An imposing physical specimen with bulging muscles, Jimmie Foxx was more than just a slugger - he twice led the AL in batting and in 1945, at the tail end of his career, he pitched for the Phillies - winning a game and posting a 1.59 ERA. In his prime he challenged Babe Ruth's single-season home run record, won three MVP awards, and the Triple Crown. He won two World Series titles with Connie Mack's Athletics, and retired as the second leading home run hitter of all-time.

Nicknames
"Beast" and "Double-X"

Played For
Philadelphia A's (1925-1935), Boston Red Sox (1936-1942), Chicago Cubs (1942, 1944), Philadelphia Phillies (1945)

Post-Season
1929 World Series, 1930 World Series, 1931 World Series

Foxx batted .344 with 22 hits in 18 World Series games. He hit four homers and drove in 11 runs.

World Champion?
Yes, 1929-1930 A's

Honors
All-Star (9): 1933-1941; American League Most Valuable Player 1932, 1933 and 1938

Position
1,919 games at first base, 141 at 3B, 108 at catcher, 21 in the outfield, 10 as a pitcher, and 1 game at shortstop.

Major League Debut: May 1, 1925, just two weeks after teammates Mickey Cochrane and Lefty Grove debuted in the same game. All three ended up in the Hall of Fame.

Feats
Won American League Triple Crown in 1933, when he hit .356 with 48 homers and 163 RBI.

Uniform #'s
#3 (1931-1942 Red Sox), #16 (1942 Cubs), #26 (1944), #4 (1945)

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
Traded by Philadelphia Athletics with Johnny Marcum to Boston Red Sox in exchange for Gordon Rhodes, George Savino and $150,000 (December 10, 1935); Claimed on waivers by Chicago Cubs from Boston Red Sox (June 1, 1942).

Best Season, 1932
He hit 58 homers and lost as many as seven more to rain-outs and new ballpark configurations that didn't exist in 1927 when Ruth hit his 60. Foxx also slugged .749 with a .469 OBP, 213 hits, 151 runs scored, 169 RBI, 116 walks, and a .364 batting average. Even in the high-run scoring environment of that era, those stats are incredible.

Hitting Streaks
24 games (1929)

Replaced
Foxx emerged as a utility player for the A's and was almost full-time in that role in 1928. In 1929 he took Joe Hauser's job as the A's first baseman.

Replaced By
Foxx's last regular job was as the Red Sox first baseman in 1942. Tony Lupien took his job in mid-season, and the Sox released Foxx.

Best Strength as a Player
Power

Largest Weakness as a Player
Throwing arm (accuracy)

The Tony Phillips of his time, Dykes played every position Connie Mack asked him to, contributing with the glove and the bat. He batted .421 in the 1929 World Series and belted four extra-base hits in the 1930 World Series, helping the A's win each year. He played more than 2,200 games and managed almost 3,000. He was in baseball for parts of six decades.

As a manager he never duplicated the success he had with the A's as a player, managing eight winning teams in 18 full seasons at the helm. In his 21 seasons as a manager he never finished higher than third. Not until Gene Mauch did a manager have such a long tenure as a major league manager without winning a pennant. Dykes was Connie Mack's choice to succeed him as manager of the A's, but after three poor finishes he was let go. Dykes was the first major league manager of the Baltimore Orioles, but lost 99 games and was fired. In August, 1960, he was part of the only trade of managers in baseball history. The Tigers dealt him to the Indians for manager Joe Gordon.

As a player he was described by Mack as "thick-chested, with the best throwing arm in my infield."

Played For
Philadelphia A's (1918-1932), Chicago White Sox (1933-1939)

Managed
Chicago White Sox (1934-1946), Philadelphia A's (1951-1953), Baltimore Orioles (1954), Cincinnati Reds (1958), Detroit Tigers (1959-1960), Cleveland Indians (1960-1961)

Honors
All-Star (2): 1933-1934. Dykes was the third baseman for the AL in the first two All-Star games ever played.

Players Linked
Simmons and Haas were sold with Dykes to the White Sox for $100,000 following the 1932 season. All total, Dykes played ten years with Haas and 12 with Simmons ... Joe Gordon was traded straight up for Dykes on August 3, 1960. It remains the only trade of major league managers ...

Pujols Before Pujols was Cool
On May 3, 1959, Dykes replaced the unforgettable Bill Norman as manager of the struggling Tigers. Detroit's record was 2-15. Dykes would manage Detroit at a .540 clip the rest of the way, bringing them in one game below .500 at 76-78. 43 years later Albert Pujols replaced Phil Garner as Tigers' manager, with Detroit languishing at 0-11

It isn’t easy living up to the nickname “Home Run”, but Frank Baker did so as the best home run hitter of the pre-World War I era. In the 1911 World Series he hit clutch game-winning or game-tying home runs in back-to-back games against the Giants, and he led his league in the category four straight seasons.

Nicknames
"Home Run," which he earned after his performance in the 1911 World Series.

Played For
Philadelphia A's (1908-1914), New York Yankees (1916-1919, 1921-1922)

Post-Season
1910 World Series, 1911 World Series, 1913 World Series, 1914 World Series, 1921 World Series, 1922 World Series

World Champion?
Yes, as member of Connie Mack's 1910, 1911 and 1913 A's.

Honors
Baker finished in the top ten in MVP voting three times. Had there been a World Series MVP he most likely would have won two of them.

Full Bio
Frank Baker was one of the best World Series performers in history. In 25 World Series games he collected 33 hits, batted .363, slugged .538, hit three home runs, scored 15 runs, and batted in 18. He played on four Philadelphia A’s pennant winners, winning three World Series titles with Connie Mack. Baker collected nine hits in three straight Series.

