Rickey Henderson: top 10 all time? 20? 30? How about among outfielders?

A few days ago I had a discussion with three knowledgeable baseball friends. We wound up naming consensus all time great players (pitchers are not players) and found that we had some discrepancies. One was Rickey Henderson.

I dissented.

Rickey is one of the players known by his first name.

He has the record for most steals in a season (130) and career (1,406). Among post dead ball era base stealers, Rickey also has the career record for most Caught Stealing (CS), which was not kept when Ty Cobb, the previous record holder (897), played a lot. Lou Brock also passed Cobb: 938. Cobb has the career record for Batting Average: .366. Rickey's SB success rate was 81%. And he bettered Cobb's career record my 57% ((1406-897)/897).

Rickey has the arbitrary designation as the greatest lead off hitter of all time, which makes one wonder who, if anyone, had that designation before Rickey? And who is the greatest #2 hitter of all time, etc.

But is Rickey really among the very best in the American League and National League since 1903? Let's look only at outfielders.

Rickey never played the infield in AL or NL. Here are his OF starts:

Left: 2,323 84%
Center: 407 14.7%
Right: 24
Total: 2,754

Rickey finished with OPS+ 127. His final decade of a very long career lowered him. Cumulative through 1993, age 34: 140, his career high.

For combined seasons, from 1903 to 2023, Played at Any OF, in the regular season, requiring Wins Above Replacement (WAR) >= 100, sorted by descending Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

Rk	Player	WAR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GIDP	oWAR	dWAR
1	Barry Bonds	162.8	1986	2007	21-42	2986	12606	9847	2227	2935	1495	601	77	762	1996	514	141	2558	1539	.298	.444	.607	1.051	182	5976	165	143.6	7.6
2	Babe Ruth	162.2	1914	1935	19-40	2503	10627	8399	2174	2873	1517	506	136	714	2214	123	116	2062	1330	.342	.474	.690	1.164	206	5793	2	154.5	-2.3
3	Willie Mays	156.1	1948	1973	17-42	3005	12545	10924	2068	3293	1967	525	141	660	1909	339	103	1468	1526	.301	.384	.557	.940	155	6080	251	136.5	18.2
4	Ty Cobb	151.4	1905	1928	18-41	3034	13103	11440	2245	4189	3053	724	295	117	1944	897	215	1249	680	.366	.433	.512	.944	168	5854		151.6	-10.8
5	Henry Aaron	143.0	1954	1976	20-42	3298	13941	12364	2174	3771	2294	624	98	755	2297	240	73	1402	1383	.305	.374	.555	.928	155	6856	328	132.6	-4.6
6	Tris Speaker	134.9	1907	1928	19-40	2789	12020	10195	1882	3514	2383	792	222	117	1531	436	158	1381	393	.345	.428	.500	.928	158	5101		125.1	2.5
7	Stan Musial	128.6	1941	1963	20-42	3026	12721	10972	1949	3630	2253	725	177	475	1951	78	71	1599	696	.331	.417	.559	.976	159	6134	243	125.2	-9.2
8	Ted Williams	121.8	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9792	7706	1798	2654	1537	525	71	521	1839	24	17	2021	709	.344	.482	.634	1.116	191	4884	197	125.1	-13.3
9	Rickey Henderson	111.2	1979	2003	20-44	3081	13346	10961	2295	3055	2182	510	66	297	1115	1406	335	2190	1694	.279	.401	.419	.820	127	4588	172	105.2	-2.3
10	Mel Ott	110.9	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11347	9456	1859	2876	1805	488	72	511	1860	89	95	1708	896	.304	.414	.533	.947	155	5041	82	106.8	-6.0
11	Mickey Mantle	110.2	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9910	8102	1676	2415	1463	344	72	536	1509	153	38	1733	1710	.298	.421	.557	.977	172	4511	113	116.3	-9.6
12	Frank Robinson	107.3	1956	1976	20-40	2808	11744	10006	1829	2943	1757	528	72	586	1812	204	77	1420	1532	.294	.389	.537	.926	154	5373	270	106.9	-14.8

Wow, Rickey is #9, a third stringer. But, of course, WAR is a total and totals reward longevity. Only Williams and Mantle had fewer than 10,000 PA and Rickey is second only to Aaron in PA.

