Long Standing Records: Henderson’s 130 Stolen Bases

The strategy of  base stealing is one that a team can get quite aggressive with during a baseball game.  It can prove beneficial and help position a team for a big win late in a game.

Perhaps the biggest stolen base that comes to mind in last decade would be Dave Roberts theft of second base in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees in the bottom of the ninth.  All Red Sox fans know what happened after he stole second.

So in honor of the risk and reward strategy known as base stealing, it is this weeks focus of Long Standing Records, and more accurately, Rickey Henderson’s 130 steals in a single season.

Henderson’s career spanned a total of 24 seasons, playing for 13 different Major League Clubs, including the Red Sox in 2002. He best known for his time as a member of the Oakland Athletics, a team he played for on three different occassions and where he did his best baserunning.

In 1982, playing for the A’s, Henderson broke Lou Brock’s modern day record for most stolen bases in a season with 130, shattering Brock’s previous mark of 118 (post 1900).

So will Henderson‘s single season record ever be broken?  I have to say no.  Since 1988, no other baseball player has stolen more than 84 bags in a year, let alone get close to the 100 thefts in a single season. 

Vince Coleman, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals was the closest to breaking Henderson’s record.  From 1985 to 1987, Coleman would steal 110, 107 and 109 each year respectively.  That’s impressive base stealing, but still not even remotely close to Henderson’s 130 set 3 years prior.

Let’s look at a couple of the most recent and best base stealers in the game.

Jacoby Ellsbury: so far in his short career he has 160 stolen bases.  His highest amount was in 2009 when he stole 70 bases.  Last season he missed almost the entire year, which he could have repeated that number.  So far this year the Red Sox centre fielder has 24 swiped bags and is on course to steal 54.  Still a far cry from his career high of 70 and not even close to 100, let alone 130.

Carl Crawford: his best year was also in 2009, then with Tampa Bay Crawford stole 60 bags that year.

Jose Reyes: the New York Mets dazzling shortstop stole 78 bases in 2007.

Kenny Lofton: while with the Cleveland Indians, Lofton stole 75 times in the 1996 season. 

Now, the game has changed a lot since Henderson set the record 20 years ago.  The art of stealing bases isn’t as profound with teams as it once was although some teams are adopting it more and more in the post steroid era as a way to generate offense.  Most notably, the Tampa Bay Rays used it in 2009 and 2010 to help qualify for the postseason.

With the help of technology, pitchers and catchers can study the base runners and analyze when they like to run and on what count they are most likely to go on.

Let’s be honest.  The game hasn’t seen someone like Henderson in the past twenty years either.  There have been some great players with tremendous speed who have come and gone, ie: Lofton, but no one really comes close to the speed and ability that Henderson had. It was almost as though he could steal a base whenever he wanted to, he was that good.

It should be noted that in 1982, Henderson was also caught trying to steal 42 times.  That means he attempted to steal 172 bases!  That is almost unheard of today.

I just don’t see anyone breaking this record and I would love to hear from you and get your opinion.  After all, records were made to be broken.

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