“I think Rickey Henderson is the best player I ever played with” - Yankees icon Don Mattingly dubs stolen base kingpin as top former teammate

Former New York Yankees star Don Mattingly praised his former teammate, Hall of Famer and 10-time All-Star Rickey Henderson, saying he could be the best player of his time in the MLB.

“I think Rickey is the best player that I ever played with,” Mattingly, a six-time All-Star, told popular social media influencer and New York Mets fan Frank Fleming on a recent episode of "Frank Walks with Don Mattingly."

“Rickey just changed the game. When he was rolling from getting on base to hitting for power, hitting for average, defense, disrupting the game, just changed the game.”

The stolen base king with 1,406 steals in his MLB career, even Rickey Henderson's 335 failed steal attempts are a record. Additionally, Henderson’s 2,295 runs still stand as the best in history, waiting to be broken by the next generations.

Both of the former MVPs, Mattingly and Henderson, played together for the Yankees for five seasons, from 1985-89, before Henderson moved to the Oakland Athletics. Mattingly finished his playing career in 1995, while Henderson went on to play for a few more years and finally bid farewell in 2003 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Don Mattingly is sharing his rich experience to guide the Blue Jays this season

After taking retirement as a player, Don Mattingly returned to MLBe as a coach for the Yankees in 2004 and stayed there for four seasons. He then joined the Dodgers’ coaching staff in 2008 and was promoted to manager in 2011.

Mattingly managed the Dodgers for five seasons before becoming the Miami Marlins manager in 2016 and guided the team for seven seasons. Last year, the MLB veteran decided to share his years of experience with the Toronto Blue Jays as their coach.

The Blue (10-9) Jays are fourth in the AL East, following the Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees, with the Tampa Bay Rays (10-8) and Boston Red Sox (9-9) still to finish games on Wednesday. Despite going 2-2 against the Tampa Bay Rays in the opening series, the Blue Jays just took a 2-1 series win against the Yanks.

With Mattingly’s unique experience as both player and manager, he could guide the Blue Jays against strong division rivals like the Yankees and Orioles and help them reach the playoffs this year.