The Emergence of Players Who Steal a Lot of Bases

I believe that stealing bases is one of the most fascinating and exciting aspects of baseball. Therefore, I love players who steal many bases, and I always hope that such players will consistently emerge. However, it’s very disappointing that such players haven’t appeared in Major League Baseball recently. So, what is necessary for players to emerge who can steal many bases?

Now, I’d like to talk about Babe Ruth. This might sound far-fetched, so you might be surprised, as Babe Ruth was a player who could almost be considered unrelated to stealing many bases.

Babe Ruth hit 54 home runs in 1920. The next highest number of home runs in all of Major League Baseball was George Sisler with 19, a difference of a whopping 35. In 1921, Babe Ruth hit 59 home runs. That year, the second-place player in all of Major League Baseball hit 24 home runs, so the difference was still 35 (a 35-home run lead over second place is, of course, a Major League record. It’s hard to imagine any player ever breaking such an incredible record). Babe Ruth was the only player who stood out from the rest. He was the only one who could hit so many home runs, and no other player could do that.

However, I think the most noteworthy point is what happened next. Something very important happened from this point onward.

When Babe Ruth started hitting a lot of home runs, other players were only hitting around 10 or 20 home runs at most, but as Babe Ruth continued to hit a lot of home runs, other players who were also hitting a lot of home runs gradually began to appear. For example, from 1922 onwards, players hitting 30 or 40 home runs became fairly consistent. In 1927, the year Babe Ruth achieved his groundbreaking record of 60 home runs in a single season, the second-place finisher, Lou Gehrig, hit 47. The difference was only 13 home runs. This is significantly smaller than when Ruth only hit around 50 home runs.

What exactly is the meaning of this phenomenon?   Perhaps it means that when someone takes the lead in doing something that everyone thought was impossible, others start to think, ““Maybe I can do it too,”“ and then people who can do it start to appear one after another. In other words, Babe Ruth also managed to bring out the potential in others. ...It’s fair to say that this kind of phenomenon occurs not only in baseball, but in any field (even outside of sports).

Now, what about stolen bases? Before explaining in detail, to state the conclusion, just like with Babe Ruth’s home runs, when someone takes the lead in stealing many bases, it inspires other players to follow suit and steal many bases as well.

The graph below shows the change in the number of stolen bases by the player with the most stolen bases in Major League Baseball each year from 1901, when modern Major League Baseball began, to last year (2025). The vertical axis represents the number of stolen bases by the player with the most stolen bases across both leagues, and the horizontal axis represents each year.

This graph clearly has peaks and valleys. I would like to explain the peaks, that is, the periods when the emergence of players with a large number of stolen bases is prominent.

First, the peak in the 1910s. This peak is largely due to the emergence of Ty Cobb. Until then, no one had ever exceeded 70 stolen bases, but in 1909, Ty Cobb achieved the record of 76 stolen bases. This seemed to stimulate the emergence of players such as Eddie Collins (81 stolen bases in 1910), Clyde Milan (88 stolen bases in 1912, 75 stolen bases in 1913), and Benny Kauff (75 stolen bases in 1914). Ty Cobb recorded 96 stolen bases in 1915.

An excellent biography of Ty Cobb “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty” by Charles Leerhsen (2016, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks)

Next, regarding the long peak in stolen bases that lasted from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, there were several key players, but the biggest contributor was undoubtedly Maury Wills. In 1962, Maury Wills recorded 104 stolen bases, becoming the first player in modern Major League history to exceed 100 stolen bases. That year, the second-place player in stolen bases in MLB had 32. In other words, Wills had a lead of 72 stolen bases over the second-place player. This remains an unbroken Major League record. Later, players emerged who recorded more stolen bases than Wills, but none have achieved such a large lead over the second-place player. Wills then recorded 94 stolen bases in 1965. Inspired by Wills, many other players emerged who recorded many stolen bases. These include players like Lou Brock (74 stolen bases in 1966, 118 in 1974, etc.), Tommy Harper (73 stolen bases in 1969), and Davey Lopes (77 stolen bases in 1975). This period led to the emergence of Rickey Henderson (100 stolen bases in 1980, 130 in 1982, 108 in 1983, etc.) and Vince Coleman (110 stolen bases in 1985, 107 in 1986, 109 in 1987). Inspired by Henderson and Coleman, players like Tim Raines (75 stolen bases in 1984, etc.) and Marquis Grissom (76 stolen bases in 1991, 78 in 1992) also appeared.

A video showing Maury Wills speaking (on display at the Maury Wills Museum)

A photo of Rickey Henderson and his career stolen bases on the package of the MLB Official DVD Series: Baseball's Unbreakable Feats (Japanese version, 2007, Geneon Entertainment)

So, what about recently?

I had anticipated that a number of players would emerge who could steal many bases by     factors different from the previous pattern where someone taking the lead in stealing many bases would motivate other players. These factors were the introduction of a pickoff limit in 2023 (a balk if a pitcher fails to pick off the same runner after three attempts) and the enlargement of first, second, and third base (the sides of the bases increased from 15 inches to 18 inches). It’s safe to assume that these two changes will make stealing easier and players will emerge who can steal many bases. In fact, the number of stolen bases across Major League Baseball has increased since 2023. While the average number of stolen bases per game in MLB had never reached 0.7 in the 21st century, it has exceeded 0.7 every year since 2023. And in 2023, Ronald Acuña Jr. recorded 73 stolen bases. He was the first player to reach 70 stolen bases since Jacoby Ellsbury stole 70 bases in 2009. I had hoped that many more players would emerge who could steal a large number of bases, but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet.

A concise but well-written biography of Ronald Acuña Jr. by Clayton Geoffreys (2022)

Despite factors such as the limit on the number of pickoff attempts and the increase in base size, and the fact that the total number of stolen bases in Major League Baseball is increasing, why aren’t we seeing many players who can steal a large number of bases? It’s a shame and a great pity that Acuña Jr., a player with incredible talent, has been unable to perform at his best since 2024 due to a series of injuries.

I will continue to wait, hoping that Acuña Jr. will be able to showcase his true talent again, or that another player will emerge who can steal a large number of bases, inspiring others to follow suit.

(If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)