May 29, 1990: Rickey Henderson breaks Ty Cobb’s AL stolen-base record as A’s fall to Blue Jays

Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart grew up in Oakland, playing youth baseball together.1 Whether it was at Bushrod Field in North Oakland or on diamonds in East Oakland,2 they played regularly with buddies who also made it to the majors, such as Gary Pettis and Lloyd Moseby.

The Oakland area has a proud tradition of producing quality baseball players including Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan, Willie Stargell, Curt Flood, and many others.3

When Henderson and Stewart were kids, who would have predicted that decades later, they would both take the field as big-leaguers for their hometown team? And not for just any ballgame, but for a game where one of them would break a 62-year-old record held by one of the game’s all-time greats, that would all but guarantee enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Tuesday, May 29, 1990, was the day after Memorial Day and Rickey was growing impatient. On May 26 he tied Ty Cobb’s American League career stolen-base record with steal number 892.4 Henderson wanted to break the record in Oakland, preferably in front of big crowds over the Memorial Day weekend, but after getting a hit and swiping the record-tying bag on Saturday, he had gone 0-for-5.5 There was talk that rain might cancel Wednesday’s contest, and on Thursday the Athletics would begin a seven-game road trip. Henderson wanted to steal his 893rd base in Tuesday night’s game, making him the AL steals king.

“I was starting to put a little pressure on myself because I wanted to do it in front of my home fans, especially in front of my mother,” Henderson said.6

Tuesday’s game featured a pitching matchup between Oakland’s Stewart,7 the 1989 World Series MVP, against the Toronto Blue Jays’ David Wells, who finished the previous season with a 2.40 ERA. The A’s had beaten the Blue Jays in the 1989 AL Championship Series, on their way to sweeping the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Both clubs were in first place in their respective divisions early on in 1990.

A crowd of 25,255 filed into the Oakland Coliseum looking for a win against the Blue Jays, and hoping to see Henderson make history.

With Rickey being Rickey,8 there was also the possibility of more than just baseball to enjoy: showmanship might be on the docket for this evening as well.

“There isn’t enough mustard to put on that hot dog,” said teammate and fellow Oakland-area product9 Dennis Eckersley, “I loved that swagger. [Rickey] let you know he was good.”10

“Yes, I’m a hot dog. Yes, I’m a showman, but remember this is baseball,” Henderson said. “This is entertainment. I’m an entertainer. Baseball was made to be fun.”11

About an hour before sundown, Stewart, the big right-hander, took the mound for Oakland. He yielded a leadoff walk to Tony Fernández. Mookie Wilson grounded into a fielder’s choice when Fernández was forced out at second. Stewart got out of the inning when Kelly Gruber hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

Henderson led off the first with a fly to deep center, but it was caught by Wilson. Wells, the Jays’ lefty, retired the side in order.

In the second, Toronto’s Fred McGriff laced a line-drive single to center. With two outs, Stewart walked Greg Myers. Nelson Liriano hit a fly ball to A’s right fielder Lance Blankenship, who was starting his first game in over two weeks. Blankenship lost his footing and stumbled, getting a glove on the ball, but dropping it.12 McGriff scored an unearned run on the error. Junior Félix grounded out to end the inning. Blue Jays 1, A’s 0.

In the bottom of the second, Wells had another one-two-three inning, striking out Mark McGwire and Dave Henderson, while Terry Steinbach lined out to center.

In his second at-bat, Henderson fouled out to right in the third inning.

After five innings, the score remained 1-0, Blue Jays. Wells had yielded just a walk and a single. Stewart had given up two walks, a single, and a double.

In the top of the sixth, the Jays took a 2-0 lead. Mookie Wilson led off with a single, stole second base, and was knocked in when McGriff hit a line single to deep right field.

In the bottom of the sixth, in his third at-bat, Henderson smacked a two-out double to the left-field corner off Wells.

While standing on second base, and when leading off in his trademark crouch, Rickey looked hungry and ready to pounce. The crowd rustled in their seats. Wells threw two balls to right-handed hitter Carney Lansford. On the third pitch, Henderson got a great jump and took off. Blue Jays catcher Myers reeled in the high and inside pitch but wasn’t able to make a throw. Rickey slid headfirst into third.

