TFH 5/1: Diamond Greatness in 1991

Today, Their Finest Hour is taking a brief break from our chronicle of military heroes to honor greatness from the world of sports. I'm a baseball fan. I don't get to as many games as I'd like to, and while I have my favorite team (the Yankees, naturally!), it's great just to go to a game no matter who is playing!

On May 1, 1991 two amazing events happened in Major League Baseball history in different games, both featured one of the true all-time greats of the game.

First, in the 4th inning of the Yankees at Oakland Athletics game, A's left fielder Rickey Henderson reached first base on an error and advanced to second on a hit by Dave Henderson. Rickey then stole third base for his 939th theft, surpassing then career-record holder Lou Brock's total of 938 which had stood since 1979 and Brock's retirement. Rickey Henderson ended his Hall of Fame career with 1,406 stolen bases. To put that mark in perspective, number two on the all-time list is still Lou Brock's 938! The active stolen base leader is Juan Pierre of the Phillies. He's got just 557 in his 13-season career to date. Henderson's 939th was in his 13th season!

As incredible as Rickey Henderson's achievement was, there was one better. At Arlington Stadium in Texas, then 44-year-old Nolan Ryan strode to the mound for the home Rangers vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. 122 pitches later (83 strikes), only 2 walks, 16 strikeouts, and just 2 hours and 24 minutes later, Ryan was mobbed on the mound by his teammates as he completed the seventh no-hitter of his amazing career! Ryan's seven no-hit pitching performances for a career is three more than the next best. He also is the all-time leader in strikeouts with 5,714 over 27 seasons.

Coincidentally enough, these two also had a face-to-face baseball history moment two seasons before. On August 22, 1989 Nolan Ryan recorded his 5,000th strikeout. The man who went down swinging was Rickey Henderson.