The second and third greatest base stealers of all time?

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

So how about Elly de la Cruz and his MLB leading 67 stolen bases in 2024? Does he have what it takes to become an all time great on the base paths or will he soon flame out?

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

According to legend, Paige said of (Cool Papa) Bell he was so fast he could turn off the lights, get into bed and pull up the covers before the room got dark.

When it comes to raw speed alone, here's a vote for Elly de la Cruz:

New Fastest Player in Baseball History - Youtube

Truthfully I'd rather have him on my team than Juan Soto.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

I have to go Raines. Insane percentage for the any amount of steals let alone for the guy in 5th on the all-time list. Almost 85% success rate.

I Like Coleman, but sticking with the success rate theme I'm going to go Willie Wilson for 3rd at over 83%.

Honorable mention to Davey Lopes who had an 83% success rate in an era that was unheard of, plus he is credited with teaching Rickey a lot about reading pitchers and getting a jump. Rickey became a much higher percentage guy after being mentored by Lopes.

Incidentally the list of highest success percentage for steals for guys who had over 500 attempts goes

Raines
Wilson
Lopes
Rollins
Carl Crawford
Ichiro
Joe Morgan
Coleman
Henderson
Roberto Alomar
Jose Reyes

Those are the only guys over 80%.

Willie Wilson deserves far more accolades in this thread! Though completely overshadowed by Ricky Henderson in his prime, Wilson led MLB with 83 steals in 1979 and had 79 in 1980. He's twelfth on the all-time list with 668.

But Wilson also hit 147 triples which was a total exceeded in the post WWII era by only Stan Musial and Roberto Clemente!

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Willie Wilson deserves far more accolades in this thread! Though completely overshadowed by Ricky Henderson in his prime, Wilson led MLB with 83 steals in 1979 and had 79 in 1980. He's twelfth on the all-time list with 668.

But Wilson also hit 147 triples which was a total exceeded in the post WWII era by only Stan Musial and Roberto Clemente!

Willie was a master of using that KC artificial turf to his advantage, though his Home/Away splits are not as lopsided as you may think they are (they are still much better in KC), so he was able to adjust if he needed to.

If Willie ever figured out how to take a walk, he might be in the HOF right now.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by John1941

My impression is that teams attempted the hit-and-run a lot in those days - it's possible that Cobb was often counted caught stealing on failed hit-and-runs.

The "hit and run" term/expression has annoyed me ever since I learned what it was meant to describe. Quite simply it's a misnomer since hitting and running is standard baseball. The expression actually refers to run and then (hopefully) hit.