Rickey had a certain thing I've never seen in any other prolific base stealer that I can't quite put my finger on.
He'd get on base any way he could....bunt, walk, forced error, chop hit, or HR.
He'd get into a pitchers head, any way he could...1st inning or 9th. He'd force balks, he'd make that pitcher pay attention to him, instead of the batter the pitcher was facing...he'd mesmerize the entire infield to pay attention to him and him alone.
Maybe it was just a childhood hallucination, but I swear I've seen him fake a bunt and hit a HR instead....possibly more then once...
It's not a coincidence that Don Mattingly had 145 RBI's and won an MVP Award overwhelmingly, the 1st season a fully motivated Rickey came to the Yanks. A season which in statistical hindsight, Rickey accumulated a full 3.4 WAR more then Mattingly, in 16 less games played.