When he realized he was safe, he quickly pulled the base out of the ground and held it over his head in triumph.13 The crowd got what they came to see; the lengthy standing ovation was thunderous. The Man of Steal handed the base to A’s equipment manager Frank Ciensczyk, to be presented later to Milwaukee Brewers manager Tom Trebelhorn. Trebelhorn was Henderson’s first pro manager in the minors. Rickey credited Trebelhorn with taking him under his wing as a teenager and teaching him many fine points about baseball, reading pitchers, and stealing bases.14

Henderson blew a kiss to his mother, Bobbie, who was sitting near the Oakland dugout.15

Rickey was then led to the on-deck circle near the A’s dugout where a brief presentation was made. A’s manager Tony La Russa unveiled a glass-enclosed display that included three silhouette-like action photos of Henderson, a pair of white spikes, and a base with the number 893 printed on it.16

Cobb’s record had been eclipsed. Cobb needed 24 seasons to set his record. Henderson broke it with less than 12 seasons in the majors.17

Lansford grounded out to end the sixth inning. For the seventh, Blue Jays reliever Duane Ward replaced Wells. The seventh and eighth innings were uneventful with Ward and Stewart each yielding a single and no walks.

In the top of the ninth, Stewart gave up a leadoff single to George Bell and threw a wild pitch to John Olerud that allowed Bell to advance to second, but Stewart escaped without further damage.18

Entering the bottom of the ninth, the score remained 2-0 Blue Jays. Ken Phelps, batting for Blankenship, struck out swinging. In his fourth at-bat, Rickey hit a line drive up the left-field line. Even though his hit was to left, the speedy Henderson turned it into a triple. Bell stumbled while retrieving the ball in the left-field corner, but there was no error on the play. The next batter, Lansford, hit a hard grounder between third and short for a single, scoring Henderson. Ward was replaced on the mound by Tom Henke, who finished off the A’s by fanning the “Bash Brothers” – José Canseco19 and McGwire. Final score: Blue Jays 2, A’s 1.

Despite pitching well, Stewart was the losing pitcher. Wells picked up the win. This was his first win as a starter; Wells had been a relief pitcher until recently.

“That’s an intimidating lineup,” said Wells. “But I was calm out there tonight.”20

Despite Oakland’s loss, this was Rickey’s day. He got two of the A’s five hits, scored Oakland’s only run and made history with his record-breaking steal.21

The 1990 season was a banner year for the A’s and The Town.22 Oakland finished with a 103-59 record and went to its third consecutive World Series.23

Henderson was named the 1990 AL MVP. Rickey led the league in runs (119), stolen bases (65), on-base percentage (.439), and OPS (1.016).24

Rickey had his sights on the major-league all-time steals record of 938 swipes, set by Lou Brock. Henderson finished the 1990 season just two steals short with 936. He dealt with injuries early in the 1991 season, but broke Brock’s record on May 1, 1991.25

In 2003 Henderson finished his 25-year big-league career with a staggering 1,406 stolen bases, about 50 percent more than the second-place Brock. He is the all-time leader in runs scored with 2,295, 50 runs more than second-place Cobb.26 He has the most games led off with a home run (81). He has the second-most career walks (2,190).27 Henderson also had a career .401 on-base percentage and compiled 3,055 hits. In 1982 he set the major-league record for stolen bases in a single season with 130, breaking Brock’s mark of 118.

These impressive statistics resulted in his being voted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 2009. But stats alone don’t define someone like Rickey. He transformed the leadoff position, combining speed, power, intelligence,28 and much more.

“What Rickey did for the hitter and what he did to defenses, you couldn’t quantify the disruption,” said Joe Maddon. “Who knows how many home runs were hit because of what he was doing to the pitcher? Who knows how many errors were caused because the defense was thinking about him and not the situation?”29

La Russa, who managed with and against Henderson, said: “For the period of time that I’ve been around, I think the most dangerous player is Rickey. In our time, Rickey worried you in more ways than anyone.”30

“The style, the flair. It was always there, even when we were kids,” said Stewart. “When the game started, Rickey was going to let you know who he was.”31

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin. The author thanks Meg Gregory for her editing assistance.

Sources and Photo Credit

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for general player, team, and season data.

Photo credit: Rickey Henderson, Trading Card Database.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK199005290.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B05290OAK1990.htm

Notes

1 Howard Bryant, Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original (New York: Mariner Books, 2022), 26, 222.

2 Stewart grew up in East Oakland, a few blocks from the Oakland Coliseum. Years later, he made a bid to buy a portion of the Coliseum property in an attempt to keep the A’s in Oakland and revitalize the area, but the A’s ownership decided the Coliseum site had run its course. Bryant, 372-373.

