Said Henderson in his speech: “My journey as a player is complete. I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time, and at this moment I am very humbled.”

Henderson, now 50 years old, is the holder of many records including runs scored (2,295), steals (1,406), lead-off homers (81) and unintentional walks (2,129). He also holds the record for the most steals in a season (130).

While Henderson got into the Hall of Fame on his first try, Rice had to wait for his 15th and final attempt. The famous former member of the Boston Red Sox had 382 homers in his career to go along with 1,451 RBIs and a batting average of .298.

Said Rice: “I am in awe to be in this elite company and humbled to be accepting this honor. I cannot think of anywhere I’d rather be than to be right here, right now, with you and you. Thank you.”

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Henderson was able to get in on his first time on the ballot, while Rice got in on his final time on the ballot. They will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame in July in Cooperstown, New York.

Here is the final voting numbers for the 2009 Hall of Fame:

Rickey Henderson – 511 votes – 94.8%
Jim Rice – 412 – 76.4%
Andre Dawson – 361 – 67.0%
Bert Blyleven – 338 – 62.7%
Lee Smith – 240 – 44.5%
Jack Morris – 237 – 44.0%
Tommy John -171 – 31.7
Tim Raines – 122 – 22.6%
Mark McGwire – 118 – 21.9%
Alan Trammell – 94 – 17.4%
Dave Parker – 81 – 15.0%
Don Mattingly – 64 – 11.9%
Dale Murphy – 62 – 11.5%
Harold Baines – 32 – 5.9%
Mark Grace – 22 – 4.1%
David Cone – 21 – 3.9%
Matt Williams – 7 – 1.3%
Mo Vaughn – 6 – 1.1%
Jay Bell – 2 – 0.4%
Jesse Orosco – 1 – 0.2%

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