Henderson 'stood out' in Minors

Rickey Henderson's ascent through the Minor Leagues was, like everything else that has to do with Rickey Henderson, fast.

After his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday, it seems fitting that such a showman was ready for The Show so quickly. He started with the short-season Boise A's in 1976 and was in the Majors by the 1979 All-Star break.

But while the Oakland native's Minor League career wasn't noteworthy for its longevity, his achievements and style made it memorable. At age 17, Henderson stole 29 bases in 46 games. The following year, playing for the Modesto A's in the California League, he robbed the league blind, swiping 95 bases.

Tom Trebelhorn, Henderson's manager during the speedster's first two years in professional baseball, said he could tell almost immediately that he was working with a special player.

"Right away, his athleticism stood out," said Trebelhorn, who currently manages the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the short-season Northwest League. "His leg strength, his explosiveness was incredible."

Henderson's game depended on another element that his manager quickly appreciated.

"Style -- an arrogant style that translated into success," Trebelhorn said. "He was always a guy who you love to have on your side, but if he's on the other side you want to kill him."

There were times when Trebelhorn relied on Henderson's style and explosiveness to win games, or at least make them more competitive.

"We used to [tick] a lot of people off," Trebelhorn recalled.

For example, on May 26, 1977, Henderson stole seven bases in a California League game, tying a Minor League record set two years earlier by Lee Mazilli and helping Trebelhorn's A's edge Fresno, 13-12.

"It started the night before," Trebelhorn said. "We didn't have a real good club, but we had a lot of speed. And what happened was, the night before [with Modesto losing by a large margin] we stole a few bases. Because if they can't stop you from running, you'd better run. And they got upset at us. The catcher was calling us bush league and all that.

"But I'm a strong believer that the other team can't dictate how you play the game. So I said, 'You don't like the way we're running tonight? Wait until tomorrow night' So we went out there the next night and didn't stop running, and we ended up with 15 stolen bases [also a California League record]. And, yeah, Rickey got seven of them."

Considering that Henderson finished his career with a Major League-record 1,406 stolen bases and 2,295 runs scored, his early aggression and dominance on the basepaths were not surprising. However, he broke Babe Ruth's career record with 2,062 walks, a mark that stood until Barry Bonds eclipsed it. That patience also evident during Henderson's Minor League years.

Between Boise and Modesto, he drew 137 walks while striking out only 99 times. From the day he first took the field for Boise, he demonstrated a keen eye.

"He'd take a bad pitch at the plate and he'd say to himself, 'Oh, no, no, Rickey, don't swing at that,'" said Trebelhorn.

"He had great strike-zone knowledge, especially for a 17-year-old kid. He had great discipline and knew the strike zone. And in the Northwest League then, you could face lot of tough pitchers."

While Henderson, Oakland's fourth-round pick in the 1976 First-Year Player Draft, is widely considered one of the best to ever play the game, he had a defensive weakness during his days with Boise and Modesto.

"His throwing arm was below average," Trebelhorn recalled. "But we worked very hard to make sure he got to the ball quicker. He worked very hard on his footwork."

His manager also came up with another way for Henderson to stop baserunners.

"I'd say to him, 'When you get to the ball, come up looking like you can really throw. Because if you come up looking like that, the third-base coach doesn't want to look stupid. He's going to hold his runners.' So Rickey got really good at looking like he could throw," Trebelhorn said.

Although some fans and media members consider Henderson's personality difficult -- he famously referred to himself as "the greatest of all time" after breaking Lou Brock's stolen base record -- Trebelhorn said anyone who's known Henderson would not share that assessment.

"Rickey's world is Rickey's world, but it's not a world you can't get into. I never had one problem with him and I never saw anybody -- opposing players, teammates, umpires, anybody -- have any serious problem with him. He was always mindful of his behavior. And he was always mindful about what his mother would think of his behavior. He was a great kid."

And despite his brash playing style, Henderson was extremely coachable.

"Working with him was simple," Trebelhorn said. "He was a good kid. He wanted to work. He always wanted to work."

During the season Henderson spent with Modesto, the team had a commute from Lodi, Calif., to the ballpark.

"The bus left early, but I'd say, 'Let's work before we get on the bus,' and he'd say, 'OK, great.' He was always very eager to be a Major League player," Trebelhorn said.

In fact, he credits Henderson's aggressive approach with helping him become an all-time great.

"What was very different about him was his style. I never got down on him because of his style," Trebelhorn added. "I never try to coach style out of a player, and Rickey's having that style was part of what took him from the good to the great."

The way Trebelhorn embraced and nurtured that style was not lost on the youngster. And in his speech following the record-breaking steal, Henderson voiced appreciation for his old coach.

"Of course, I'm tremendously honored that he thinks I helped him. There's no better feeling for a coach than when a successful guy says, 'Hey, thank you. You helped me get here,'" Trebelhorn said. "But I believe Rickey would have done what he did no matter who was coaching him. He would have been where he is with or without me."