Let's try OPS+. It's understandable and readily available and it's an average, not a total. It's On Base Average Plus Slugging Average adjusted for ballparks and era. It measures productivity in the batter's box. Rickey's base stealing is not a factor.

For combined seasons, from 1903 to 2023, Played at Any OF, in the regular season, requiring Adjusted OPS+ >= 127 and Plate Appearances >= 5000, sorted by descending Adjusted OPS+.

127 was Rickey's career OPS+, which among OF ties him at #90 with six others: Evans, Veach, Gamble, Maris, Allison, Zisk.

Even if we use Rickey's cumulative high OPS+ through 1993 (age 34) 140: Rickey would be tied at #27 with Sheffield, Guerrero, Doby, Snider.

Top 15 OF:

Player	OPS+	PA	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GIDP	HBP	SF
Babe Ruth	206	10627	1914	1935	19-40	2503	10627	8399	2174	2873	1517	506	136	714	2214	123	116	2062	1330	.342	.474	.690	1.164	5793	2	43
Ted Williams	191	9792	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9792	7706	1798	2654	1537	525	71	521	1839	24	17	2021	709	.344	.482	.634	1.116	4884	197	39	20
Barry Bonds	182	12606	1986	2007	21-42	2986	12606	9847	2227	2935	1495	601	77	762	1996	514	141	2558	1539	.298	.444	.607	1.051	5976	165	106	91
Mike Trout	173	6521	2011	2023	19-31	1489	6521	5402	1106	1624	894	310	52	368	940	206	37	964	1458	.301	.412	.582	.994	3142	68	99	55
Mickey Mantle	172	9910	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9910	8102	1676	2415	1463	344	72	536	1509	153	38	1733	1710	.298	.421	.557	.977	4511	113	13	47
Joe Jackson	170	5697	1908	1920	20-32	1332	5697	4981	873	1772	1243	307	168	54	792	202	81	519	233	.356	.423	.517	.940	2577		59
Ty Cobb	168	13103	1905	1928	18-41	3034	13103	11440	2245	4189	3053	724	295	117	1944	897	215	1249	680	.366	.433	.512	.944	5854		94
Stan Musial	159	12721	1941	1963	20-42	3026	12721	10972	1949	3630	2253	725	177	475	1951	78	71	1599	696	.331	.417	.559	.976	6134	243	53	53
Tris Speaker	158	12020	1907	1928	19-40	2789	12020	10195	1882	3514	2383	792	222	117	1531	436	158	1381	393	.345	.428	.500	.928	5101		103
Willie Mays	155	12545	1948	1973	17-42	3005	12545	10924	2068	3293	1967	525	141	660	1909	339	103	1468	1526	.301	.384	.557	.940	6080	251	45	91
Joe DiMaggio	155	7672	1936	1951	21-36	1736	7672	6821	1390	2214	1333	389	131	361	1537	30	9	790	369	.325	.398	.579	.977	3948	130	46
Mel Ott	155	11347	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11347	9456	1859	2876	1805	488	72	511	1860	89	95	1708	896	.304	.414	.533	.947	5041	82	64
Henry Aaron	155	13941	1954	1976	20-42	3298	13941	12364	2174	3771	2294	624	98	755	2297	240	73	1402	1383	.305	.374	.555	.928	6856	328	32	121
Manny Ramírez	154	9774	1993	2011	21-39	2302	9774	8244	1544	2574	1452	547	20	555	1831	38	33	1329	1813	.312	.411	.585	.996	4826	243	109	90
Frank Robinson	154	11744	1956	1976	20-40	2808	11744	10006	1829	2943	1757	528	72	586	1812	204	77	1420	1532	.294	.389	.537	.926	5373	270	198	102

Fifteen is five full OF. That means that Rickey would be sixth string at best. Even if we drop Joe Jackson and Manny Ramirez for being on the ineligible list, we still have these OF all with OPS+ > 127:

Willie Stargell
Ken Griffey
Al Kaline
Roberto Clemente
Carl Yastrzemski

But Rickey had high On Base Average.

