Rickey Henderson’s Playoff Debut

In 1981, the Oakland Athletics made the playoffs.

’81 was the strike-shortened year.

The way they arranged the playoffs that year was they had a ‘division winner’ for the pre-strike part of the season, and then a ‘division winner’ for the post-strike part of the season.

The Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals both won the American League West, and faced each other in the playoffs.

Fast-forward to the 12-minute mark and watch Rickey digging in:

The Athletics were able to get past the Royals and then made the trip to the Bronx to face the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

You can fast forward to the 9-minute mark of this one to see Rickey leading off against Tommy John (he of the “Tommy John Surgery”):

Something about Rickey’s intensity just oozes success.

The nimbleness in the batter’s box.

The glare at the pitcher.

The way he watches the pitch all the way into the catcher’s mit.