Athletics to Honor Rickey Henderson By Wearing No. 24 Jerseys During 2025 Home Opener
The Athletics will honor Rickey Henderson, who died in December, as part of their celebration for the 2025 home opener in Sacramento.
Per an announcement from the team, A's players will all wear Henderson's No. 24 jersey during their March 31 game against the Chicago Cubs. Henderson's daughters, Angela, Alexis and Adrianna, will throw out the ceremonial first pitches.
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Henderson died at the age of 65 on Dec. 20. TMZ Sports reported he had been receiving treatment in the hospital for pneumonia in the days prior to his death.
A fourth-round draft pick by the A's in 1976, Henderson went on to have one of the greatest careers in MLB history. He is widely regarded as the best leadoff hitter of all time.
In a ranking of the best seasons ever by a leadoff hitter, MLB.com's Theo DeRosa put Henderson's 1990 campaign at No. 1. He hit .321/.439/.577 with 28 homers, 65 stolen bases and 119 runs scored in 136 games, leading all of MLB in FanGraphs' wins above replacement (10.2).
Henderson is MLB's all-time leader in leadoff homers (81), stolen bases (1,406) and runs scored (2,295). His 106.3 career fWAR ranks 17th all-time among position players.
Only four players had longer careers than Henderson's 25 seasons in MLB. He made his big league debut for the A's in 1979 and retired in 2003 after a 30-game stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Henderson played for nine different teams in his storied career. He had four different stints with the A's covering 14 seasons. The New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and New York Mets were the only other teams he played on for more than one season.
A member of the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame class, Henderson received 94.8 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America. It's the 21st-highest percentage of any player elected to the Hall.
The Athletics, who are playing their first season in Sacramento ahead of a planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028, will play home games at the site of their Triple-A affiliate.
