18 Responses to “4+ SB Games”

1. barkfart Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 12:38 pm

   Charming post. Loved the narration. This and others posts of yours point to a real flair for the imagination in numbers.

2. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

   I was somewhat amazed that Maury Wills never made any of these lists. Racking up 104 one year {1962}, he must have had a couple oflong strings when he stole bases in consecutive games.

3. Steve Lombardi Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

   Thanks Barkfart.

4. Steve Lombardi Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 1:27 pm

   Good point Frank. And, FWIW, someday, it will be nice to have the pre-1920 data to see how guys like Cobb did here.

5. Johnny Twisto Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 2:51 pm

   Wills had one 4-SB game in '62 and six 3-SB games. Five of those seven games came in the last five weeks of the season....I guess he was going for the record. He had 44 SB in his last 44 games, after 60 in his first 121. Pretty incredible to play every game (plus three) and finish like that. I guess he was so worn out he missed 30 games the next season, stole fewer than half as many bases and was caught more.

6. Zack Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

   Rickey's July 29, 1989 game really epitomizes his career for me. 4 walks, no official ABs, 5 SBs, 4 runs scored.

   1. Walk, steal 2B, steal 3B, score on bouncer to pitcher that pitcher misplayed (presumably because of pressure of Rickey suddenly on 3B).
   2. Walk, steal 2B, score on short liner to right (throw may have gone home, since hitter - Lansford - got a double out of it? Rickey safe, Lansford safe).
   3. Walk, steal 2B, advance on infield out, score on another badly played ground ball in the IF (again, pressure of Rickey on 3B).
   4. Walk, steal 2B, score on ground ball to left (the throw again may have gone home to try to get Henderson out at the plate, since the play was scored another double for Carney Lansford....)

   I love that. Some of the most exciting baseball in my memory was Rickey when he was at his best.

7. Mike Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

   If Lansford got 2 doubles then he hit 2 doubles and Henderson must have scored easily. Players dont get doubles by advancing on throws to the plate.

8. statboy Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 4:11 pm

   @6,

   You sure did an awful lot of assuming there. The "pressure" of Rickey being on base might not have had anything to do with those misplays. The "badly played ground ball in the IF" came with two outs and was a bad throw to 1st base. The speed of the runner on 3rd base with two outs is meaningless when the fielder has a play at 1st base.

9. Zack Says:
   November 20th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

   @7 But "Players dont get doubles by advancing on throws to the plate."?? Players don't take an extra base when the throw goes elsewhere?

   @8 Sure I'm guessing - all I have is the text play by play. But on the defensive mistakes - I don't mean that a THROW to first was more difficult solely because of a (two outs) irrelevant runner. But a ball to the 5.5 with Rickey on 3B could easily have been fielded from a different position given the runner on third, making the resulting throw less routine.

   Again, obviously just guessing. I don't have the game on VHS. But it's certainly easy to imagine.

10. Johnny Twisto Says:
    November 20th, 2010 at 4:47 pm

    It's not credited as a double if you take the extra base because of a throw elsewhere.

11. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
    November 20th, 2010 at 7:05 pm

    @6;

    Going back to Wills in 1962, you just described in detail a Dodgers "rally" from that era. But before you feel sorry for Los Angeles, remember; with people like Drysdale, Koufax and Podres in the rotation, what else did you need?

12. Zack Says:
    November 20th, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    @11, Wills - absolutely, and though I don't have vivid memories of Jackie Robinson, same thing there. More in my memory, Willie Mays. Same kind of threat. The perceived threat (of manufactured runs) certainly exceeded the actual threat, but that was why it was so much fun. (Though fewer SBs with those guys than many of the names above.)

    And even though now in our modern analysis of the value of the SB and the running game, in which we devalue the importance and impact of SBs to some degree, it was certainly perceived to be a significant threat back then, and the games reflected it. Every pitch seemed to change when those guys were on base, at bat, on deck.

13. Gerry Says:
    November 20th, 2010 at 10:11 pm

    So, the last three players with 4 steals, at most one hit, and at most one walk, scored a grand total of...zero runs. Note also on the last list the one hit Julio Cruz got was a triple.

14. Darrel Says:
    November 21st, 2010 at 12:07 am

    I'm surprised Willie Wilson isn't on that list.

15. John Autin Says:
    November 21st, 2010 at 11:05 am

    Interesting thread, Steve.

    Another curious absentee from these lists: Omar Moreno, who had 396 steals in a 6-year span (1977-82), had just one 4-SB game and two 3-SB games. He did have 75 games with 2 SB.

    Moreno's 4-SB game and one of the 3-SB games came in 1980, when he had 96 steals but finished one behind Ron Leflore for the NL lead. Despite leading the majors with 745 PAs that year, Omar scored just 87 runs, thanks to a .306 OBP and a somewhat down year for the usually potent Pirates. That's the fewest runs scored in any of the 14 modern seasons of 90+ SB.

16. John Autin Says:
    November 21st, 2010 at 11:23 am

    Tangent:
    On 6/14/2008, Colorado's Willy Taveras got on base 4 times (2 hits, a walk, and reached on an error), stole 5 bases without being caught -- and never touched home plate.

    The Rockies won the game, 2-0, a combined shutout by Jorge de la Rosa and 3 relievers -- the club's only shutout of the season. Taveras did "drive in" both runs, in a sense; each run scored on an error committed on a batted ball by Taveras.

17. kds Says:
    November 21st, 2010 at 8:32 pm

    John Autin, The OBA brings back Omar Moreno's nickname, "Omar the Out Maker." Offensively, stealing bases was the only thing he did well.

18. Tmckelv Says:
    November 22nd, 2010 at 10:05 am

    I was very much hoping that someone like Cecil Fielder or Rusty Staub was going to be on that first list.

    I will have to settle for some nice Omar Moreno chatter at the end of this thread.