Baker was the cleanup hitter on the great A’s teams that included Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, Stuffy McInnis, Harry Davis, Chief Bender and Eddie Plank. Along with Collins, McInnis, and Barry, he formed the famed $100,000 Infield.

In the 1911 Series Baker earned his famous moniker. In Game Two he hit a two-run blast off Rube Marquard in the sixth inning that beat the Giants 3-1. The next day in Game Three he hit a solo-homer in the ninth off Christy Mathewson, tying the game, which the A’s eventually won in the 11th. Baker's homers on back-to-back days was quite unusual in an era when 7-12 homers was a league-leading figure for an entire season. The A’s won the 1911 World Series and the 1913 Fall Classic as well. Baker batted .450 in the 1913 set.

Following the disappointing 1914 sweep at the hands of the Braves in the World Series, Mack broke up his team and sold off his stars. Baker was the only man Mack kept, but he refused to report and sat out the entire 1915 season in a contract dispute. Instead he played for Upland, Pennsylvania’s semipro team. In 1916 he was sent to the New York Yankees, where he finished in the top five in home runs each season from 1916 to 1919.

In 1920 Baker’s first wife died, leaving him with two daughters to care for. He chose to sit out the entire season but returned in 1921 to help the Yankees win their first pennant. He appeared as a utility player in both the 1921 and 1922 World Series. He retired after the ’22 campaign with a .307 lifetime average and a modest (by today’s standards) 96 career home runs. Yet, from 1909 to 1919, no player in the AL hit more homers than Baker, and only Ty Cobb had more RBI.

Position
Third base (1,548 games). Baker never appeared at another position in the regular season. He was the best third baseman of the first 25 years of the 20th century.

Major League Debut: September 21, 1908

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
February 15, 1916: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the Philadelphia Athletics.

Best Season, 1912
The slugging third sacker led the AL in homers (10) and RBI (130), while slugging .541. He batted .347 (6th) and posted a .404 OBP (6th). He swiped 40 bases, had 40 doubles, and 21 triples. Though it was the only year the A's failed to win the pennant between 1910 and 1914, Baker's efforts were not the reason.

Major League Home Run Leaders, 1908-1922
Babe Ruth... 197
Gavvy Cravath... 119
Tilly Walker... 116
Cy Williams... 108
R. Hornsby... 99
Frank Baker... 96

Replaced
38-year old Jimmy Collins, who retired following the 1908 season. That means, Baker, a future Hall of Famer, replaced another Hall of Fame third baseman.

Replaced By
"Jumping" Joe Dugan, in 1922 and for good in 1923, on the Yankees.

Best Strength as a Player
Power

Largest Weakness as a Player
Base stealing. Baker was, like many players with average or less-than-average speed in his era, a poor percentage base stealer.

Mark McGwire As a rookie in 1987, Mark McGwire blasted 49 homers, setting a record for freshman. After battling injuries and struggling to find his swing, he burst onto the national stage when he broke Roger Maris's single-season mark for homers in 1998. In the process he rejuvenated his career and opened the way for a spot in the Hall of Fame. Over a four-year stretch in his mid-30s, McGwire clubbed an amazing 245 home runs.

Nicknames
"Big Mac"

Played For
Oakland A's (1986-1997), St. Louis Cardinals (1997-2001)

Post-Season
1988 ALCS, 1988 World Series, 1989 ALCS, 1989 World Series, 1990 ALCS, 1990 World Series, 1992 ALCS, 1999 NLDS, 2000 NLDS, 2000 NLCS

World Champion?
Yes, 1989 Oakland A's

Honors
All-Star (11): 1987-1992, 1995-1999; Rookie of the Year 1987; Gold Glove 1990

Position
McGwire played 1,763 games at first base. He was DH 37 times, played 3B (24 games) and some outfield (four games in 1987-1988).

Major League Debut: August 22, 1986

The Home Run Race of 1998
The chase was hardly a chase at all as late as May. On May 24, 1998, Mark McGwire had 24 home runs, while Sammy Sosa was at nine. But soon, Sammy made his move and the race was on. From May 25-June 23, Sosa belted 21 home runs in 30 days. He set a record with 20 home runs in June, which was also the most homers ever hit in any month. It became clear that both McGwire and Sosa were drawing a bead on roger Maris's single-season home run record. The question was: who would get there first?

On August 19, Sosa hit his 48th home run and passed McGwire for the first time. But later in that game, McGwire answered with a pair of homers and reclaimed the lead. "Big Mac" would stay relinquish the lead just once more.

Over Labor Day weekend the Cardinals and Cubs played each other in St. Louis and the media circus surrounding the home run chase collided in one location. The two sluggers embraced the publicity, helping put baseball back on the front pages and in the news. On September 8, McGwire finally passed Maris, lining a shot over the left field wall at Busch Stadium. Sosa watched from right field and applauded. McGwire made an emotional trip around the bases, pointing to the sky as he crossed home plate to honor Maris, whose sons were in attendance. Soon, Sosa arrived and hugged McGwire, who lifted Sammy off his feet. Baseball had a golden moment. But three weeks still remained in the season and the chase was still far from over.

Five days later, Sosa hit two home runs in Wrigley Field to tie McGwire at 62. Adding to the tension of the McGwire/Sosa race was the fact that the Cubs were in a fight for a playoff spot. On September 25 in Houston, Sosa hit #66, creeping ahead of McGwire for the final time. McGwire responded by hitting a homer of his own a few innings later in St. Louis to bring the chase to a tie once more. Sosa failed to any more homers, while McGwire belted four in his final two games to finish with an astonishing 70 for the new single-season record.

Three years later, Barry Bonds broke McGwire's record, which many thought would last longer than Maris's had. Bonds blasted 73 homers to establish the new standard. One of the players given the best chance to break Bonds record is Sosa, who hit 63 in 1999, 50 in 2000, and 64 in 2001.

