Spring 2020 Premium Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/20/2020
Until 1982 no one ever thought a player would come along that could break Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record of 118 - the problem was, no one told Rickey Henderson. In 1980 he had become just the 3rd player in history to steal more than 100 bases in a season and broke Ty Cobb’s old American League Record of 96 set in 1915. Then in 1982, Henderson went on a stealing tear that would never be equaled. By the All-Star break, he had 84 steals and when the season ended, he had 130 stolen bases to his credit. To put Henderson’s record in perspective, his total number of steals outpaced nine of the American League's 14 teams that year. Henderson was aided in his record-setting season by hitting .267 and working a league-leading 116 bases on balls.
Although the game didn’t count for the record books, Henderson stole another base during an exhibition game between Oakland and their AAA franchise in Tacoma. This would have been his 108th stolen base of the season and this offered base was used during the August 12, 1982 game. This base displays outstanding game use with dirt marks and other abrasions. Henderson has signed his name in the center of the base and added the inscriptions “CHENEY STADIUM AUG 12, 1982 OAKLAND 2 vs TACOMA 5” and “STOLEN BASE #108 FOR THE YEAR <1ST INNING STEAL>”. The bottom of the base shows age wear with rust stains on the metal frame. This comes with a LOA from JSA for Henderson’s signature. The base comes directly form the collection of Stan Naccarato the General Manager of Tacoma's baseball club for three decades.