Adapted from RICKEY: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant. Copyright © 2022 by Howard Bryant. From Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.
On April 25, 2001, when the season was just three weeks old and the country was entering the final months of its pre-9/11 life, Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson, aged 42 and in his second stint with the Padres, took ball four to lead off the bottom of the ninth against Jose Mesa of the Phillies. It was the 2,063rd free pass of his career, and with it Rickey passed Babe Ruth as the all-time leader in walks.