Feats
Set single-season home run record with 70 in 1998. Became first man to hit 50 homers in three straight seasons (1997-1999). Both of those records were later matched or topped by Sammy Sosa and/or Barry Bonds... McGwire hit three homers in a game five times. He did it in 1987, 1995, twice in 1998, and once in 2000.

Uniform #'s
#25 (1986-2001), both with the A's and Cardinals.

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
Selected by Oakland Athletics in the 1st round (10th pick overall) of the free-agent draft (June 4, 1984); Granted free agency (October 26, 1992); Signed by Oakland Athletics (December 24, 1992); Traded by Oakland Athletics to St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews and Blake Stein (July 31, 1997).

Best Season, 1998
Set an NL record with 32 homers on the road. He hit three homers in one game twice. Hit 21 homers in his first 41 games, 40 in 90 games, 50 in 125 games, and shattered the ML record with 70 for the season. In the process he set a Cardinal record with 145 RBI and a NL record for 162 walks. McGwire hit 33 solo homers, 28 two-run homers, seven three-run homers and two grand slams. Hit homers against 65 different pitchers. He led baseball in slugging, OBP, and total average. For some reason sportswriters selected Sammy Sosa as MVP.

Milestones
Hit his 500th career homer on August 5, 1999, off Andy Ashby of the Padres.

Replaced
The immortal Bruce Bochte, who hit .256 with 20 extra-base hits in 125 games as the A's first sacker in 1986.

Replaced By
35-year old free agent first baseman Tino Martinez, in 2002.

Best Strength as a Player
Power

A flashy player known for his head-first slides, "snatch catches" and prancing home run trots, Henderson has been a fan favorite everywhere he's played, and one of the game's all-time greats despite accusations of selfishness and ego. Bouncing from team-to-team, Henderson spent four different stretches with the Oakland A's, with whom he won a World Series title in 1989. In that Series he hit .474 with four extra-base hits and three steals to instigate a sweep of the Giants. Henderson is the all-time leader in walks, steals, and runs scored, and collected his 3,000th hit, in 2001.

Nicknames
You'd think he'd have a popular nickname, but he doesn't. "Hot Dog" fits nicely.

Played For
Oakland A's (1979-1984, 1989-1993, 1994-1995, 1998), New York Yankees (1985-1989), Toronto Blue Jays (1993), San Diego Padres (1996-1997, 2001), Anaheim Angels (1997), New York Mets (1999-2000), Seattle Mariners (2000), Boston Red Sox (2002), Los Angeles Dodgers (2003)

Post-Season
1981 ALDS, 1981 ALCS, 1989 ALCS, 1989 World Series, 1990 ALCS, 1990 World Series, 1992 ALCS, 1993 ALCS, 1993 World Series, 1996 NLDS, 1999 NLDS, 1999 NLCS, 2000 ALDS, 2000 ALCS

World Champion?
Yes, 1989 Oakland A's, and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays

Honors
All-Star (10): 1980, 1982-1988, 1990-1991; 1990 AL MVP; Gold Glove 1981; 1989 ALCS MVP

Position
Henderson has never played any other position than outfield, primarily left field. His first two years with the Yankees (1985-1986), he was a center fielder.

Major League Debut: June 24, 1979

Feats
The greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history, Henderson eclipsed three major all-time records: most career runs scored, most career walks, and most career steals. In doing so, he passed immortals Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. He hit the most leadoff homers in history, reached 3,000 hits, and swiped an incredible 1,395 bases through 2001 at a success rate of 81%.

Uniform #'s
#35 (1979-1984, 2000 Mariners, 2002), #24 (1985-1989 Yankees, and 1989 A's, 1990-1989, 2000 Mets, 2001), #22 (1989 A's), #25 (2003)

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
Selected by Oakland Athletics in the 4th round of the free-agent draft (June 8, 1976); Traded by Oakland Athletics with Bert Bradley and cash to New York Yankees in exchange for Stan Javier, Jay Howell, Jose Rijo, Eric Plunk and Tim Birtsas (December 5, 1984); Traded by New York Yankees to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia (June 21, 1989); Granted free agency (November 13, 1989); Signed by Oakland Athletics (November 28, 1989); Traded by Oakland Athletics to Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Steve Karsay and a player to be named later (July 31, 1993) - Oakland Athletics received Jose Herrera as PTBNL (August 6, 1993); Granted free agency (October 29, 1993); Signed by Oakland Athletics (December 17, 1993); Granted free agency (October 30, 1995); Signed by San Diego Padres (December 29, 1995); Traded by San Diego Padres to Anaheim Angels in exchange for Ryan Hancock, Stevenson Agosto and a player to be named later (August 13, 1997) - San Diego Padres received George Arias as PTBNL (August 19, 1997); Granted free agency (October 27, 1997); Signed by Oakland Athletics (January 22, 1998); Granted free agency (October 26, 1998); Signed by New York Mets (December 16, 1998); Released by New York Mets (May 13, 2000); Signed by Seattle Mariners (May 19, 2000); Granted free agency (November 3, 2000); Signed by San Diego Padres (March 19, 2001); Granted free agency (November 5, 2001); Signed by Boston Red Sox (February 13, 2002); Released by the Boston Red Sox (October 13, 2002); Signed by Los Angeles Dodgers (July 15, 2003).

Rickey's Boo-Boo's
On Yankees' disabled list (March 30-April 22, 1985), which included rehabilitation assignment to Fort Lauderdale (April 19-22); On disabled list (June 5-29 and July 26-September 1, 1987); On disabled list (April 12-27, 1991; May 28-June 17 and June 30-July 16, 1992); On disabled list (May 11-27, 1994); On San Diego's disabled list (May 9-24, 1997); On disabled list (May 3-22, 1999).

