Had it not been for those fields, Henderson said Friday, he might have never gone on to shatter Lou Brock's record of 938 stolen bases with 1,406.

So when the Oakland Athletics decided to re-name a refurbished field in East Oakland after the future Hall of Famer, Henderson was thrilled to become an inspiration for a new generation of potential Major League Baseball players.

"When I was a kid, I played in a lot of different ballparks with the same dream to one day play in the big leagues," Henderson said. "This gives the kids the opportunity to go and play."

The refurbished field was a dilapidated swamp before the A's and the Good Tidings Foundation showed up in June with $100,000 worth of supplies and labor.

Within three months, the two organizations and several contractors turned it into a first class Little League field using the same sod as the Oakland Coliseum.

The renovation is the second the Oakland A's have done in recent years. It begins a new program the team hopes will result in a new field being refurbished every year.

The team meets every year with the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department to identify fields in need of help. A list is developed and then the team and city officials try to find a location that lacks playing fields.

This year, the field at Arroyo Viejo Park was chosen.

"This park used to be the heartbeat of the community," said Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary), who helped lobby for the team to rebuild the ball field.

In addition to the sod, the Athletics helped build new dugouts, a fence and backstop. Most materials used for the renovation were donated, A's officials said.

For Henderson, the honor of having his name on a Little League park in his hometown left him speechless.

"I wrote down a speech but I just forgot it," he said. "It's just a great feeling."

Oakland Tribune
401 13th Street
Oakland, California 94612
(510) 208-6330 Switchboard
(510) 293-2709 Online Content
www.oaklandtribune.com