Imagine having the American League batting champion and the National League batting champion from the same season at the top of the order. The 1990 Oakland Athletics came close to having that happen.
Manager Tony La Russa put Rickey Henderson in the leadoff spot and Willie McGee in the No. 2 position during the last weeks of the 1990 season and then into the playoffs and World Series.
After leading most of the way, Henderson finished a close second to the Royals’ George Brett in the 1990 AL batting race. (His consolation prize, if you will, was the AL Most Valuable Player Award.) McGee, who played for the Cardinals before being dealt to Oakland near the end of August, won the 1990 NL batting title.
The combination of Henderson and McGee as table setters, followed by bashers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, might make a pitcher reconsider his vocation.
Baseball’s all-time leader in runs scored (2,295) and stolen bases (1,406), Henderson died on Dec. 20, 2024, five days before his 66th birthday.
Athletic ability
At Oakland Tech High School, Henderson excelled in multiple sports and the one he liked best was football. He recalled to the San Francisco Examiner, “That was my game, football … I wanted to play for the (Oakland) Raiders.”
His mother, though, preferred he pursue baseball. So, Henderson turned down a football scholarship offer from Arizona State and signed with the Athletics when they drafted him at 17 in 1976.
During his first stint with the Athletics (1979-84), Henderson achieved 130 stolen bases in 1982, breaking the record of 118 held by the Cardinals’ Lou Brock. Traded to the Yankees in December 1984, Henderson was reacquired by the Athletics in June 1989 and helped them become World Series champions.
Doing it all
In 1990, as the Sacramento Bee described it, Henderson, “flamboyantly acting as if he were the leading man in a Broadway show,” deployed all his considerable skills. He led the league in on-base percentage (.439), runs scored (119) and stolen bases (65), and placed second to Cecil Fielder in slugging (.577).
“There’s nobody in our league doing more than (Henderson),” Tony La Russa said to the Bee.
Athletics pitcher Scott Sanderson told the newspaper, “When Rickey is determined to dominate a game, he can do it.”
Henderson hit .330 or better each month from April through July in 1990. He entered August at .340 for the season.
When Athletics center fielder Dave Henderson (no relation to Rickey) suffered a knee injury in August, general manager Sandy Alderson acquired Willie McGee to fill in for the injured outfielder. Winner of the 1985 National League MVP Award, McGee hit .335 for the 1990 Cardinals. On Aug, 29, the day Oakland obtained McGee, Rickey Henderson led the American League at .323.
McGee was from the Bay Area and still resided there. The Cardinals opted to trade him (for Felix Jose, Stan Royer and Daryl Green) rather than lose him to free agency after the season.
“McGee batting behind Henderson gives the A’s incredible speed at the top of the lineup,” Oakland Tribune columnist Dave Newhouse wrote.
Rangers pitcher Bobby Witt told the Examiner, “With Rickey Henderson leading off and Willie McGee batting second, that’s a great lineup.”
Dynamic duo
Though it took McGee a while to adjust to being with a different team _ “Every day I expect red (uniforms), and it’s green,” he told the Sacramento Bee _ he and Henderson teamed up for several strong performances.
On Sept. 3, for instance, at Boston’s Fenway Park, Henderson led off the game with a single, McGee followed with another single and the rattled rookie, Dana Kiecker, threw a wild pitch. The Athletics went on to score five runs in the inning and won, 9-5. Henderson and McGee combined for four hits, two walks, two steals, three runs and three RBI.
Red Sox designated hitter Mike Marshall, who played for the Dodgers against the Athletics in the 1988 World Series, told the Boston Globe, “They’re a strong team, mostly because now they’ve got that leadoff threat. They’ve got Rickey and now they’ve got McGee. He’s almost just as bad (to defend against).” Boxscore
Later that week, at Yankee Stadium, “Henderson lit the fuse and McGee kept it burning,” the Oakland Tribune reported.
With the Yankees ahead 2-1, Henderson led off the eighth with a home run into the third deck in left against Mike Witt, tying the score. McGee then lined a single to right and, when Jesse Barfield juggled the ball, Willie dashed to second. Irritated, Witt threw a wild pitch, enabling McGee to reach third. Then came another wild toss, and McGee scored the winning run.
As the Sacramento Bee noted, “Each time, the moment the ball trickled away, McGee took off. Seriously quick instincts.”
Tony La Russa told Newsday, “He’s got real explosion, plus he’s got guts. Often the guts factor is underestimated with baserunning. Willie has more guts than most.” Boxscore
The next day, with the score tied 3-3 in the ninth, the Athletics had one on, two outs, when Henderson worked a walk against the Yankees’ Greg Cadaret. McGee was next. After falling behind in the count, he fouled off five two-strike pitches before sending a drive to right. Mel Hall said he thought the ball would come directly to him, but it carried and sliced toward the corner.
“Hall pirouetted in the outfield before falling face-first onto the warning track,” the New York Daily News reported. The ball landed there, too, and bounced against the wall. Both runners scored and McGee streaked to third with a triple. The Athletics won, 7-3.
“An at-bat doesn’t get any better than that,” La Russa told Newsday’s Joe Donnelly. “Willie’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been involved with. You can see it in the field, on the bases and at the plate.” Boxscore
Hit and run
In mid-September, George Brett, batting .256 through June, overtook Henderson in the race for the 1990 American League batting title.
With a week to go, Brett was at .330 and Henderson at .324. To protect his lead, Brett sat out three of the remaining six games, skipping two tough left-handers, Chuck Finley and Mark Langston, and knuckleballer Tom Candiotti.
Henderson said to the Oakland Tribune, “I respect (Brett), but I really thought he should have played. I guess I feel he did it a little different than I thought a good ballplayer would.”
Brett finished four percentage points ahead of Henderson, becoming at 37 the oldest American League batting champion since Ted Williams (40) in 1958. Brett also became the first player to win batting titles in three decades _ 1976 (.333), 1980 (.390) and 1990 (.329).
(No one ever won an AL batting title while playing for the Oakland Athletics.)
McGee had enough at-bats with the 1990 Cardinals to qualify for the National League batting crown. He won it with a .335 mark, finishing ahead of the Dodgers’ Eddie Murray (.330).
Comings and goings
The Athletics won their third straight American League pennant in 1990, sweeping the Red Sox in the playoffs, but then got swept by the Reds in the World Series.
McGee became a free agent and signed with the Giants, the team he rooted for as a youth. In December 1995, he returned to the Cardinals, who were managed then by Tony La Russa.
Henderson got traded to the Blue Jays in July 1993, returned to the Athletics five months later, left for the Padres in October 1995, returned to the Athletics in January 1998 and left again for the Mets in December 1998.
With the 1999 Mets, Henderson had 13 hits and five walks in 25 plate appearances versus the Cardinals _ a .720 on-base percentage.