Former Oakland A’s outfielder Dave ‘Hendu’ Henderson dies at age 57

Dave Henderson, who etched his name into postseason lore with multiple teams and blossomed into an All-Star in the latter part of a 14-year career, died Sunday at the age of 57.

Henderson had been battling kidney disease, which led to him having to get a kidney transplant last month. A number of Henderson’s former Oakland teammates told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the cause of death was a heart attack. With the Athletics in 1988, Henderson has his best MVP-share, finishing 13th in voting after hitting.304/.363/.525, setting career-highs in batting average and OPS.

Henderson would go on to hit 10-for-25 (.400) with a pair of homers and five RBI in the ’86 World Series, which the Red Sox would lose to the New York Mets following a botched ground ball to first base that you may have heard about before. Some seven weeks later in the ALCS against the Angels, he did this, with Boston one strike from elimination… The Angels tied it in the bottom of the inning, but Boston won the game in the 11th on Henderson’s sacrifice fly and eventually won the series. Henderson retired following a brief stint with the Royals in 1994. 308 with two home runs as Oakland swept the Giants. A career. 258 hitter, Hendu hit 197 home runs during his career while driving in over 700 runs. Henderson will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.