Sport: Rickey Henderson Steals First

The Oakland flash breaks the record and keeps on going

August for baseball fans is usually a month to contemplate home runs, pennant fever and World Series possibilities. The game's exotica, like base-stealing records, are condemned to wistful tavern afternoons. There, oldtimers can sip a brew or two and contemplate Ty Cobb's 96 high-spike steals in 1915, Maury Wills' well-plotted 104 in '62, and Lou Brock's legendary 118 eight years ago.

Now, however, with his awesome speed and helmet-first style, Rickey Henderson, 23, has brought the slippery science out of the bars and back to the bleachers. The reason? The Oakland Athletics'...

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