3 Joe Trezza, “Who Are the Top 5 All-Time Players from Oakland,” mlb.com, February 2, 2017, https://www.mlb.com/news/the-top-5-all-time-players-with-oakland-roots-c214982672. Others who were born and/or raised in the Oakland area include Bud Black, Brandon Crawford, Jermaine Dye, Lefty Gomez, Chick Hafey, Bud Harrelson, Harry Hooper, Rupert Jones, Ernie Lombardi, Billy Martin, Willie McGee, Tug McGraw, Vada Pinson, Bill Plummer, Bip Roberts, Jimmy Rollins, Marcus Semien, Chris Speier, Claudell Washington, Dontrelle Willis, and Bryan Woo.

4 “American League Roundup: Henderson Picks His Spot and Ties Cobb,” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1990, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-27-sp-392-story.html. The record-tying stolen base came in the fifth inning against the Cleveland Indians in Oakland. With one out, Henderson singled to left off Sergio Valdez. The next batter, Carney Lansford, singled to right, advancing Henderson to second. On a 1-and-1 pitch to José Canseco, Rickey stole third base to tie Cobb for the AL stolen-base record. Cleveland catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. was unable to make a throw. “The ball hit me on the thumb,” Alomar said. “But I don’t think I would’ve got him anyway. If you throw him out one out of 10 times, you’re doing good.” Henderson tipped his hat to the crowd while receiving a standing ovation. He gave third base to his mother, Bobbie Earl Henderson. Oakland won, 6-3. Bob Welch was the winning pitcher and Dennis Eckersley got the save.

5 David Bush, “Henderson Slides Past Cobb – A’s Highlight in 2-1 Loss: Steal No. 893,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 1990: D1.  

6 John Shea, “Henderson Happy with AL Record,” USA Today, May 31, 1990: 4C. 

7 Coming into the game, Stewart was leading the AL in wins (8) and was second in ERA (1.90).

8 Henderson has a penchant for referring to himself in the third person instead of using first-person pronouns. Fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, who played first base against Henderson over many seasons, said this: “At first base, some guys talk to you and some guys don’t. He definitely was one of those guys who would talk at first base. ‘Rickey’s going to leave now.’ He would tell you he was going to go. It didn’t matter. There was nothing you could do.” Jim Baumbach, “There’s No One Like Rickey/Quirky Henderson, Transformed the Leadoff Position,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), July 26, 2009: C5.

9 Along with Eckersley, Henderson, and Stewart, the 1990 A’s included seven other Northern California-bred players: Willie McGee (San Francisco, Richmond), Dave Henderson (Merced), Carney Lansford (San Jose, Santa Clara), Lance Blankenship (Concord), Steve Howard (Oakland), Darren Lewis (Berkeley, Hayward) and Reggie Harris (San Francisco).

10 Bryant, 113, 202-203.

11 Devon Mason, “Rickey Henderson Left Ty Cobb in the Dust 31 Years Ago,” Black in the Day, May 29, 2021, https://mlbbro.com/2021/05/29/rickey-henderson-left-ty-cobb-in-the-dust-31-years-ago/.

Henderson was well known for his bravado, charisma and eccentricities:

• As part of a publicity stunt while in the minors, he competed in a race with a quarter horse in Modesto. (The horse won.)
• Rickey became known for making occasional “snatch catches” where he’d quickly swing his glove downward in an arc to his side while making the catch and slapping the glove on his hip. In true showmanship fashion, he did this maneuver for the first time on the final out of a no-hitter.
• Henderson got frostbite in the summer when he fell asleep while icing his left ankle. He missed three games as a result.
• Rickey signed a contract that included a $1 million bonus. “I took the million-dollar check and put it on the wall. So, each and every day, I passed by that wall and it reminded myself, I am a millionaire,” Rickey said. “I had the check up for about a year. The A’s called me, they were trying to do their books and they were coming up short a million dollars. … They told me to go to the bank, cash it, get a copy of it and put the copy on the wall.”

Bryant, 48, 122-123, 277; Baumbach, “There’s No One Like Rickey Quirky Henderson/Transformed the Leadoff Position.”

12 “A’s Slide, but Rickey Steals the Show,” Sacramento Bee, May 30, 1990: D1.

13 Bush, “Henderson Slides Past Cobb – A’s Highlight in 2-1 Loss: Steal No. 893.”

14 Shea, “Henderson Happy with AL Record.”

15 William D. Murray (United Press International), “Stewart Always Knew Henderson Was Special,” May 30, 1990.

16 “A’s Slide, but Rickey Steals the Show.” Conventional baseball wisdom says stealing third base when your team is down 2-0 with two outs is not a good idea. But Rickey was not a conventional player and his basestealing skills were arguably the best ever in baseball. La Russa said he did not question the decision to steal because the opportunity was there for Henderson to take.