Best Season, 1985
He had more steals in other seasons, but in '85 he combined power and speed. At the top of the order for the Yanks, Henderson batted .314 with 146 runs scored in 143 games. He cracked 24 homers, drove in 72, walked 99 times, stole 80 bases, and was caught just 10 times. He had a .516 slugging percentage and .419 OBP. How did this team finish two games back of Toronto?

Rickey's Managers
Henderson has played for 16 managers in his 25 seasons through August of 2003. He played for Billy Martin three times, Lou Piniella, Tony LaRussa and Bruce Bochy twice.

Complete list of Rickey's managers:
Jim Marshall (1979), Billy Martin (1980-1982, 1985, 1988), Steve Boros (1983-1984), Jackie Moore (1984), Yogi Berra (1985), Lou Piniella (1986-1988, 2000), Bucky Dent (1989), Dallas Green (1989), Tony LaRussa (1989-1993, 1994-1995), Cito Gaston (1993), Bruce Bochy (1996-1997, 2001), Terry Collins (1997), Art Howe (1998), Bobby Valentine (1999-2000), Grady Little (2002), Jim Tracy (2003)

Wrong-Handed
Early in his career, Henderson explained why he's a left-handed thrower but a right-handed hitter, the oddest combination in baseball history:

"All the other kids playing around me were batting right-handed, so that's the way I thought you were supposed to do it, so that's what I did, too. At one point, I wanted to be a switch-hitter and try the left side, but I was hitting .300, .350 in the minors, and they (the A's) wouldn't let me do it."

For the Birds
On July 6, 1984, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Brewers in Milwaukee, Henderson, playing for the New York Yankees, hit a routine fly to center. Brewers' centerfielder Rick Manning camped under the ball and then suddenly lunged forward to reach for the ball, which he caught just before it came to the ground. Henderson's fly ball had struck a bird, killing it. For the rest of the game, Brewer's fans taunted Henderson in left field, flapping their arms and calling him a "bird killer."

QUOTE ABOUT
“But it wasn't until I saw Rickey that I understood what baseball was about. Rickey Henderson is a run, man. That's it. When you see Rickey Henderson, I don't care when, the score's already 1-0. If he's with you, that's great. If he's not, you won't like it.” — A's teammate Mitchell Page

Rickey Henderson Chronology
1976 — Reported to Boise after being drafted by the Oakland A's in the fourth round of the June draft. Henderson hit .336 with 29 steals in 36 attempts.

1977 — With Modesto, Henderson led the California League with a then-record 95 steals. He was third in the league with a .345 average and 104 runs scored and became the fourth professional player to steal seven bases in one game, on May 26 at Fresno.

1978 — Rickey led the Eastern League with 81 steals, and also led all outfielders with four double plays and 15 assists.

1979 — Stole 44 bases in only 71 PCL games with Ogden and was brought up by Oakland on June 23rd and made his ML debut the next day. Despite being in Oakland for only half of the A's season, Henderson led the club with 33 steals.

1980 — Henderson became the first American League player and third big league player to steal 100 or more bases in a single season, joining Maury Wills and Lou brock. He broke Ty Cobb's AL mark of 96 steals, which had stood for 65 years. Was second in the AL with 117 walks, third in on-base percentage at .422, and fourth with 111 runs scored.

1981 — Was named to The Sporting News All-Star team as he led the AL with 135 hits, 89 runs and 56 steals. His .319 average was fourth best in the league. In his first taste of post-season action, Rickey hit .182 in the Division series vs. Kansas City and .364 in the AL Championship Series against New York.

1982 — Set the season standard for stolen bases with 130, smashing Lou Brock's mark of 118 on August 27, in Milwaukee. Set the record for most times caught stealing at 42. Henderson walked five times vs. the Angels on April 8, a career high.

1983 — Went over 100 steals (108) for the third time in his career. Vince Coleman is the only other player to steal 100 or more bases more than once. Henderson tied the AL mark by stealing seven bases over two consecutive games, July 3-4 vs. the Rangers. Swiped his 400th career base on August 21, at Milwaukee, becoming the youngest player to reach that milestone.

1984 — Henderson's 66 steals topped the American League for the fifth consecutive season, and he was second in the AL with 113 runs. Following the season, he was traded to the New York Yankees during the winter meetings in Houston, December 8th.

1985 — Henderson began his Yankees career on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle. He was activated April 22, having missed 10 games. His .314 batting average was 4th in the AL. Henderson's 146 runs scored led the league and was the highest total in the major leagues since Ted Williams scored 150 runs in 1949. His .419 on-base percentage was fourth best in the loop and a then career-best .516 slugging percentage was seventh in the league...became the first AL player to hit 20 homers and steal 50 bases in a season...stole his 500th base 5/10 at Kansas City...named AL Player of the Month for June.

1986 — led the league in steals for the seventh consecutive year...only Luis Aparicio led the AL more consecutive years (9)...stole his 600th base 5/18 vs. Seattle...had career highs in homers (28), at-bats (608) and RBIs (74)...his 130 runs topped the major leagues for the second consecutive year...first player in the AL to lead the league in runs scored for consecutive seasons since Mickey Mantle 1960-61...finished with AL record 9 leadoff homers in one season...(major league record is 11 held by the Giants Bobby Bonds)...40 of the 113 runs driven in by Don Mattingly were scored by Rickey.

1987 — suffered through an injury-plagued season...appeared in just 95 games, his lowest total since his rookie season of 1979...first injury came 6/4 at Milwaukee, a pulled right hamstring...went on the 15-day DL the next day and wound up missing 22 games...returned 6/29 but went back on the DL 8/1 (retroactive to 7/26) with the same hamstring problem...was reinstated on 9/1 after missing 33 games...stole 41 bases, but his streak of leading the league in steals was snapped at seven years by Seattle's Harold Reynolds...his own AL record for consecutive seasons with 50+ stolen bases also ended at seven...did not steal a base for 18 consecutive games (5/18-7/4), the second longest such streak of his career...on 5/18 Curt Young snapped his streak of consecutive steals at 31...picked up career steal 700 on 9/29 at Boston.

