Sad News As Hendu Passes Away
Terrible news to hear Dave Henderson died at just 57 years old today a month after getting a kidney transplant. Too damn young.
It’s not really any exaggeration to say that Dave Henderson was almost the original Big Papi. He brought the Sox back from the dead with the above 2-out, 2-strike, one-pitch-from-elimination home run to keep the Sox alive in Game 5 of the 1986 ALCS. Hendu’s homer essentially gave the Angels their wings as they got outscored 18-5 in Games 6 and 7 at Fenway to blow the pennant.
Then in the region-scarring Game 6 of the World Series, he hit the potential WS-winning homer in the top of the 10th to put the Sox up 4-3 (a lead they would extend to 5-3). And then, well, you know.
So instead of becoming the guy who broke the [long Red Sox World Series drought], he was a beloved Red Sox player and World Series winner (in Oakland) who appeared to be universally loved. Which is a pretty nice legacy as well.
Farewell, Hendu.