Former Met Rickey Henderson Elected to Hall of Fame

It was announced on Monday that base stealing champion Rickey Henderson and Red Sox slugger Jim Rice will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writer's Association of America voted in Henderson and Rice, who will join Joe Gordon (elected by Veterans Committee) in the class of 2009.

Henderson was in his first year of eligibility and was on 94.8% of ballots. This ranks him 13th all time in terms of highest percentage of ballots. Jim Rice was voted into the Hall on his 15th and final ballot, with 76.4 of the votes, just seven votes above the minimum.
Henderson was a member of the 1999 Wild Card Mets, and served as the teams hitting/first base coach for part of the 2007 season.

The flashy Henderson was a lock to get in the Hall on his first ballot. Some expected him to pass Tom Seaver's record of 98.84% of votes, and a few even thought he would be on all 536 ballots.

Henderson is the career leader for stolen bases, a record that will likely never be broken. He stole 1406 bases in his 25-year career. That number is 468 more that the second place man, Lou Brock (938).

Some Mets fans might be thinking, well maybe Jose Reyes can break the record. Think again. Reyes, age 25, currently has 290 steals. If he played until age 40 (15 more seasons), Reyes would need to average 75 steals per season to break the record.

Henderson also holds the single-season steals record with 130, and reached 100 steals in a season three times in his career.

Adding to Henderson's gaudy stats are his record 2295 runs, 10 all-star appearances, an AL MVP award, a Gold Glove, and two World Series rings. Not to mention he is a member of the 3,000 hit club.

For some interesting anecdotes about Henderson, who always referred to himself in the third person, click here.

Boston great Jim Rice put up some impressive numbers as well in his 16-year career. Rice amassed 382 home runs, 1,451 RBI, and a .298 batting average. He also was selected to eight all-star teams, won the 1987 AL MVP, and led the AL in homers three times.

Gordon, Rice, and Henderson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on July 26, 2009.