Oakland A’s reporter Susan Slusser first noticed Henderson in a promotional image released by Disney/Pixar. Henderson is in bobblehead form and is standing next to Woody in what looks like an antique shop. If you’re wondering how we know it’s Henderson and not some other random Athletics player, it’s because of the pose.
After Henderson captured the base-stealing record, he put both of his arms up in the air with the base in hand.
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As to why Henderson would be in this movie, it’s because one of the film’s producers, Jonas Rivera, is a Castro Valley native and an A’s superfan, as noted by the San Francisco Chronicle. He was quoted in the book “If These Walls Could Talk: Stories From the Oakland A’s” explaining the comparisons to the A’s and Pixar.
From the book:
Also, if you search through Disney/Pixar’s additional promotional images for the film, you can spot Henderson again.
He’s a little harder to see here, but his face is just to the right of the robot near the middle of the image.
But, while we can obviously see Henderson, we don’t know yet if the retired baseball player will provide voiceover for the film. The bobblehead could just be a fun Easter egg for A’s fans, or it could be a character in the film. We’ll have to wait and find out how Henderson plays into “Toy Story 4” in June.