1988 — hit .305 which was .015 percentage points higher than his career BA coming into 1988...scored 100+ runs for the 7th time in his career...made his seventh straight and eighth overall All-Star appearance...fifth inning run scored 7/17 vs. Chicago was career #1,000...also picked up career RBI #500 at Cleveland 9/13...went 5 for 5 on 4/11 at Toronto...matched his personal career game high...led the major leagues with 93 steals...set a new Yankee season mark with that total...stolen base 6/4 at Baltimore was his 249th as a Yankee, setting a new Yankee career standard...stole four bases in a game three times...was successful on 44 of his last 46 attempts...6 homers were fewest hit in a season since hitting 6 in the strike shortened season of 1981...it was the lowest season total of his career...from 7/18-8/3, reached base safely leading off in 15 straight games...scored 11 of the 15 times.

1989 — returned to A's after the June 20th trade...was hitting .247 when he arrived...hit .294 for the A's and went on to reach base safely in 80 of his 85 games with Oakland...added 52 steals in 58 attempts and wound up leading the league for the 9th time in 10 seasons...reached 50 plus steals for the 9th time in his career to set a new AL record...breaking a tie with Ty Cobb...set a career game best with 5 steals vs. Seattle July 29...wound up with a career best 126 walks...spectacular post season helped propel the A's to the World Championship...won ALCS MVP honors vs. Toronto...hit .400 and led all hitters with 15 total bases, 8 runs scored 5 RBI's and 7 walks...set a new LCS record with 8 steals...belted 2 homers in game #4...kept up the pace in the Series vs. San Francisco...topped everyone with 9 hits...added 2 walks, 4 runs scored and 3 steals...for the A's entire nine-game post season Rickey hit .441, scored 12 runs, had 15 hits of which 8 were for extra-bases, and walked 9 times...in addition had 8 RBI's and 11 steals.

1990 — his season was capped November 20th when he was named the American League Most Valuable Player...his first MVP award...garnered 14 of a possible 28 first place votes, and finished 31 points in front of second place finisher, Cecil Fielder...Henderson and Fielder were the only players named on all 28 ballots...Rickey one of five Oakland Athletics to win the honor, joining Vida Blue (1971), Reggie Jackson (1973), Jose Canseco (1988) and Dennis Eckersley (1992)...in addition to his sensational regular season also had his second consecutive strong post season...hit .294 in the ALCS vs. Boston and then led the A's with a .333 average in the Series vs. Cincinnati...3 of his 5 hits in the Series for extra-bases...added a spectacular catch in game #2 at Cincinnati...for the regular season Rickey finished among the league leaders in several offensive categories...dueled George Brett for the AL batting title through the last day but wound up second with a career best .325 average...average was below .320 for one day during the season...after the third game...led the league in runs (119), on-base percentage (.439) and in steals (65)...finished second to Fielder with a career high .577 slugging percentage...scored in the first inning of 33 games...the A's were 26-7 in those games...scored twice from third on sacrifice flies to infielders...tied his career high with 28 homers (1986)...tied Cobb's AL record by stealing 3rd base on May 26th vs. Cleveland and then ran past Cobb 2 days later, May 29th, when he stole 3rd vs. the Blue Jays at the Coliseum...stole career base #900 vs. Texas June 12th...made his 9th All-Star appearance...the most among 1990 AL starters...after the break, leg problems shut Rickey down for 7 days July 15-21st...leg problems would return in August...missed 7 more games August 8-14th...but despite the aches and pains his offense was relentless...for the season reached safely by a hit or walk in 125 of his 136 games...scored at least one run in 89 of his 136 games...did much of his damage on the road...hit .342 in foreign parks (92 for 269) with 20 of his 28 homers...road average second best in the loop to Rafael Palmeiro's .350.

1991 —needed three bases at the start of the season to overtake Lou Brock as the greatest base thief in baseball history...it took nearly a month of the season due to a 15-day stint on the DL in April with a left calf strain but on his seventh attempt of the season he stole third base May 1st at the Coliseum vs. New York for career #939...that broke the tie with the Hall of Famer Brock...Tim Leary was on the mound and Matt Nokes behind the plate when Rickey stole the base with a 1-0 count on Jose Canseco...Henderson went on to steal 58 bases to push his career total to 994...won his 11th AL stolen base title in 12 years...was 37 for 49 at second base, thrown out seven times and picked off/caught stealing five times...was 21 of 26 at third base, thrown out twice and picked off/caught stealing three times...and was 0 for 1 at home plate...it was also his 11th season of 50 or more steals which extended his own AL record...scored more than 100 runs for the fourth consecutive season and for the tenth time in 12 major league seasons...walked 98 times to push his on-base percentage to an even .400 for sixth best in the league...cracked the first grand slam of his career July 4th at Texas off Gerald Alexander...the slam came on his 6,228th major league at-bat...tied his career high with 5 hits vs. Texas at the Coliseum September 29th.

