Rickey Henderson is a retired professional left fielder. Henderson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. He spent the first season of his minor league career with the Boise A's of the Northwest League.

Henderson played in the MLB for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with his original team, the Oakland Athletics .Henderson is widely regarded as baseball's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner. He holds the major league records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks and leadoff home runs (as of 2021). At the time of his last major league game in 2003, the ten-time AL All-Star ranked among the sport's top 100 all-time home run hitters and was its all-time leader in walks. Henderson holds the single-season record for stolen bases (130 in 1982) and is the only player in AL history to steal 100 bases in a season, having done so three times. Henderson is the all-time stolen base leader for the Oakland Athletics and previously held the New York Yankees' franchise record from 1988 to 2011.

In 2009, he was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance.