Chief Thiefs: Baseball’s 5 Greatest Base Stealers
Let’s look at some of baseball's top base stealers over the years and examine their techniques for success.
One of the most exciting aspects of baseball is base stealing. It takes skill, speed, and strategy to be successful at swiping bags, and some players have mastered this art form.
Let’s look at some of baseball's top base stealers over the years and examine their techniques for success. Today on Rounders: A History of Baseball in America.
Baseball’s Top Base Stealers
Base stealing is an integral part of the game of baseball. Throughout history, there have been some great base stealers who have made their mark on the sport. We will examine the top five “chief thiefs” in MLB history.
5) Tim Raines
Tim Raines is a legendary Major League Baseball player who spent 23 seasons in the league. Raines played for six teams, most notably for the Montreal Expos and the Chicago White Sox, where he was named an All-Star twice. He earned a World Series ring with the New York Yankees in 1996.
Raines accumulated 808 stolen bases during his career, which is good enough for fifth all-time amongst major leaguers. He also held numerous batting records during his career, including the best steals per game ratio (0.405), most seasons leading the National League in steals (4), and most consecutive seasons with 70 or more steals (7).
In 1982, Raines entered treatment for substance abuse, having spent an estimated $40,000 that year on cocaine. The way he stole bases was actually tied to his drug use. To avoid leaving the drugs in his locker where they could be more easily found, Raines, carried them in his hip pocket games. He would slide headfirst when running the bases to prevent damaging the bag of coke.
On a positive note, Raines cleaned himself up and continued his historic career until he retired in 2002. He is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League baseball games in four decades
After his retirement, Raines went into coaching and scouting before becoming a bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.
4) Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb had an impressive base-stealing career, highlighted by compiling 892 swiped bags over 24 seasons. He also held the single-season record for most stolen bases with 96 in 1915. He also led the league in stolen bases 12 times throughout his career. Moreover, he held a lifetime average of 0.367 steals per game, one of the highest ratios in MLB history.
Ty Cobb is also known for stealing home more than any other player. While a steal of home plate is not an officially recorded statistic Baseball Almanac.com credit him with 54 steals of home - that’s 21 more than his next-closest competitor, NL leader Max Carey (who stole home 33 times.
Cobb is said to have stolen second, third and home on consecutive pitches. He also once stole home when Yankees players had crowded around home plate protesting a call. It is even stated that Cobb had nine different variations of his slide!
Ty Cobb retired in 1928 after 2+ decades with the Detroit Tigers and brief stints with the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 and passed away in 1961.
3) Billy Hamilton
Billy Hamilton had a ten-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career from 1888 to 1898. He made his MLB with the Kansas City Cowboys and played for Philadelphia Phillies (1890-95), Boston Beaneaters (1896-97), and Cincinnati Reds (1898). Hamilton batted .344 throughout his career and had a .455 on-base percentage.
During his time in the league, he set the single-season record for stolen bases with 111 (which lasted until 1962) and finished with 914-lifetime steals.
He led the league in stolen bases eight times and was nicknamed “Sliding Billy” due to his skill on the base paths. He was also known for his ability to reach base safely on bunts and popups, which were two of his signature plays.
Hamilton retired after the 1898 season but stayed in the sports industry. He managed and scouted for various teams for several years, including the Boston Red Sox. Hamilton also wrote about baseball for multiple publications and served as a coach for several universities.
Hamilton passed away in 1940 at 73 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961.
2) Lou Brock
Lou Brock was a Hall of Fame outfielder who played most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He made his MLB debut in 1961, was an 8-time All-Star, and was named National League MVP in 1974. He won two World Series with the Cardinals in 1964 and 1967.
In his 19-year career, he stole 938 bases—breaking Billy Hamilton’s previous record until it was broken by Rickey Henderson in 1991. He had a career success rate of 81% and stole 118 bags during his 1964 season.
Brock also holds the Cardinals' franchise record for most stolen bases (814) and is the only player in team history to have at least 100 steals in a single season.
Lou Brock retired from baseball in 1979 after 19 seasons. Following his retirement, he transitioned to a career in media and broadcasting, working for ABC and NBC Sports as a baseball analyst.
Brock was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 and served as an advisor for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1986 until he died in 2020.
1) Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson is a legendary baseball player who played 25 seasons for 9 teams, including the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays. Rickey Henderson's career stats are impressive and include 3,055 hits, 297 home runs, 1,115 runs batted in, and a .279 batting average. He holds the major league records for career stolen bases, runs, unintentional walks, and leadoff home runs.
Most importantly, he is THE chief thief in MLB history. Let’s look at his stats.
He finished his career with 1,406 career steals, which is 33% higher than the previous record of 938 by Lou Brock.
He holds the single-season stolen base record with 130 steals in 1982.
He was among the league's top ten base stealers in 21 different seasons.
Rickey also holds the all-time stolen base leader record for the Oakland Athletics and has an impressive.
At age 39, Rickey stole 66 bases - at age 42, he stole 25!
Rickey Henderson retired in 2003 and had brief stints as an MLB coach with the San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, and New York Mets. After that, he founded his business, The Rickey Henderson Academy. The academy offers youth baseball camps and clinics around the United States.
In 2009, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot appearance. Statistician and historian Bill James said it best when he was asked early on if Henderson would be inducted into Cooperstown one day. He replied:
"If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers."
Base-Stealing in Today’s Game
The spirit of base stealing still lives on in today’s game. Some of the best baseball burglars in today's Major League Baseball include:
Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts (check out our episode on his roots of greatness!)
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Tim Locastro
Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve.
While base stealing is still an essential part of the modern game, its value compared to previous eras is debatable. Many teams and analysts agree that base stealing can be used to create scoring opportunities and add an element of unpredictability to a team's offense. But, the modern trend slants more towards teams using strategic bunting and hit-and-run plays to create runs than they are to rely solely on base stealing.
What do you think?
I know this is blasphemy, but I think Rickey Henderson, albeit a great GREAT player and not taking anything about his influence on the game but, did he stop at second base knowing he can steal third base just to pad his stolen base stats?