1992 —missed 45 games due to an assortment of injuries but still finished second on the club with 77 runs scored and led the A's with 95 walks, 48 steals and a .426 on-base percentage...in the ALCS vs. the Blue Jays did not post the kind of numbers he did in the 1989 ALCS as Rickey hit .261 with 6 hits, all singles...walked 4 times and added 2 steals...became the first man in baseball history to steal 1,000 bases when he swiped third base at Detroit May 1st...Rickey finished with fewer than 50 steals for just the third time in his career and did not win the stolen base title for the first time since 1987...on the season stole 43 out of 51 attempts at 2B, 5 of 6 at 3B and was picked off/caught stealing twice....hit five leadoff homers...had his best month of the season in May with a .338 average, 17 steals in 19 attempts and 19 walks to push his on-base percentage for the month to .474...but strained his left hamstring May 28th and did not return until June 17th missing 17 games...but he wasn't quite ready as after 12 games Rickey went back on the DL June 30th and did not return until after the All-Star break...after hitting .277 up to the break finished up the season hitting at a .289 clip after the break (58 for 201)...finished the year with a flair as in his final at-bat of the regular season on October 4th singled off the Brewers Cal Eldred for the 2000th hit of his major league career.

1993 —prior to his trade to Toronto on July 31, had an outstanding four months with the Athletics...at the time of the trade was leading the A's in average (.327), runs (77), homers (17), walks (85), stolen bases (31), plus both on-base percentage (.469) and slugging (.553)...first homer of the season April 11th vs. Milwaukee was the 200th of his career...had a career best 5 RBI at Chicago May 21st...batted in the third position of the lineup four consecutive games June 6-9th...first time in six seasons that he batted in any position other than leadoff...on July 5th vs. Cleveland became only the second player in major league history to open both games of a doubleheader with a homer...Boston's Harry Hooper the other on May 30, 1913 vs. Washington...24th steal of the season on June 16 against Chicago was the 1,066th of his career, breaking Yutaka Fukumoto's world record...went to Toronto July 31st and his first homer for Toronto came off Ron Darling in his first game back at the Coliseum...missed three games August 14-16th with frost bite on his left foot...combined with Toronto and the A's to score 114 runs and walk 120 times...11th time in his career he has scored 100 or more runs...among A.L. leaders finished fifth in runs scored (114), second in walks (120), third in on-base percentage (.432) and fourth in steals (53)...was successful on 38 of 45 attempts at second base and on 15 of 16 at third base...closed out the year with 17 consecutive stolen bases without being caught...appeared in all 12 games of the post season...was 3 for 25 (.120) with 4 walks and 4 runs scored plus 2 steals in the ALCS vs. Chicago...then hit .227 in the World Series (5 for 22) with 5 walks and 6 runs scored plus a steal vs. Philadelphia...was on second base and scored the tying run when Joe Carter homered to win the Series.

1994 —Returned to the A's and his opening day start in Milwaukee was his tenth for Oakland...no one has made more opening day assignments for the Oakland Athletics...as usual was among the league leaders in walks (fifth with 72) and on-base percentage (eighth at .411)...stole 22 bases including the 1100th of his career on June 7th vs. Milwaukee...his 416 steals since 1988 is the best total over the seven year span (Coleman is second with 372)...three of his six homers were leadoff shots to run his career total to a major league record 66 leadoff homers...on April 13th played in the 2000th game of his career becoming only the 159th player to reach that mark...in June he hit .298 and scored 23 runs in 23 games...had a 12 game stretch June 6-18th where he reached base safely 29 times with 16 hits and 13 walks and scored 17 runs...on the season scored at least one run in 50 of the 87 games he appeared in and reached safely by either a hit or walk in 74 of his 87 games...continued to move up on baseball's all-team leader charts as he finished the season first in career steals (1117), 15th in walks (1478) and 24th in runs scored (1652)...Rickey is the Oakland career leader in games (1440), at bats (5191), runs (1102), hits (1518), doubles (242), triples (39, tied), walks (1037), steals (769), batting (.292) and on-base pct. (.413)...he is the Athletics franchise (1901-94) leader in runs and steals.

1995 —Played in 112 games with Oakland and batted .300 with nine home runs and 54 RBI...Also stole 32 bases in 42 tries . . . Hit .300 for the fifth time as an Athletic, marking the 16th time an Oakland player has hit .300 ... Carney Lansford (3 times) and Joe Rudi (twice) are the only other players to have done it more than once ... Led the majors with a .419 (31 for 74) average with runners in scoring position, which included a .486 (18 for 37) mark with RISP & two outs ... Was also second in the AL with a .383 (44 for 115) batting average from the seventh inning on ... Also led the majors with a .382 (50 for 131) average with men on base and an average on 4.36 pitches per plate appearance ... Finished eighth in the league in stolen bases, adding 32 steals to his ongoing major league record which now stands at 1149 ... Holds nearly every Oakland A's career record including games (1552), at bats (5598), runs (1169), hits (1640), doubles (273), triples (40), walks (1109), total bases (2452), steals (801), batting (.293) and on-base percentage (.412) ... also ranks second in extra base hits (466), fifth in RBI (591) and strikeouts (801), tied for fifth in HR (153) and seventh in slugging (.438) ... Holds the all-time A's records in runs, walks and steals, ranks third in games and at bats, fourth in hits, sixth in strikeouts and total bases, seventh in extra base hits, eighth in doubles and tied for 10th in homers ... His 1550 career walks place him 12th on baseball's all-time list and he is tied for 18th in runs scored (1719) ... Finished the year with 2338 which ranks 94th all-time ... Made his 11th opening day start, an ongoing A's record ... Signed by the San Diego Padres as a free agent on Dec. 29, 1995.

1996 —Made his National League debut after 17 seasons in the American League with three different teams ... Ranked fourth in the National League with 125 walks ... His 37 steals marked the 17th time in his career that he has reached 30 thefts in a season ... Led off three games with a home run, extending his Major League record to 70 ... Hit .338 with 18 runs scored in Aug. ... Batted .333 in the National League Division Series vs. St. Louis ... Collected his 2,400th hit with a three-run home run off Osvaldo Fernandez on July 7 vs. San Francisco.

