Rickey Henderson (The Mets Years 1999 - 2000)

Rickey Henderson signed with Mets in December 1998 just one week before his 40th his birthday on Christmas Day. 

#24: The controversy started right away when he was issued uniform #24. Although it was never officially retired, it was last used by the legendary Hall of Famer, Willie Mays during the 1973 Mets NL Pennant season.

There was one exception with the number 24, when it was accidentally given to Kelvin Torve in 1990. But after public outrage it was quickly taken away & Torve was reissued a new number. 

Many longtime fans did not think Henderson, although a future Hall of Famer himself, was worthy of wearing the great Mays' number 24. Mays' uniform #24 would finally be retired by the Mets in 2022.

Mets Career-1999: Henderson was never a great fit with the Mets, but he did have a real good year in 1999. 

Henderson took over the leadoff spot-on Opening Day, playing left field & collecting his first Mets hit. In the second game he hit a two run double off Livan Hernandez in the Mets four run 2nd inning in a 12-3 Mets win.

Two HR Game: On April 7th, he hit two HRs in a 6-0 win over the Marlins as Bobby Jones shut them out for seven innings. In that game he had four hits with HRs off Jesus Sanchez & Antonio Alfonseca.

Henderson missed three weeks of action in May, due to an injury. Henderson dropped off to a .233 average then had a hot streak on a mid-June Road trip where he went 12 for 27 hitting safely in 12 of 14 games. 

Henderson had a four-hit game on June 19th where he hit a HR & drove in three runs in a 7-6 Mets loss. He also had three multi-RBI games in the last two weeks of the month. 

In June he stole 13 bases only getting caught three times. On July 1st, he had a three hit game where he drove in two runs & raised his average up to .292.

In July he batted .384 with three HRs 9 RBIs six doubles & 26 runs scored. He had ten multi-hit games in the month as well. On July 30th he broke an 8-8 tie hitting a 6th inning HR off the Cubs Kyle Farnsworth, in what turned out to be the game winning run in the 9-8 win.

Henderson had a great August batting .410 raising his average to .338. In the month he had 32 hits, six doubles, three HRs, five stolen bases & had 18 runs scored. He drew ten walks to give him a .410 on base %. 

On August 22nd, he tied up a game with the Cardinals, with a bottom of the 9th inning double, scoring Rey Ordonez. He then scored the winning run-on Edgardo Alfonzo's walk off single.

In September he cooled off but hit an important two run HR at Coors Field on September 13th, helping New York in a 6-5 win to stay in the wild card hunt. He also had two other multi-RBI games that month.

In the final game of the season, in a tie breaker for the wild card title at Cincinnati against the Reds, Henderson led off the game with a base hit. He scored on Edgardo Alfonzo's base hit. 

Later in the 5th inning he led off the inning with a solo HR of his own off Denny Neagle. The Mets won it 5-0 behind Al Leiter & advanced to the post season.

Henderson played in 121 games batting .315 with 82 walks and a .423 on base percentage (7th in the league). He hit 30 doubles with 12 HRs 42 RBIs 82 Runs scored & stole 37 bases (7th in the league). Quite a year for a 40-year-old player.

1999 Post Season: NLDS: In Game #1 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamond backs he went
hitless but walked twice & scored both times.

In Game #3 he went 3-5 with an RBI single off Darren Holmes in the 6th inning. He then scored another run-on John Olerud's base hit in the 9-2 Met win.

In the final Game #4 he led off the 6th inning with a base hit off Brain Anderson, then scored the go-ahead run-on Benny Agbayani's double. Arizona would tie it, but the Mets clinched the series on Todd Pratt's walk off HR.

Overall Henderson hit .400 (6-15) with three walks & five runs scored in the NLDS.

1999 NLCS: In the NLCS vs. Atlanta he only hit .174 going 4-23 with no walks an just one RBI. The RBI came in the 7th inning of Game #6, as the first of four Mets runs tying up the game.

In that Game #6 at Atlanta, he was replaced in the 8th inning as Bobby Valentine shuffled his line up when John Franco was brought in to pitch the do or die game. 

Drama: Henderson abandoned his team, pouted & left the dugout. It was reported he & another long-time troubled soul; Bobby Bonilla was playing cards in the locker room as the Mets lost the Series to the Braves on the field.

Their Mets teammates & the Mets fans were outraged. Of course, the media loved it & played it up. Henderson & Bonilla had certainly worn out their welcome in New York by failing on the field & embarrassing themselves as teammates. 

Henderson made it to start the 2000 season but was released after 31

 games & batting just .219. The 2000 Mets enjoyed winning the NL Pennant & went to the World Series without him.

Retirement: Henderson resurfaced in the Mets organization in 2006 as a special base running instructor at Spring Training. He helped Jose Reyes work on his base stealing skills.

In July 2007 he became the Mets first base coach under Willie Randolph but wasn't asked to return in 2008.

2013 All Star Game: He returned to New York in 2013 appearing in the celebrity & Mets alumni softball game during the All-Star Week festivities.

Passing: Henderson passed away December 21st, 2024, at age 65.