For combined seasons, from 1903 to 2023, Played at Any OF, in the regular season, requiring Plate Appearances >= 5000 and On-Base Percentage >= .400, sorted by descending On-Base Percentage.

Rk	Player	OBP	PA	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	1B	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GIDP
1	Ted Williams	.482	9792	1939	1960	20-41	2292	9792	7706	1798	2654	1537	525	71	521	1839	24	17	2021	709	.344	.634	1.116	191	4884	197
2	Babe Ruth	.474	10627	1914	1935	19-40	2503	10627	8399	2174	2873	1517	506	136	714	2214	123	116	2062	1330	.342	.690	1.164	206	5793	2
3	Barry Bonds	.444	12606	1986	2007	21-42	2986	12606	9847	2227	2935	1495	601	77	762	1996	514	141	2558	1539	.298	.607	1.051	182	5976	165
4	Ty Cobb	.433	13103	1905	1928	18-41	3034	13103	11440	2245	4189	3053	724	295	117	1944	897	215	1249	680	.366	.512	.944	168	5854
5	Tris Speaker	.428	12020	1907	1928	19-40	2789	12020	10195	1882	3514	2383	792	222	117	1531	436	158	1381	393	.345	.500	.928	158	5101
6	Joe Jackson	.423	5697	1908	1920	20-32	1332	5697	4981	873	1772	1243	307	168	54	792	202	81	519	233	.356	.517	.940	170	2577
7	Mickey Mantle	.421	9910	1951	1968	19-36	2401	9910	8102	1676	2415	1463	344	72	536	1509	153	38	1733	1710	.298	.557	.977	172	4511	113
8	Stan Musial	.417	12721	1941	1963	20-42	3026	12721	10972	1949	3630	2253	725	177	475	1951	78	71	1599	696	.331	.559	.976	159	6134	243
9	Mel Ott	.414	11347	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11347	9456	1859	2876	1805	488	72	511	1860	89	95	1708	896	.304	.533	.947	155	5041	82
10	Mike Trout	.412	6521	2011	2023	19-31	1489	6521	5402	1106	1624	894	310	52	368	940	206	37	964	1458	.301	.582	.994	173	3142	68
11	Manny Ramírez	.411	9774	1993	2011	21-39	2302	9774	8244	1544	2574	1452	547	20	555	1831	38	33	1329	1813	.312	.585	.996	154	4826	243
12	Harry Heilmann	.410	8972	1914	1932	19-37	2147	8972	7787	1291	2660	1784	542	151	183	1543	113	74	856	550	.342	.520	.930	148	4053
13	Riggs Stephenson	.407	5136	1921	1934	23-36	1310	5136	4508	714	1515	1077	321	54	63	773	53	43	494	247	.336	.473	.880	129	2133	14
14	Lance Berkman	.406	7814	1999	2013	23-37	1879	7814	6491	1146	1905	1087	422	30	366	1234	86	48	1201	1300	.293	.537	.943	144	3485	147
15	Paul Waner	.404	10767	1926	1945	23-42	2549	10767	9459	1627	3152	2243	605	191	113	1309	104	101	1091	376	.333	.473	.878	134	4478	127
16	Rickey Henderson	.401	13346	1979	2003	20-44	3081	13346	10961	2295	3055	2182	510	66	297	1115	1406	335	2190	1694	.279	.419	.820	127	4588	172
17	Larry Walker	.400	8030	1989	2005	22-38	1988	8030	6907	1355	2160	1244	471	62	383	1311	230	76	913	1231	.313	.565	.965	141	3904	153
18	Brian Giles	.400	7836	1995	2009	24-38	1847	7836	6527	1121	1897	1144	411	55	287	1078	109	45	1183	835	.291	.502	.902	137	3279	160

Rickey is #16. Among those dropping out are Aaron, Mays, DiMaggio. Would you replace one of them with Rickey Henderson?

Do his SB really push Rickey Henderson into the top 20 OF?

Runs Created (RC): top 50 resorted by rate RC/PA. Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Rickey Henderson ... 33 among all top 50 batters in RC. Among OF Rickey is 18 of 23, a sixth stringer.

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