1997 —Split the season between the Padres and the Anaheim Angels ... July 14, Henderson swipes his 1,200th base, in the sixth inning against the Giants ... August 12, Henderson leads off the seventh with his 250th career homer, against Montreal ... August 13, the Angels trade pitchers Ryan Hancock and Steven Agosto and a player to be named to the Padres for Henderson ... To make room for the future Hall of Famer, the Angels release another future HOFer, Eddie Murray ...

1998 —January 22, Free agent Henderson signs on for a fourth tour of duty with the Oakland A’s ... Henderson is playing his 20th major league season ... August 31, Henderson scores the 2,000th run of his career in the Athletics’ 15-6 loss to Cleveland. He joins Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, and Willie Mays as the only players to reach the milestone ... September 27, Henderson becomes the oldest SB leader in major league history as he finishes the year with an AL-high 66 ... December 13, Henderson is signed by the Mets as a free agent ...

1999 —April 27, Henderson steals his 1,300th career SB, against the Padres ... October 8, the Mets score six runs in the sixth inning, to tie a division series record, on their way to a 9-2 victory over the Diamondbacks. The win gives them a 2-games-to-1 lead over Arizona in the division series. Henderson steals his sixth base, also a record for a division series ...

2000 —In his 22nd major league season ... March 30, with a swipe of second, Henderson joined Ted Williams as the only players to steal a base in four decades ... May 10, with the Mets, Henderson became the 21st major-leaguer to garner 10,000 at bats in his career. Henderson finished the night with 10,002 ABs and trails only Cal Ripken Jr. among active players ... After being released by the Mets on May 13, Henderson signed with the Mariners, joining his seventh ML team ... May 20, Henderson wastes no time hitting a home run in his first at bat as a Mariner, increasing his career record for leadoff homers to 76 ... May 21, he hit a leadoff home run for the second consecutive game ... On September 15, Henderson scored in his first two at bats to pace the Mariners to a 10–2 win over the Orioles. That moved him into 2nd place on the all time list of runs scored (2,175), one ahead of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron and behind only Ty Cobb ... May 23, Henderson drew his 2,000th career walk in the 9th inning, making him the third player to reach that level, behind Babe Ruth and Ted Williams ...

2001 —Played his 23rd season, returning to the Padres ... Henderson signed a minor-league contract with the Padres on March 19, and was called up in April after injuries to outfielders Tony Gwynn and Mark Kotsay ... Used as a pinch-hitter and platoon outfielder, he passed Babe Ruth as the career walks leader on April 25, drawing a base on balls against Philadelphia Phillies' reliever Jose Mesa ... On May 16, Henderson led off with a home run, extending his major-league record for leadoff home runs to 79. This is more than twice the total for the #2 and #3 players on the list: Brady Anderson (44), and Bobby Bonds (35) ... On October 4, Henderson hit a home run to become baseball's all-time career runs scored leader with 2,246 ... On October 7, Henderson collected the 3,000th hit of his career, a leadoff bloop double. Ricky then left the game. The game was the final one of Tony Gwynn's career ... topped 20 steals for the 23rd straight season ...

2002 —Began his 24th major league season, signing with the Red Sox out of spring training ... stole a base on April 13 against the Yankees, becoming the oldest man to steal a base since Dave Winfield ... passed the 1,400 steal mark, adding to his all-time record...

Replaced
Mitchell Page, who was moved to the DH role in 1979. Henderson joined Larry Murray and Dwayne Murphy to form a young Oakland outfield.

Replaced By
This guy may never stop playing. But seriously, his last full-time job was as the San Diego Padres left fielder in 2001. The next season the Padres went "young," replacing 42-year old Rickey with 37-year old gimp, Ron Gant.

Henderson's Breakdown
Rickey's record with each of his eight teams, through the 2002 season.

Team.........G......H......R....HR....SB...AVG...SLG...OBP
A's.......1704...1768...1270...167...867...288...430...409
Yanks ....596....663....513....78...326...288...455...395
Jays........44.....35.....37.....4....22...215...319...356
Padres.....359....277....243....23....91...245...354...397
Angels......32.....21.....21.....2....16...183...261...343
Mets.......152....159....106....12....42...298...423...416
M's.........92.....77.....58.....4....31...238...327...362
Red Sox.....72.....40.....40.....5.....8...230...352...369

Best Strength as a Player
Speed, of course.

Largest Weakness as a Player
His throwing arm.

Simmons was one of the best hitting outfielders in baseball for more than a decade, starting in 1924. He drove in at least 100 runs in each of his first 11 seasons in the majors. He was best known for his defensive lapses and his odd batting stance, which earned him the name "Bucketfoot Al." He was one of the best right-handed hitters of his era and all of baseball history, retiring as the leader in

Played For
Philadelphia Athletics (1924-1932, 1940-1941, 1944), Chicago White Sox (1933-1935), Detroit Tigers (1936), Washington Senators (1937-1938), Boston Braves (1939), Cincinnati Reds (1939), Boston Red Sox (1943)

Coached
Philadelphia Athletics (1940-1942, 1944-1948), Cleveland Indians (1950)

Post-Season
1929 World Series, 1930 World Series, 1931 World Series, 1939 World Series

Honors
All-Star (3): 1933-1935

Best Season, 1930
This guy had a lot of great seasons. In 1925, at the age of 23, he banged out 253 hits and hit .387. In 1926 he had 53 doubles. In 1927 he hit .392, falling just four hits shy of reaching .400. In 1928 he .351 with 107 RBI in 119 games. In 1929 he had 212 hits, 34 homers, and 157 RBI. In 1931 he hit .390 with a .444 OBP and 128 RBI in 128 games. In 1932 he scored 144 runs, drove in 151, and clubbed 35 homers. In 1933 he reached 200 hits for the fifth consecutive year and plated 119 runners. In 1934 he hit .344 and drove in 100 runs for the 11th straight year. After the age of 32 he wasn't nearly the ballplayer he was in his 20s or early 30s, but he was still decent.

