Rickey Henderson leads 2009 Hall of Fame ballot

December 1, 11:58 AMMLB ExaminerTony DeMarco

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Rickey Henderson's time is coming -- finally.

Henderson is the leading newcomer on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot mailed out on Monday to 575 voters with 10 consecutive years of membership in the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The 2009 class will be announced on Jan. 12, and there is little doubt Henderson will be in it -- and leading off, if you will. The game's all-time leader in runs (2,295) and stolen bases (1,406) stuck around long enough -- 25 seasons, until age 44 -- to accumulate 3,055 hits including 297 home runs.

Henderson also won one MVP award (1990), and was on two World Series winners -- the 1989 Oakland A's and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays. His 81 home runs to lead off a game are the most in history, and nobody has come close to his single-season stolen-base record of 130 in 1982.

It's the Hall of Fame's choice as to what team cap will go on Henderson's bust in Cooperstown, and the A's are the obvious pick. But in this case, the choices certainly are numerous, as in a career that stretched from 1979 to 2003, Henderson played with the A's (four different tours of duty), Yankees, Blue Jays, Padres, Angels, Mets, Mariners, Angels and Dodgers.

Among the 13 returnees on the ballot, Jim Rice is the likeliest to get elected in his 15th and final appearance. It also will be interesting to see how Henderson's presence on the ballot affects Tim Raines' support. The other holdovers are Bert Blyleven, Lee Smith, Tommy John (final season on the ballot), Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Don Mattingly, Andre Dawson, Mark McGwire, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker and Harold Baines. We'll examine their candidacies in an upcoming post.

The other newcomers aren't likely to garner significant support -- Mark Grace, David Cone, Matt Williams, Mo Vaughn, Ron Gant, Jay Bell, Greg Vaughn, Jesse Orosco, Dan Plesac. 

See the entire 2009 ballot

Henderson's career statistics