5 MLB records that will never be broken
By John Buhler
Rickey Henderson was the greatest of all time with 1,406 career stolen bases
As with Rose, Ryan and Young, Rickey Henderson holds several MLB records, including his most famous one: 1,406 career stolen bases. Though several players in his generation, past and now present can absolutely fly, nobody perfected the art of stealing a bag quite like Henderson did. He was the epitome of what it took be the a Hall-of-Fame, gold-standard-level leadoff hitter in MLB.
Henderson was a perennial All-Star in the 1980s and very early 1990s, self-proclaiming himself as the greatest of all time when he set the record in Oakland Athletics uniform. He had three seasons with over 100 stolen bases, which is just unfathomable. Henderson led the league in stolen bases 12 times, including 66 with the 1998 Athletics at the age of 39-years-old. That is mind-blowing.
What I like about this record the most is what all goes into it. Yes, many players have elite foot speed like Henderson did in his prime, but can they get on base as easily as he could? Not only that, but he hit 297 career home runs primarily hitting leadoff. A leadoff hitter has to not only have elite foot speed, but have elite plate discipline and must execute at a high level for a long time.
In an age where stealing 40 bags is incredible, Henderson did just that an astonishingly 17 times.