His best season was 1930 when he helped the A's to their second straight World Title. Simmons missed two weeks to injury but still scored 152 runs, stroked 211 hits, 41 doubles, 16 triples, 36 homers, batted .381, had an OBP of .423, and slugged .708. He drove in 165 runs. Only super-humans Ruth and Gehrig were better that

Over 16 seasons (1971-1986), Jackson's teams played in 17 post-season series, winning five World Series titles. He won the home run title for three teams and provided some of the most dramatic home runs in history. An egotistical superstar, Jackson offended teammates, opponents, fans, and owners, but always made sure to get along with the press. He saved his worst behavior for his managers, especially Billy Martin, with whom he had a love/hate relationship.

Nicknames
"Mr. October"

Played For
Kansas City A's (1967), Oakland A's (1968-1975, 1987), Baltimore Orioles (1976), New York Yankees (1977-1981), California Angels (1982-1986)

Post-Season
1971 ALCS, 1972 ALCS, 1973 ALCS, 1973 World Series, 1974 ALCS, 1974 World Series, 1975 ALCS, 1977 ALCS, 1977 World Series, 1978 ALCS, 1978 World Series, 1981 ALDS, 1981 ALCS, 1981 World Series, 1982 ALCS, 1986 ALCS

World Champion?
Yes, 1972-1974 A's, 1977-1978 Yankees

Honors
All-Star (14): 1969, 1971-1975, 1977-1984; American League Most Valuable Player 1973; World Series Most Valuable Player 1973 and 1977.

Position
Reggie was a right fielder, when he didn't DH. He played more than 2,000 games in the outfield, with about 90% of them in right. He was a DH in 630 games, or about four seasons worth of games.

Major League Debut: June 9, 1967

Feats
Three homers on three pitches and three swings in three straight-at-bats in Game Six of the 1977 World Series. Jackson also led the league in home runs with three different teams.

Uniform #'s
#31 (1967), #9 (1968-1976), #44 (1977-1987)

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
Selected by Kansas City Athletics in the 1st round (2nd pick overall) of the free-agent draft (June 29, 1966); Traded by Oakland Athletics with Ken Holtzman and Bill VanBommell to Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell (April 2, 1976); Granted free agency (November 1, 1976); Signed by New York Yankees (November 29, 1976); Granted free agency (November 13, 1981); Signed by California Angels (January 22, 1982); Granted free agency (November 12, 1986); Signed by Oakland Athletics (December 24, 1986); Granted free agency (December 15, 1987).

Best Season, 1969
He was just 23, but he had an awesome season, clubbing 47 homers. At the All-Star break it looked like he may challenge Maris' record, but he slowed in the second-half as AL pitchers stayed away from him. He drove in 118, his career high. Jackson was still a five tool player, stealing 13 bases and using his rocket arm in right. He walked a career-best 114 times (he rarely came within 30 walks of that total).

Odd Couple
Jackson played one season for Earl Weaver in Baltimore before jumping to the Yankees as a free agent. The O's won five division titles during the decade of the 1970s, but failed when Reggie was there in 1976. Reggie missed about three weeks with injury but basically posted the sort of numbers he had in Oakland. He was Weaver's sort of player (power and patience), but Jackson never took to the "Oriole Way."

Replaced
Mike Hershberger, the right fielder for the 1967 Kansas City A's. Hershberger hung around with the A's through 1969 as a fifth outfielder.

Replaced By
The A's signed Don Baylor to be their Dh in 1988, replacing Reggie in that role.

Best Strength as a Player
Ability to rise to the occasion.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Defensive ability.

Campaneris was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. for one reason: to be a ballplayer. He was a quick, pesky little player with a fiery temper. He was a daredevil on the base paths as a member of the 1972-1974 World Champion A's.

Played For
Kansas City A's (1964-1967), Oakland A's (1968-1976), Texas Rangers (1977-1979), California Angels (1979-1981), New York Yankees (1983)

Post-Season
1971 ALCS, 1972 ALCS, 1972 World Series, 1973 ALCS, 1973 World Series, 1974 ALCS, 1974 World Series, 1975 ALCS, 1979 ALCS

Campaneris had good reason to throw that bat at Detroit's Lerrin LaGrow in the 1972 playoffs. He had a hard time getting on base in the Fall. In 37 post-season games he had a .273 OBP.

Honors
All-Star (6): 1968, 1972-1975, 1977

Feats
In his first major league game (July 23, 1964), Campy blasted two homers (that's 2.5% of his career total!). He hit the first pitch he saw in the big leagues for a home run.

On September, 9, 1965, Campaneris played all nine positions.

Strides Ahead
From 1965 to 1972, Campaneris stole 410 bases, leading the AL six times in that eight-year span. The next highest total of stolen bases during that time was 187, by Don Buford.

The Bat Throwing Incident
In Game Two of the 1972 ALCS against the Tigers, Campy was a demon. He banged out three hits, had two steals and two runs scored. Late in the contest he faced Detroit hurler Lerrin LaGrow. When LaGrow's pitch hit Campaneris in the ankle, Bert flung his bat at the hurler. A near-riot ensued as Detroit manager Billy Martin charged Campaneris. The batter and pitcher were both ejected. Bert was suspended for the remainder of the playoffs but reinstated for the World Series win over the Reds.

Old Man & Billy Ball
After three seasons with the Angels, Campaneris retired after the 1981 season at the age of 39. It was an involuntary retirement. He spent 1982 in the Mexican League and was back in the Majors in 1982 with the A's. Billy Martin used Campy as a pinch-hitter and utility infielder (and as a pinch-runner at the age of 41). The veteran responded by hitting .322 in 60 games. He retired in the off-season.