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Called home: Giants’ Grant McCray deeply saddened by the death of Rickey Henderson

Published

12 months ago

March 3, 2025

Called home: Giants’ Grant McCray deeply saddened by the death of Rickey Henderson

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Grant McCray led off the San Francisco Giants’ exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Camelback Ranch and he hobbled down the first base line after his foot absorbed a cut fastball. A trainer rushed out to check on him. He grimaced and he shook his leg and he jogged in place.

On the next pitch, he stole second base.

“Been waiting for that chance to run,” McCray said. “I’m always itching to go.”

McCray is one of the best minor-league base stealers in recent franchise history. In three years at full-season affiliates, he has been successful in 109 of 132 attempts. How impressive is his 82.6 percent success rate over that span? Consider that Rickey Henderson, who swiped a major league-record 1,406 bases, retired with a success rate of 80.6 percent.

McCray, who never lacks for confidence, might have brought up that fact with Henderson this spring. They might have had a laugh over it while engaging in some light trash talk. Late last year, Giants manager Bob Melvin mentioned to McCray that he would set up a spring training meeting with Henderson, whom he knew well from his time with the Oakland A’s. McCray was ecstatic. He patterned so much of his game after the Hall of Fame legend — not just the skills but the brash fearlessness, too. So many times throughout November and December, McCray daydreamed about how that conversation would go, what questions he would ask, what inspiration he hoped to take.

Then Henderson, who scored more runs than anyone in major-league history, died unexpectedly Dec. 20.

“Unfortunately, God calls everybody home at some point,” McCray said. “It was a really sad day for me. I don’t have a lot of idols, and he was a big part of defining my game. I felt that hunger and drive and ambition is something I strive for, and he really set the tone for me.”

Henderson played his last major-league game in 2003 when McCray was just 2 years old. Henderson shared the field with McCray’s father, Rodney, in just three major-league games. But some idols are such perfect paragons that they transcend time and proximity.

“He’s one in a million,” McCray said of Henderson. “Meeting someone like that, or meeting Barry Bonds, you can’t forget it. That’s old-school baseball right there. There aren’t many of them around anymore. Just getting that knowledge from him would’ve been incredible.”

Melvin experienced all kinds of emotions and memories after Henderson’s passing. One of them was to think back to that promised meeting with McCray and to lament that it would never happen.

“You know Rickey, he is so great about everything,” Melvin said. “Even though he’s with the A’s, he would’ve come over to help us. I just wanted him (McCray) to feel the importance of a guy like Rickey to come over and talk baseball. Unfortunately, it couldn’t happen. But I think Grant appreciated the effort to do something to make him a better player.”

Grant McCray went 5-for-5 on stolen-base attempts for the Giants in 2024. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

If only the wistfulness ended there. McCray experienced more sadness and disappointment in June when Willie Mays died just two days before the Giants legend was set to be honored in a regular-season game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala., where he played as a teenager for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. The Giants had made travel arrangements for every one of their minor-league players with any African American heritage to leave their affiliates and attend the game. Mays died one day before McCray was ticketed to fly to Alabama from Sacramento, where he’d just been promoted from Double A.

“I almost didn’t feel like going after that,” McCray said. “It was devastating.”

Even before Mays passed, it had been determined that the 93-year-old legend was too frail to make the trip from his home in Atherton, Calif., to attend the Rickwood game. But in the weeks leading up to the event, McCray assumed he’d finally get the chance to meet the Say Hey Kid. He couldn’t wait to introduce himself to Mays.

There have been thousands of Giants prospects over the years who never reached the big leagues but came away from their pro experience with a Mays autograph or a selfie or merely the chance to say that they shook his hand. That’s because Mays would visit Scottsdale every spring — along with Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda — to speak to the entire minor-league system while instilling them with pride for the uniform hanging in their locker.

McCray never had that chance. The 24-year-old outfielder was drafted in June 2019. Mays spent his last spring training in Scottsdale in 2020, when COVID-19 was turning into a pandemic. Before Mays had a chance to visit minor-league camp that spring, the world shut down. In the years that followed, the trip to Arizona became a bit too much for him.

McCray, who is biracial, said he often put out feelers with club officials about letting him spend a little time with Mays. He is beyond saddened that a meeting never happened.

“I just feel like we would’ve had a lot to talk about,” he said.

One of McCray’s dreams is to play in a major-league game while wearing a Giants throwback uniform that is a tribute to Mays — something he would love to see the Giants do on Mays’ birthday, May 6, every year.

Now McCray, who made his major-league debut last season, is looking to his contemporaries for counsel. He’s often engaging Willy Adames and Matt Chapman in conversation about how they handled themselves as young players while seeking to establish themselves in the big leagues.

Although McCray and Jung Hoo Lee are the only true center fielders on the 40-man roster, the Giants outfield appears set on Opening Day (Lee, Mike Yastrzemski and Heliot Ramos) and Jerar Encarnacion, who crushed a 111 mph home run Wednesday, is out of options and all but certain to make the team. The fifth outfielder is likely to be a right-handed hitter such as Luis Matos who can spell Yastrzemski against left-handed pitching.

McCray flashed power (five home runs, three doubles and two triples) and speed (5-for-5 on stolen-base attempts) in 37 games last season but has more work to do after posting a 43.1 percent strikeout rate in 130 big-league plate appearances. On that front, he’s still finding his footing in the batter’s box this spring (2-for-15, eight strikeouts).

