Top Base Stealers In Baseball
Some people say that the art of the stolen base in baseball is dead. That might be an overstatement, as there are still players like Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets who excel in taking extra bases. But it is definitely true that the stolen base is not nearly as much a part of the game as it was even 30 years ago.
Being able to steal a base is about more than just being fast. It's about finding the perfect moment to strike once you are on base, timing it so that you get the perfect jump on the pitcher and avoid getting picked off. Part of the excitement of watching a great base runner is that the other team knows that he's likely to steal a base, and yet he usually manages to get away with it. It's one of the most bold and brazen moves in all of sports, and so it's not a shock that many of the top base stealers of all time had bold and brash personalities. Here are a few of the all-time greats.
Rickey Henderson: No one stole more bases than Rickey Henderson, and no one was more in-your-face about it. Henderson stole 1,406 bases in his 25-year career, almost 500 more than the next closest player (Lou Brock). Henderson stole 100 or more bases three times in a season, including a modern-day record of 130 in 1982. Combined with his ability to get on base as a lead-off hitter (and ability to hit for some power) and Henderson was a nightmare for opposing pitchers in the 1980s.
But Henderson might be as well known for his eccentricities as for his base stealing prowess. Not known as someone who shied away from attention, Henderson told a packed crowd in Oakland that “today I am the greatest of all time” after breaking Lou Brock's all-time stolen base record in 1991. Henderson also referred to himself in the third person, and his flaky personality led to some outlandish (and possibly true) tales being attached to him. One apparently true tale involved him framing his actual $1 million signing bonus check instead of cashing it, costing him several months of interest.
Vince Coleman: For a time in the 1980s, it looked like Vince Coleman would be poised to pressure Rickey Henderson as the greatest base stealer of his generation. And his final career statistics are certainly impressive: he ranks sixth on the all-time list with 752 steals in a 13-year career. But Coleman wound up being known for unfulfilled potential, poor decisions and dumb luck as much as for his on-the-field exploits.
Coleman was a rookie phenomenom in 1985, stealing 110 bases while being caught only 25 times on his way to being named Rookie of the Year. But his season would come to a freakish end during the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he would injure his knee after getting his leg caught in a tarp being rolled out during a rain delay, knocking him out of the post-season. Coleman stole 100 or more bases each of his first three years in the league but tailed off considerably from there; one career low point came as a New York Met in 1993 when he injured three children by throwing a lit firecracker into a crowd of people waiting for autographs at Dodger Stadium after a game.
Maury Wills: The Dodgers shortstop was the first player to steal 100 bases in a single season, breaking Ty Cobb's old mark of 96 in 1962 when he stole 102 bases. Wills' season was so spectacular that he stole more bases that season than any other team in the National League. Wills enjoyed a fine career, being named to the All-Star team five times and winning two Gold Gloves.
However, Wills was as lousy of a manager as he was great as a base stealer. Given a chance to manage the Seattle Mariners in 1980, Wills made mistake after mistake, including telling reporters that players who had been traded in the off-season would be part of the starting line-up. Not surprisingly, Wills would later admit to struggling with cocaine and alcohol during this time. Even less surprisingly, he would be fired with a career record of 26-56.
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