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Originally Posted by King Glorious
I was just wondering why the stolen base has become something of a lost art in baseball? I know it can't be because players aren't as fast. Is it because of managers being too conservative? Players just not willing to take as many risks or not knowing how to run? I remeber back in the late 70's and early 80's when we had guys like Rickey Henderson and Vince Coleman going over 100 a few times and also guys like Ron LeFlore, Willie Wilson, Tim Raines, and Eric Davis who all went 80+. How about 1980 when Henderson stole 100 to lead the league, beating out LeFlore with 97 and Omar Moreno with 96?
Also, why aren't there more guys that can run and hit homers? I don't mean those 30/30 or even the 40/40 guys. To me, 30 or 40 steals isn't impressive. Since 1900, I looked at all the guys that have stolen at least 80 in a season. Only three of those guys hit more than 10 homers in the same season:
Henderson 87 steals, 28 homers
Eric Davis 80 steals, 27 homers
Henderson 80 steals, 24 homers
Raines 90 steals, 11 homers
Henderson 130 steals, 10 homers
Looking at it, Eric Davis was a pretty unique player. Not many had the speed to steal 80, the power to hit 37 homers, the ability to hit for a decent average, and the ability to be a Gold Glove outfielder.
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An interesting read......Giving Billy Martin major credit for his SB accomplishments.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...rson-hof_N.htm
"Henderson also says he thinks the record will never be broken. Not in today's game.
Too many stopwatches. Too much caution. Too little trust in the baserunner.
"They came up with that stopwatch and you drill it in a guy that (when the) clock is such and such time, you can run," says Henderson, who from 1979 to 2003 played on nine major league teams. "Hey, wait a minute, you're telling me I can't beat the guy? So they drill that into kids' heads … These kids, maybe, don't want to get that dirty. As a football player, I loved getting hit and loved getting in the dirt, so it didn't bother me. Now the kids, they're coming up, 'Oh, I'm hurt. I'm this.' Come on, man."