But don’t tell McCray that there isn’t a place for him on the Giants’ roster from the jump.

“I want to break camp with the team,” said McCray, who was energized when he heard club president Buster Posey describe his desire for an opportunistic and dynamic offense that can score runs in multiple ways. “I’ve got power, I’ve got speed. I have contact, too, and I haven’t been great at it right now, but it’s still early. I can change the game in a lot of ways. We have a lot of guys with those abilities: Jung Hoo, Matos, Ramos, Fitzy (Tyler Fitzgerald), and if we piece them all together, I feel like, dude, we’re a scary lineup. Yeah, we’re young. But I feel like we get counted out when we’ve got more ability than a lot of other teams.”

McCray will never get the chance to soak up wisdom from Mays and Henderson. He can only guess what they would’ve told him: to trust his abilities and to play with confidence. As reinforcing as that message would’ve been, though, it’s not entirely clear that McCray needed to hear it. If a bruised foot won’t keep him from running, neither would a bruised ego.

“He’s a driven kid,” Melvin said. “He wants to be good at everything. And he’s one of the few guys in our organization who has all the tools to be a really good player. There’s a lot to like.”

More on Rickey Henderson’s life and career

• Always on the move, Rickey Henderson leaves legacy as one of baseball’s greatest showmen
• For all his wondrous MLB accomplishments, Rickey Henderson is best known as the ‘Man of Steal’
• Rickey Henderson declared his own greatness and gave permission to do the same
• Rickey Henderson finished his career in indy ball. There, a legend showed a different side

(Top photo of Grant McCray stealing second base: Joe Camporeale / Imagn Images)

Related Topics:Featured Oakland Athletics San Francisco Giants

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Sports

Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

Published

6 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.

“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”

Ponder was 23 years old.

Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)

Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.

Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.

The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.

Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)

“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”

Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.

Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)

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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

Sports

No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated

Published

7 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated

Sunday was “Senior Night” for the USC women’s basketball team at Galen Center, but it was the other team’s seniors who stole the show.

Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 points, Kiki Rice had 11 points and four assists and Lauren Betts had 15 rebounds and five assists as UCLA wrapped up the regular season with a 73-50 victory over its rival and finished undefeated in conference play for the first time since going 18-0 in the Pac-10 in 1998-99 under Kathy Olivier.

Having already clinched the regular-season title, UCLA became the first team to navigate the Big Ten schedule without a loss since Maryland in 2014-15.

“These are two elite programs, we knew it would be different tonight, we knew they’d come with fire,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, who improved to 9-4 against the Trojans since counterpart Lindsay Gottlieb started at USC in 2021. “We knew we’d have to do it with our defense, our rebounding and by taking care of the ball.”

It was the Bruins’ 22nd consecutive win, one shy of the record they set last season. Since their lone loss to then-No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas, they have won by 20 or more points 17 times.

Ranked second in the nation in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls behind defending national champion Connecticut (30-0), the Bruins earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Indianapolis and got a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.

Charlisse Leger-Walker, nicknamed “X-ray vision” by teammates, equaled her season high with 20 points for the Bruins (28-1, 18-0) while Gianna Kneepkens added 14 points and five assists.

“Anytime we play together we know we can win,” Leger-Walker said. “We did a good job looking into the scout. Every game we just think about going 1-0. People scouting us know that all five players on the court can score the ball.”

UCLA center Lauren Betts, left, controls the ball in front of USC forward Vivian Iwuchukwu during the first half Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA held USC to 27% shooting in the teams’ first meeting — a 34-point Bruins victory at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 3 behind Betts’ 18 points. It was USC’s most lopsided loss under coach Lindsay Gottlieb. On Sunday, USC shot 39% and was only three for 19 from three-point range.

“Going undefeated [in conference] is a great step in the right direction towards what we want to accomplish,” said Jaquez, who appreciated the flowers she received before the game from USC. “I love this rivalry. It’s super fun to play against them and it was nice that they honored us too.”

UCLA jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes and carried a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter. The Bruins widened the gap to 18 points by halftime, holding the Trojans scoreless for the last 3:08.

USC (17-12, 9-9) opened the second half on an 11-2 run but gave up 14 second-chance points and allowed 22 offensive rebounds.

UCLA guard Kiki Rice, front, and forward Angela Dugalic celebrate as USC guard Kennedy Smith walks away.

“If we get more possessions than our opponent we’re most likely going to win,” Close said. “We didn’t allow one basket on an out-of-bounds play and they lead the conference in that.”

Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, USC’s leading scorer, got into early foul trouble but still finished with 12 points. She was held to 10 points on four-for-15 shooting in the first meeting.

“It was a great crowd, we were in the fight but we didn’t rebound or shoot well enough,” Gottlieb said. “We wanted to keep them out of our paint. We swarmed Betts, double-teamed her and got it out of her hands but other people scored.”

Londynn Jones, who spent three seasons in Westwood (playing in 108 straight games) before transferring to USC for her senior year, was held to six points in the team’s first meeting and nine points (on four-of-10 shooting) in the rematch. The Trojans’ other senior, Kara Dunn, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points.

“I love Londynn,” Close said. “We think she looks better in blue, but we love her and I told her that. I appreciate all she gave to our programs.”

Asked if this is the best team she has ever coached, Close had a one-word answer.

“Yes.”

Sports

Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

Published

18 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

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Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran.

The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.”

“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read.

“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”

A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began.

Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics.

Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.

Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.

On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.

Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.

The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.

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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.