Comments on: Fun With Stolen Bases

By: Jim RI

Jim RI — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:42:05 +0000

This also brings up the inverse, which is something I’ve wondered about for a while.

Is there some sort of bylaw the requires players to steal 1 base a year? You mention Ortiz…who steals like 1 a year. Sean Casey, who was so slow by last year that he wouldn’t have hit any doubles if he didn’t picked up by Boston and been able to hit balls off the backboard….stole 1 last year. Is this like a macho thing or something?

Why is the number of players who actually NEVER steal so low? It just seems like a bizarre injury risk most of the time.

By: Motherscratcher

Motherscratcher — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:33:15 +0000

Back in the late 80’s there was a huge boxer named “Bald Bull”. I would spar with him quite frequently. I remember that, for some reason, his signature move was to bound across the ring in about 4 hops and uncork a hellacious uppercut. All you had to do to stop him was bop him in the forhead , but man, if you didn’t time it right he could send you flying. He knocked me on my butt more than a few times.

I never raced him or saw him run outside of the ring so I couldn’t really attest to how fast he was. He had reasonably quick feet, though.

My gut tells me he would not have been a very good base stealer.

By: Donald A. Coffin

Donald A. Coffin — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:05:42 +0000

I have always thought that Paul Konerko was one of the slowest players I have ever seen, so I was surprised that he wasn’t on the list. So I looked him up. Hell, he’s got 7 SB (and only 2 CS)…and it only took him 6100+ plate appearances.

By: Brent

Brent — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:37:32 +0000

Growing up, I thought Willie M. Aikens was the slowest player ever. I was surprised to find that he had 3 stolen bases and 2 triples in his career. I always thought that given how slow Aikens was, that the Say Hey Kid ought to sue him for false advertising and force him to give up his middle name.

By: JosÃ©

JosÃ© — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:22:02 +0000

A few weeks ago I heard Adrian Gonzalez say that he’s never stolen a base because he doesn’t want to, that pitcher’s don’t even look to the base to try a pickoff attempt.

He proceeded to say that he could steal 5 bases a season if he wanted to just because pitchers don’t focus on him and said that he once stole 3 bases off Yadier Molina in the minor leagues. And whilst I don’t know where (or if it’s possible) to find that exact information, BR says that he had a 58 SB% in the minor leagues.

By: JO'C

JO'C — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:10:06 +0000

My perception based on watching games is that Pat Burrell is the slowest player in the NL (I watch mostly NL games and I swear he looks slower then any Molina). For S&G I looked up Pat the Bat’s stats and my opinion was somewhat validated. Pat hasn’t stolen a base in 4 seasons but surprisingly is 5-6 in his career.

Living in SD I was surprised to learn that A.Gonzalez has never stolen a base. He doesn’t ‘look’ that slow.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:10:51 +0000

I don’t suppose there’s any chance that Al “The Bull” Ferrara, athlete/actor, is related to Frank Ferrara Jr., athlete (former NY Giants defensive end)/movie stuntman, and his father Frank Ferrara Sr., actor/movie stuntman, is there?

By: nightfly

nightfly — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:02:10 +0000

@Snuckles – that stat with Rickey and the Red Sox is fantastic. And now they have Ellsbury and Pedroia – heh – not quite the “Go Go Sox” but it’s kind of funny how things come around.

By: | Tits and Baseball

| Tits and Baseball — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:12:16 +0000

[...] a 15-year career in the majors. Instead he’ll have to settle for the ninth-most plate appearances in baseball history among players with zero career stolen bases, the knowledge that he once made his 70-year-old, [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:15:38 +0000

How about Mike Sweeney’s straight steal of home??? That was out of the blue.