Rickey Henderson on friend and A’s teammate Tony Phillips

Rickey Henderson had a close and wonderful kinship with Tony Phillips, both of whom played baseball with high energy and passion and both figured they could play the game forever.

“Tony would have rolled around in a wheelchair thinking he could still play,” Henderson said Friday, a day after hearing of Phillips’ passing.

Phillips died at 56 of an apparent heart attack Wednesday, and Henderson received the news from Phillips’ family.

In a phone interview, the Hall of Famer said, It’s just a horrible thing, and you try to figure it out.

[...] Phillips played pro ball in 2015, appearing in eight games for the Pittsburg Diamonds of the Pacific Association, a Bay Area-based independent league.

Phillips was a Detroit Tiger the following season and also played for the Angels, White Sox, Blue Jays and Mets before returning to the A’s.

In your career, you hope to find the type of group that always enjoys one another and can smile and laugh.

John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.