May 1, 1991 – When Oakland's Rickey Henderson swiped third in a game against the Yankees at Oakland Coliseum, he became the all-time stolen base leader with 939, one more than Lou Brock. Henderson's thievery to that point added up to some 16 miles of illicit baserunning over a little more that 12 seasons.
"Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing," the always self-effacing Henderson proclaimed afterward, "but today I'm the greatest of all time."
Rickey would finish his career with a total of 1,406 stolen bases, almost 500 more than the next closest player. He was also the premiere lead-off hitter of his generation. Upon retiring in 2003, he was baseball's all-time leader in lead-off home runs, as well as bases on balls (walks) with 2,190 (Barry Bonds later broke this record) and the all-time runs leader, with 2,295.
