Deion Sanders Honors MLB Legend Rickey Henderson in IG Photo: ‘My Baseball Hero’

Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders paid his respects to Rickey Henderson on Sunday after the MLB legend died on Saturday at the age of 65, calling Henderson his “baseball hero.”

Sanders was a two-sport athlete during his playing days and spent nine seasons in Major League Baseball, accumulating 186 stolen bases in his career, including 56 in the 1997 season.

Had Sanders played baseball full time, he probably would have been far higher on the all-time steals list, given his elite quickness and speed.

He wouldn’t have gotten close to Henderson, however, because nobody in MLB history came close to the former MVP and 10-time All-Star. Henderson’s 1,406 stolen bases is the most in MLB history and a whopping 468 more than the No. 2 player on the list, Lou Brock.

Sanders also wasn’t the hitter that Henderson was, with a career .263 batting average and .319 on-base percentage, compared to Henderson’s .279 career batting average and .401 on-base percentage. Henderson was the game’s greatest base-stealer because he was arguably the best lead-off hitter in the history of the sport, giving him plenty of chances to swipe bags.

One of Henderson’s most legendary games was one where he didn’t get a single hit, instead walking four times, stealing five bases and scoring four runs during a 1989 contest. Walking Henderson was basically the same as giving up a double, and one of the reasons why he was revered by both his peers and the players who followed.