Oakland A's, Bay Area legend Rickey Henderson dies at 65

SAN FRANCISCO - Rickey Henderson, the greatest leadoff hitter and base stealer in Major League Baseball history whose blazing speed led him from the sandlots of Oakland to the Baseball Hall of Fame, died Friday. He was 65.

The Henderson family released a statement Saturday evening confirming the Hall of Famer's death. The family did not announce a cause of death but did thank the doctors and nurses at UCSF hospital, which they said cared for Henderson with "dedication and compassion."

Henderson broke boundaries alongside reams of records during a 25-year career spent with nine teams.

Henderson obliterated the record books, owning the all-time stolen-base record with 1,406, an astounding 468 more than the St. Louis Cardinals great Lou Brock, who held the record of 938 for a dozen years before Henderson surpassed him in 1991. Henderson holds the records for the most stolen bases in a single season with 130 in 1982, the most times leading the league in steals with 12 and most consecutive years leading the league in steals with seven. As a 39-year-old in 1998 with Oakland, Henderson became the oldest player in history to lead the American League in steals with 66.

Following his final season in 2003, Henderson finished with 3,055 hits and left the game holding the all-time marks in steals, runs scored (2,295) and walks (2,190), a record now held by Barry Bonds (2,558). He was named to 10 All-Star Games.

"I've been saying this for years: Rickey wasn't just great. That doesn't say enough for me," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson once said. "He's one of the top 10 to 12 players of all time. That's how good Rickey was."