Yankees’ Thief of Bases Is Taking Things Easier

NEW YORK —  Rickey Henderson of the New York Yankees, stealing bases in 1986 at a pace to match his own single-season record, knows he’ll have to slow down when the bats behind him begin to crack.

“I’m not really interested in breaking my record,” says Henderson, who set the major league mark in 1982 by stealing 130 bases with Oakland. “I’ve been stealing a lot because this team hasn’t been hitting as well as it can.”

Henderson stole 15 bases in the Yankees first 18 games, just four behind the pace he set in 1982. But as he quickly points out, leading off for the Yankees in 1986 differs greatly from doing the same job with the A’s in 1982.

“There’s no way I can steal 130 bases with these guys hitting behind me,” says Henderson, who was also caught a major league record 42 times in 1982. “I don’t want to take the bat out of their hands. When I stole 130, I didn’t have these guys who could drive me home.”

The Yankees blasted 176 home runs last season, the third most in the major leagues. Getting caught stealing with Don Mattingly or Dave Winfield at the plate can often mean the difference between a two-run homer and a solo shot.

Winfield and Mattingly, however, produced only one homer between them through the first 18 games of the season. The Yankees recently went six games without hitting a home run, forcing Henderson to create offense with his baserunning.

“My entire game is about getting in scoring position,” says Henderson, who scored 146 runs last year--the most in the major leagues since Ted Williams scored 150 in 1949. “It doesn’t matter if I get to second on a walk and a bunt or a single and steal.”

Despite Henderson’s protests, some would argue he has turned on the speed to protect his record from St. Louis’ Vince Coleman, who stole 110 bases last year as a rookie and claimed during the off-season that 200 this year would not be out of the question.

“Vince Coleman is capable of stealing 200 bases if all the conditions were right, and so am I,” he says. “I don’t compare myself to him because he’s in the National League. They don’t have a designated hitter, so that mean’s less power hitting behind him.”