#TBT: Rickey Henderson broke the single-season steals record ... with a month left to spare

By now, even the most casual baseball fans know that Rickey Henderson was -- and, if mascots are to be believed, still is -- one fast dude. But it bears repeating just how crazy Henderson's dominance on the basepaths was, because the numbers look like they came out of a video game. Case in point: Lou Brock, No. 2 on the all-time steals list with 938, is closer to Carl Crawford in 44th place (473) than he is to Rickey's 1,406.

And, if your mind still isn't sufficiently blown, there's this: On Aug. 27, 1982, Henderson set a new single-season record by swiping his 119th bag against the Brewers ... with 33 whole games left in the season:

That was only the first of his four steals on the day, including one of third base. Sadly, Henderson slowed a bit down the stretch with the A's well out of playoff contention -- he would finish the year with "just" 130 steals, a record that still stands.

But what could've been ... After that Aug. 27 game, Rickey had 122 steals in 127 games played. If he kept up that pace for the final month of the year, he could have finished around 143. For comparison, that's 25 more than anyone else in the modern era, and almost double the pace league-leader Billy Hamilton is on this season -- and that guy can steal a base behind a pitcher's back, so you know he's fast.