Dave Henderson of 1989 Oakland Athletics World Champs Dead At 57

Played 14 MLB Seasons

Oakland Athletics’ fans are in mourning this weekend after learning of the untimely death of their beloved center fielder, Dave Henderson, of the 1988-1990 pennant winning years.

Many news outlets reported Sunday morning, Dec. 27 that Henderson died at age 57. According to the USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Henderson had recently been in ill health, undergoing a kidney transplant one month ago.

After making his debut with the Seattle Mariners in 1981 and playing five seasons there, Henderson moved on to the Boston Red Sox and hit a notable home run in Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS, keeping Boston alive as they made their way into the World Series. Henderson then played a year with the San Francisco Giants in 1987 before being acquired as a back-up center fielder with the 1988 Athletics wearing number ‘42.’

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Once he earned the starting role in centerfield, he had a six-year run with the A’s. He not only made his one and only All-Star team during those years, but also helped the Athletics to a World Series victory. He had four 20-homer seasons with Oakland, including a 1989 campaign where he was nearly in the top 10 in MVP voting, setting career-highs in home runs (24), runs (100) and batting average (.304).

Affectionately nicknamed ‘Hendu’ by fans and teammates, “Henduland” and “Hendu’s Bad Boy Club” were quickly established in the centerfield bleachers, both with identifying green and gold banners with characters of Henderson’s infectious gap-toothed smile. His known motto was “Always have fun.” At the time Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” was a hit and Henderson quickly adopted it as his walk up tune.

Henderson had a knack from coming through in the postseason where he was a .298 hitter over 36 postseason games. In his six Athletics seasons, the A’s were in the playoffs four of those years where he was 25-for-87 and hit four home runs and nine doubles (injuries kept him out of the 1992 ALCS). In the 1989 World Series in a four-game sweep of the Giants, Henderson hit two home runs, nearly missing a third, in Game 3.

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After leaving the game in 1994, Henderson worked as a color commentator on Mariners radio and television broadcasts from 1997-2006. In 2011, he returned to the Mariners’ radio booth as part-time announcer following the death of Dave Niehaus.

He recently started Dave Henderson‘s Baseball Adventures fantasy baseball camp in Arizona with appearances by many A’s greats including Bert Campaneris and Jose Canseco.