sixty-one times? I mean, it makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only one.”11 Clark insisted, “Henderson hit a good pitch, so it didn’t bother me.”12

Never one to lack for confidence, Henderson said, “Having success is something I’m capable of doing when I’m healthy. This year I’ve been healthy, except for a little injury in New York when I jammed my shoulder.”13

Henderson’s second stint with the A’s ended just a few weeks later. Oakland traded him to the Blue Jays on July 31 for pitcher Steve Karsay and a player to be named later.14 A’s fans, aware that their superstar might be dealt, honored him with a standing ovation in his last at-bat at the Coliseum. Shipping Henderson to Toronto “wasn’t easy,” Alderson said.15

The Blue Jays went on to win the World Series for a second straight year. Henderson hit just .215 in 44 regular-season games for Toronto but stole 22 bases. He batted .227 in the World Series and swiped two bases.

The A’s finished in last place with a disappointing mark of 68–94. The Indians, meanwhile, muddled their way to a 76–86 record and stayed in sixth place.

Henderson rejoined the A’s as a free agent after the 1993 campaign. All told, he did four tours in Oakland and played for eight other teams. He hit a leadoff home run in every season of his career.

Henderson still owns MLB records for career steals (1,406) and runs scored (2,295). He accumulated 111.2 Baseball-Reference WAR and was voted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2009 with 94.8 percent of the vote. He died on December 20, 2024, five days before his 66th birthday.

Carney Lansford, a long-time infielder and Henderson’s teammate for five seasons with the A’s, (1983–84, 1990–92), said, “In my opinion, Rickey is the best player to ever play the game. … My all-time idol was Willie Mays, and I’m not sure he affected the game as much as Rickey did.”16

Photo credit

Rickey Henderson, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK199307052.shtml

Both home runs can be seen on YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F8tnHyAT5c

Notes

1 Jason Catania, “Most Career Leadoff Home Runs in MLB History,” MLB.com, March 29, 2026, https://www.mlb.com/news/most-career-leadoff-home-runs-in-mlb-history?msockid=3a2600de8f8264de3327136b8e0c652d, accessed on April 15, 2026.

2 John Hickey, “Rickey Rips, but A’s Split,” Oakland Tribune, July 6, 1993: 35.

3 Dave Newhouse, “Rickey’s Moment,” Oakland Tribune, November 21, 1990: 49.

4 Hickey, “Rickey Rips, But A’s Split.”

5 Hickey, “Rickey Rips, But A’s Split.”

6 Paul Hoynes, “Power from a Rare Source,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 6, 1993: 21.

7 Bonds hit 35 career leadoff home runs and is 16th on the all-time list, as of April 2026. https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Leadoff_home_runs_leaders

8 Associated Press, “Rickey’s Homers Highlight Twinbill,” Redding (California) Record Searchlight, July 6, 1993: 11.

9 Associated Press, “Rickey’s Homers Highlight Twinbill.”

10 Associated Press, “Rickey’s Homers Highlight Twinbill.”

11 Associated Press, “Rickey’s Homers Highlight Twinbill.”

12 Hoynes, “Power from a Rare Source.”

13 Associated Press, “Rickey’s Homers Highlight Twinbill.”

14 The Toronto Blue Jays sent Jose Herrera to the Oakland A’s on August 6, 1993, to complete the trade.

15 John Hickey, “Rickey Oks Deal Just in Time,” Oakland Tribune, August 1, 1993: 25.

16 Susan Slusser, 100 Things A’s Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2015), 10.