Running the Bases — Baseball Bench Coach

Photo acknowledgment to Sports Illustrated.

A promotion for Sunday afternoon MLB and minor league games is for the kids to run the bases after the game. I remember the smiles on my daughters’ faces as they rounded second and headed to third where they would find me waiting for them just beyond the rail along the third base side. Running the bases was so much fun for them. We saw that same joy a week ago at Wrigley Field when Javier Baez literally won a game of “tag”, retreating backwards from first base and deking the Pirates and first baseman Will Craig into giving up two runs. Baez is by far the most adept and creative baserunner in MLB today. Let’s take a look at some other great ones in baseball’s history.

Recognizing MLB players as exceptional baserunners is in many ways subjective. We do have some data points though, such as base stealing numbers. Three outstanding base stealers come to mind. Maury Wills, who played primarily for the Dodgers over his 14-year career (1959-1972), is known for reviving the stolen base as part of baseball strategy. In winning the NL MVP award in 1962, he broke Ty Cobb’s single season stolen base record of 96 (set in 1915!) with 104 stolen bases. Lou Brock, a Hall of Fame St. Louis Cardinal, topped Wills’ single season record with 118 stolen bases of his own in 1974, while also breaking Cobb’s career record by snatching 938 total stolen bases during his 18-year career. Then there’s Rickey Henderson who obliterated both records. The Oakland A’s great was nicknamed the “Man of Steal” and his numbers tell why. In 1982 he set the current single season record of 130. When Henderson retired in 2003, he had amassed 1,406 career steals, setting a standard that looks to be in the record books for a very long time.

In an article written in 2009 for the “Bleacher Report”, Cliff Eastham offered some additional objective data comparisons in an overview of all-time baserunners. One was career stolen base percentage. Without looking at the numbers, my immediate thought turned to Cobb, Wills, Brock, or Henderson. However, Richie Ashburn, the Phillies’ HOF’er with a 15-year career spanning from 1948 through 1962, is the career leader. Ashburn is said to have been one of the most beloved sports figures in Philadelphia (which is saying something) and has the career numbers to support it -- .308 batting average, 2,574 hits, and an all-time best stolen base percentage of 86%!

Another data piece offered by Eastham is extra bases taken percentage (EBT %), the percentage of times a baserunner advanced more than one base on a single or more than two bases on a double. Who else but Willie Mays would lead this category with what Eastham calculated to be 63% of the time. I saw Mays play a handful of times at Crosley Field in Cincinnati when I was a young boy but it was later in his HOF career. Many baseball fans before me who had the privilege of seeing the “Say Hey Kid” in his heyday see Mays in rare air, putting him alongside Babe Ruth as the greatest player ever. Mays had 660 HRs, 3,283 hits, .302 batting average, 338 stolen bases (leading the NL for four straight years), 24 All-Star Game appearances, and 12 Gold Gloves as a centerfielder. And yes, he was one of the greatest baserunners of all time.

Doubles and triples were a big part of Mays’ game, but there’s actually another MLB player who leads in the category of doubles and triples divided by total hits (DT %), Jimmy Rollins, another longtime Phillie. His DT % was 27 %. Rollins was Philadelphia’s leadoff hitter for ten years in the early 2000’s, and may be best known for his 38-game hitting streak in 2005-2006. In 2007, Rollins was the NL MVP. He led the league four times in triples and is the all-time Phillies career leader in doubles with 479. If the Phils needed an extra base knock during the Rollins’ era, they looked no further than the leadoff spot. He could put the ball in play and fly.

One last objective data point suggested by Eastham is run scoring percentage (RS %), the percentage of time a baserunner scores a run. The MLB leader in this category is Kenny Lofton, an outfielder for 16 seasons (1991-2007) playing for 11 different ballclubs, who posted an RS % of 15 %. When I think of Lofton, his playing days with the Indians come mostly to mind. He was the single season stolen base leader in the AL on five occasions and the MLB leader in three of those years. In 1994, he actually broke a Rickey Henderson record of 33 postseason stolen bases. Lofton was one of those players that, much like Baez today, one step ahead on the basepaths. Frank White, Kansas City Royals all-time great second baseman, said this: “Lofton has out-thought a lot of major league players”.

The next two outstanding baserunners simply meet the eye test. If there would be a category for the tenacity of going from first base to third on a hit to the outfield, Pete Rose of the Reds would be the clear winner. I will forever have etched in my mind the sight of Rose leading off a Reds game with a single during the Big Red Machine era. He would then slide headfirst into third as a Reds hitter followed with another hit. Rose certainly had his detractors for running to first base after a walk, but no one ran the bases harder. The career numbers are all there – MLB hit leader with 4,256 and singles with 3,215; three NL batting titles; and 17 All-Star Game appearances at five separate fielding positions. During his playing days and post-career, no one was more liked or disliked than Rose. Give him this, he was a passionate baserunner.

My favorite baserunner of all-time, again the eye test, is Tim Raines, best known for his 13 seasons as a Montreal Expo. I took every opportunity to see Raines play during his career. From the time he entered the batter’s box to crossing the plate with a run scored, my eyes were on him and so better have been the opposition’s. Raines is regarded by baseball experts as one of the best baserunners and leadoff hitters ever. He compiled 2,605 hits, a .294 batting average, and 808 stolen bases over his career. Yes, great numbers, but the pressure he put on opposing teams and the excitement he created will be what stands out to me. Raines made watching baseball for me incredibly fun!

You know, baseball is supposed to be fun. I’ve been going to my grandson’s t-ball games and have enjoyed seeing the last hitter of each inning running all of the bases until he or she reaches home plate. They love that! In the Baez baserunning antics last week against Pittsburgh, his teammate, Anthony Rizzo, was seen doubled over laughing while hanging on the dugout railing. No one had quite seen a play like that before. Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes said this about the Baez baserunning play: “I’ve never seen anything close to that.” We want that in baseball; that’s what makes the game a game.

Who is your favorite baserunner?

Until next week,

your Baseball Bench Coach