Ricky Henderson, best lead off man ever?

Question

He thinks he is. Your thoughts.

Answer 1

He has to be. Most leadoff HRs all time. Most SBs all time. Record for most SBs in a season. Most runs scored all time. Oh yea and a little thing called 3000 hits. (All those stats are associated w/ the leadoff spot) Not to mention his championships and the fact he was able to play forever and still be productive. Remember that year with the Padres when he was like 40 and stole 40 bases? Oh yea and look at how Jose Reyes' game improved after Ricky started coaching him over at 1B. Nuff said.

Answer 2

Rickey (I Dont Need No Press Now Man) Is The Best Leadoff Man In The History Of The Game. Aside From Being The Greatest Base Stealer Of All Time,His On Base Percentage Was Over .400, Hit 297 Hrs., 3000plus Hits, A Serious Weapon. He Did Strikeout Alot. One For The Ages Rickey Henderson.

Answer 3

Yes, without question Ricky Henderson was easily the best lead-off hitter ever. He scored more runs than games he played in one year. He led off with a lot of homers but more intimidating than that was when he would come to the plate in his 3rd or 4th at bat with two on. The steals, # 1, the walks, # 2, and the 3,000 hits were all just an indication of what he could do. You had to see it anyway because he was even better than that.

Answer 4

He certainly has a good case. I'd probably give him the nod. Pete Rose also claims himself as the best leadoff man ever. Even over Rickey. Not the most humble of positions, I guess.

http://reds.enquirer.com/bigred/hitking.html

Others worth considering would be Lou Brock, Paul Molitor, George Sisler, Kenny Lofton, Craig Biggio. Gwynn spent some time there, but probably not enough. Ichiro has had a couple of the best seasons every by a leadoff hitter, when hitting in that spot.

Jose Reyes may be the best today.

Love him or hate him, you can't deny Henderson's greatness.

Answer 5

I'd have to say he was, although he loved his HR's a bit too much for my liking for a leadoff hitter. I've always felt that a good baserunner with good hitters behind him does more for his team if he singles or walks to lead off than if he hits a home run. If he hits the homer, that's one run, but it allows the pitcher to settle down against the rest of the lineup. If Ricky's on first, the pitcher has to change everything, he can be distracted, they might throw out of the strike zone to try to throw him out, and the next batters get more fastballs to hit. This can lead to a big inning instead of just one run. But Ricky loved the homers, and, sadly, seems to have taught Jose Reyes the same thing.

Answer 6

DUH!!

Let's just look at impact:

80 games over his career, a half a season almost, he lead off a game with a dinger automatically putting his team ahead 80 times on the road--that's just the road!!

He stole third base more than anyone else in history, too--with over 70% of those coming with less than two outs--getting him into sacrific position for the number two guy in the lineup.

He scored more runs than anyone (except Bonds) over his career.

The stolen bases alone--despite the realtively low average--are enought to justify the statement. He rattled veterans and rookies alike.

Hands down the best leadoff hitter ever with no one, no one, no one else even close at second best.

And he did it for 20 years . . . .

(And he still isn't technically retired! Not to mention I have over 800 different baseball cards of his!!)

Answer 7

Ofcourse he is and it's not really even debatable. Brock was good and so are some others but none of them have the speed and power combo that Rickey did, plus he stole 130 bases in one season and always showed up in the playoffs. I doubt anyone will ever break that because baseball is not really played like that anymore especially in the American League.

Answer 8

He thinks right. Most games lead off with a homerun, most steals ever, 3000 hits and almost 2300 runs with a .279 avg, while playing his best baseball in the dead ball era of the 1980s

Answer 9

How do you rather define a classic leadoff guy? Wade Boggs by no skill had better than 3 stolen bases in one season. Lenny Dykstra basically had over a hundred walks in a season (1993) as quickly as. different than that his severe replaced into sixty 8.Tony Phillips basically hit over .3 hundred for a season as quickly as (.313 in 1993 with detroit) his carer ave replaced into basically .266 with an obp of .364 and he basically averged 19 sbs a season with a fulfillment cost of sixty 3%. the only guy or woman who even comes on the factor of matching you definition of a classic leadoff guy is Henderson. the only gamers that are lively that look to come again on the factor of your standards of a classic leadoff guy are Brian Roberts and Carl Crawford. Witch are somewhat the two extra classic than ANY oy your classic examples. So will you please define classic LEADOFF guy extra ideal please, or in simple terms study and think again your questions extra ideal. i'm sorry to sound impolite yet I somewhat have been an avid baseball fan my finished life and this question replaced into in order that very vulnerable that it looked you observed some names and accessible stats that would pass with being a sturdy leadoff guy yet you basically did no longer somewhat understand. i'm able to think of of another classic examples as properly yet guy i'm in simple terms bored with typeing.

Answer 10

Rickey knows he is the best lead off man ever! Rickey is the best base stealer...just ask Rickey! Rickey is also the best card player in the dugout...just ask Rickey, and Rickey will tell you so!

Rickey also likes talking about Rickey all the time! Just ask Rickey! Rickey will tell you!