17 Years later, five more stolen bases were discovered by statisticians, bringing Cobb’s total to 897. Gary Gillette and Lyle Spatz, “Not Chiseled in Stone: Baseball’s Enduring Records and the SABR Era,” Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 (2011), 7-11, https://sabr.org/journal/article/not-chiseled-in-stone-baseballs-enduring-records-and-the-sabr-era/. Henderson recorded his 897th career steal against the Texas Rangers at Arlington Stadium on June 7. His 898th steal was a day later against the Kansas City Royals in Oakland.

18 This was Stewart’s first complete game of the season.

19 Canseco was leading the majors with 47 RBIs coming into the game. He was tied with Cecil Fielder for the major-league lead in homers (18).

20 Tom Slater, “Jays Steal Rickey’s Show, Henderson Sets Record but Wells Handcuffs A’s,” Toronto Star, May 30, 1990, C1. This was Wells’ first career win as a starter. (It was just his fourth career start.) The May 29, 1990, game was an important one for his career trajectory and his transition from the bullpen to being a successful starting pitcher.

21 Henderson broke two other records previously held by Cobb: In 1980, he became first AL player to steal 100 bases in a single season, breaking Cobb’s record of 96 steals in 1915. During his 2001 season with the San Diego Padres, Rickey broke Cobb’s record of 2,245 career runs.

22 In the Bay Area, Oakland is called The Town and San Francisco is known as The City.

23 The 1990 A’s won the AL West Division by a nine-game margin over the Chicago White Sox. They swept the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series in four games, giving the A’s 10 postseason victories in a row. Stewart was the ALCS MVP. (He also won the ’90 Roberto Clemente Award.) Oakland was favored to win the World Series, but was swept by the Cincinnati Reds, losing two of the four games by one run. The 1990 season had many highlights for the A’s: The otherworldly Eckersley had a 0.61 ERA and 48 saves, with more saves than hits allowed (41). He struck out 73 batters in 73 innings pitched, while walking only 5. Right-handed pitcher Welch won the Cy Young Award with a 2.95 ERA and a major-league-leading 27 wins. Stewart was the team leader in innings pitched (267), ERA (2.56), and strikeouts (166); he also no-hit the Blue Jays in June and won 20 or more games for the fourth straight season. McGwire led the team with 108 RBIs and 39 home runs, Canseco was second in homers with 37, Rickey was third with 28. Additionally, Catfish Hunter’s number 27 was retired that year. Some A’s fans look back at the 1988 through 1990 seasons with disappointment because of the crushing World Series losses in ’88 and ’90, sandwiched by a lone World Series victory over the San Francisco Giants that is remembered more for an earthquake than baseball. It is important to note that the A’s won an astounding 306 regular-season games during the ’88, ’89, and ’90 seasons (a .630 winning percentage). During those seasons, in typical Oakland workmanlike fashion, they plugged away week after week, playing exceptional baseball while capturing three consecutive AL pennants.

24 In the MVP voting, Henderson beat the Detroit Tigers’ Cecil Fielder by 31 points, 317 to 286. Rickey’s 65 steals were his lowest total to date in a full season, but still 22 more than Steve Sax of the New York Yankees. Henderson’s 1990 slugging percentage (.577) was the second-best in the league. He had the second-highest AL batting average with a mark of .325, losing out to the Kansas City Royals’ George Brett on the final day of the season.

25 After passing Brock, Rickey wasn’t done breaking stolen-base records. On, June 16, 1993, he set the world stolen-base record by stealing his 1,066th base, breaking Japanese outfielder Yutaka Fukumoto’s record.

26 “You can’t win if you can’t score,” said Henderson. “So, I’d say [the runs scored record] is my greatest accomplishment.” Craig Muder, “Henderson Named 1990 AL MVP,” baseballhall.org. Accessed October 3, 2024, https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/henderson-wins-1990-AL-MVP.

27 During his 2001 season with the Padres, Henderson broke Babe Ruth’s record of 2,062 career walks. The career walk record was broken again by Barry Bonds in 2004.

28 “He spoke in Rickey-isms, but sit down and listen to him talk baseball,” said Buck Showalter, who coached and managed against Henderson. “Listen to the way Rickey could break down situations, the way he talked about pitchers, the way he read pitchers, the way he used his legs for leverage to take off. Let me tell you, Rickey was a sharp baseball thinker.” Bryant, 334.

29 Bryant, 308-309.

30 Muder, “Henderson Named 1990 AL MVP.”

31 Bryant, 78.