After 45 Years, a Cop Still Looks After His Favorite (Base) Thief

J.J. Guinn was a police officer and a part-time scout when he signed Rickey Henderson. Their bond, and Guinn’s connection with many other players, goes far beyond baseball.

At about 5:30 p.m. on the last day of June, two old friends met in front of the media gate on the west side of the Oakland Coliseum. It was the first time they’d seen each other in over a year, but they had endured longer stretches. Their lives were never on parallel tracks. One was a generational ballplayer. The other a part-time baseball scout who spent his days patrolling the streets of Berkeley, Calif., as a police officer. Rickey Henderson, the Hall of Famer widely regarded as the greatest leadoff hitter and base stealer in baseball history, wrapped his arms around J.J. Guinn in a sturdy hug. The two walked slowly up to Henderson’s suite on the second level of the ballpark. It had been 45 years since, at Guinn’s urging, the Oakland Athletics drafted Henderson in the fourth round of Major League Baseball’s draft.