1985 rickey henderson

in december of 1984, the a's traded rickey henderson (!) to the yankees in a 2 for 6 swap. here's his 1985 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

free agency was looming for henderson after the 1985 season, and the a's decided to get something in return rather than keep him for one more year and get nothing when he left for greener pastures. as it turns out, although henderson performed beyond expectations in new york, it was the a's who returned to prominence a few seasons after trading rickey, while the yankees avoided the postseason for another decade. still, henderson was awesome as a yankee. he scored a career high 146 runs in 1985, to go along with his 80 stolen bases, 24 home runs, and .314 batting average.

rickey led the league in steals in 3 of his 4 full seasons in new york, and was a perennial all-star. ultimately, the yankees traded him back to oakland in 1989, just in time for rickey to dominate the postseason and get his first world series ring.

voici à vous, 1985 rickey henderson!