Publisher's Weekly Review
Bryant (The Last Hero), a senior writer for ESPN.com, delivers a solid and comprehensive take on the life and career of Rickey Henderson, Major League Baseball's all-time stolen base leader. A part of the 1960s "Black migration" to California, 10-year-old Henderson and his family moved from Arkansas to Oakland in 1969. After being convinced by a guidance counselor to join his school's baseball team--upon Henderson's initial resistance, she offered to pay him a quarter for every one of his hits and runs--Henderson quickly rose through the ranks in his teens and was signed to the minor league's Oakland Athletics in 1979. Though underestimated by scouts, Henderson's raw talent led him to play for the A's on four separate stints--including in the team's 1993 World Series championship--as well as the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox, among other teams. Tracing Henderson's road to baseball's Hall of Fame, Bryant skillfully weaves in detailed analyses of the athlete's game--from his famous "swagger" to his reputation as a speedster, stealing 100 bases in his first full season. The book most succeeds in its rich historical context, underscoring Rickey's outsize influence in a new vanguard of "great Black talents" that shook up the hallowed white halls of baseball. The result is an indelible account of a one-of-a-kind player and personality. (June)
Kirkus Review
Sprawling biography of baseball great Rickey Henderson, whose accomplishments certainly merit a tome. ESPN senior writer Bryant, who cut his teeth covering the Oakland Athletics, is wholly at home with A's legend Henderson--though, of course, Henderson played for many teams as well as Oakland. Born in Chicago on Christmas Day, 1958, Henderson was named after teen heartthrob Ricky Nelson, and he excelled early on in sports, particularly football, worshipping O.J. Simpson. "O.J. and Rickey played the same position," writes Bryant, "even though O.J. made you miss him and Rickey would never pass up a chance to flatten you." Henderson grew up in a highly segregated Oakland, where the beneficiaries of the funneling of athletic talent were local high schools. Though he received scholarship offers to play college football, Henderson chose baseball on the sensible grounds that baseball players had greater longevity. Indeed, as Bryant notes, Henderson played well into his fifth decade, and "as a 40-year-old, he hit a robust .315 and would be named the National League Comeback Player of the Year." Though Henderson was never the easiest player to get along with, he certainly racked up the scores, particularly as a base stealer. One insider reckons that if Henderson were playing today, he could garner a $500 million contract, while a high school math teacher developed a formula that put Henderson ahead of Ty Cobb as a "small ball player" and just behind Cobb as an all-around player. Small wonder that Henderson, who shares many points in common with all-time greats such as Willie Mays, Satchel Paige, and Al Kaline, went into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown as soon as he was eligible. Near the end of this satisfying biographer, Bryant points out, "As of July 2021, 22,467 players had appeared in a Major League Baseball game, and no position player who began his career in the 20th century had played more seasons than the legendary Rickey Henderson." A readable, appropriately fast-moving portrait of a baseball giant. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Rickey Henderson's first-ballot Hall-of-Fame stats are there for all to see: 1,406 career steals, shattering Lou Brock's record by 468; 2,295 runs, the most scored in MLB history; most home runs by a leadoff hitter, at 81. Those stats drove the opposition to distraction, but Henderson's mercurial personality has always been hard to read: a sometimes-contradictory mix of competitive fire, reserve, swagger, personal tics that endeared him to his teammates if not fans, and a brusqueness with the press and public caused less by incivility than Henderson's inclination to let his numbers do his talking. If veteran sports journalist Bryant doesn't quite crack the Code of Rickey, he lays out the player's coming-of-age in the cauldron of racism, athletic talent, and Black self-expression that was 1960s Oakland; Henderson's once-in-a-generation gifts; and his role on the nine teams--notably the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees--for whom he played over his 25-year career. A worthy addition to the sports collection, like almost any book by this author.
Library Journal Review
Mashing home runs seems to have overtaken the popularity of stealing bases in Major League Baseball but back in the 1980s, it was a time of lightening along the base paths. No one dominated this era more than Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, who played on nine MLB teams for 24 seasons, between 1979 and 2003. Dubbed "the Man of Steal," he holds the Major League records for career stolen bases, runs, leadoff home runs and unintended walks. His record-breaking numbers and huge personality made for thrilling viewing. ESPN sportswriter Bryant (The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron) captures Rickey (always a one-name guy) in his time. In line with the author's previous works about baseball figures and history, Bryant tells Rickey's story from the social/historical milieu of Rickey's childhood in Oakland, CA, a city that underwent massive social change due to the Great Migration. Rickey's career is part of a common thread in the history of Black Americans in baseball, but also--perhaps more so--is uniquely his own. VERDICT Bryant brings a historian's perspective to the life of Rickey Henderson, with great success.--Brett Rohlwing
