Fewest stolen bases with at least 10 times caught stealing
Posted by Andy on October 26, 2009
I noticed that in 2009, Elijah Dukes managed to steal just 3 bases to go along with 10 times caught stealing. I thought for sure that would be way up on the leaderboard, but I was wrong.
Cnt Player **SB** CS Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Pete Runnels 0 10 1952 24 WSH AL 152 632 555 70 158 18 3 1 64 72 0 55 1 4 0 14 .285 .368 .333 .701 *6/4 2 Jose Vizcaino 1 11 1994 26 NYM NL 103 456 410 47 105 13 3 3 33 33 3 62 2 5 6 5 .256 .310 .324 .634 *6 3 Eddie Yost 1 11 1957 30 WSH AL 110 492 414 47 104 13 5 9 38 73 2 49 5 0 0 6 .251 .370 .372 .742 *5 4 Bobby Doerr 1 10 1939 21 BOS AL 127 574 525 75 167 28 2 12 73 38 0 32 1 10 0 17 .318 .365 .448 .813 *4 5 Zeb Terry 1 13 1921 30 CHC NL 123 553 488 59 134 18 1 2 45 27 0 19 4 34 0 0 .275 .318 .328 .646 *4 6 Todd Cruz 2 10 1982 26 SEA AL 136 519 492 44 113 20 2 16 57 12 1 95 0 11 4 18 .230 .246 .376 .622 *6 7 Charlie Moore 2 10 1982 29 MIL AL 133 492 456 53 116 22 4 6 45 29 2 49 1 4 2 11 .254 .299 .360 .659 *92/4 8 Luis Gomez 2 10 1978 26 TOR AL 153 469 413 39 92 7 3 0 32 34 1 41 0 19 3 10 .223 .280 .254 .534 *6 9 Elliott Maddox 2 11 1978 30 NYM NL 119 469 389 43 100 18 2 2 39 71 1 38 2 2 5 8 .257 .370 .329 .699 *958/3 10 Jerry Morales 2 12 1974 25 CHC NL 151 590 534 70 146 21 7 15 82 46 3 63 2 3 5 15 .273 .330 .423 .753 *798 11 Curt Flood 2 12 1958 20 STL NL 121 461 422 50 110 17 2 10 41 31 1 56 4 4 0 17 .261 .317 .382 .699 *8/5 12 Johnny Groth 2 10 1952 25 DET AL 141 580 524 56 149 22 2 4 51 51 0 39 0 5 0 11 .284 .348 .357 .705 *8/7 13 Bill Knickerbocke 2 12 1935 23 CLE AL 132 577 540 77 161 34 5 0 55 27 0 31 0 10 0 0 .298 .332 .380 .712 *6 14 Charlie Jamieson 2 13 1929 36 CLE AL 102 422 364 56 106 22 1 0 26 50 0 12 1 7 0 0 .291 .378 .357 .735 *7 15 Zeb Terry 2 11 1922 31 CHC NL 131 571 496 56 142 24 2 0 67 34 0 16 2 39 0 0 .286 .335 .343 .678 *4/65 16 Hod Ford 2 11 1921 23 BSN NL 152 614 555 50 155 29 5 2 61 36 0 49 4 19 0 0 .279 .328 .360 .688 *46 17 Elijah Dukes 3 10 2009 25 WSN NL 107 416 364 38 91 20 4 8 58 46 2 74 3 0 3 8 .250 .337 .393 .730 *98/7 18 Mike Marshall 3 10 1985 25 LAD NL 135 564 518 72 152 27 2 28 95 37 6 137 3 2 4 8 .293 .342 .515 .857 *9/37 19 Tony Johnson 3 13 1982 26 TOR AL 70 111 98 17 23 2 1 3 14 11 1 26 0 1 1 1 .235 .309 .367 .676 7D/89 20 Rick Miller 3 13 1978 30 CAL AL 132 547 475 66 125 25 4 1 37 54 1 70 4 10 4 14 .263 .341 .339 .680 *89 21 Max Alvis 3 10 1967 29 CLE AL 161 697 637 66 163 23 4 21 70 38 1 107 4 16 2 13 .256 .301 .403 .704 *5 22 Irv Hall 3 10 1945 26 PHA AL 151 668 616 62 161 17 5 0 50 35 0 42 6 11 0 8 .261 .307 .305 .612 *4 23 Mike Tresh 3 10 1940 26 CHW AL 135 538 480 62 135 15 5 1 64 49 0 40 1 8 0 12 .281 .349 .340 .689 *2 24 Red Kress 3 16 1931 24 SLB AL 150 655 605 87 188 46 8 16 114 46 0 48 1 3 0 0 .311 .360 .493 .853 *5963 25 Red Kress 3 12 1930 23 SLB AL 154 679 614 94 192 43 8 16 112 50 0 56 2 13 0 0 .313 .366 .487 .853 *65 +----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ Cnt Player **SB** CS Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 26 Charlie Jamieson 3 12 1928 35 CLE AL 112 501 433 63 133 18 4 1 37 56 0 20 1 11 0 0 .307 .388 .374 .762 *7 27 Joe Sewell 3 16 1927 28 CLE AL 153 652 569 83 180 48 5 1 92 51 0 7 9 23 0 0 .316 .382 .424 .806 *6 28 Ray Morehart 3 11 1926 26 CHW AL 73 208 192 27 61 10 3 0 21 11 0 15 1 4 0 0 .318 .358 .401 .759 *4 29 Andy High 3 12 1922 24 BRO NL 153 659 579 82 164 27 10 6 65 59 0 26 4 17 0 0 .283 .354 .396 .750 *56/4 30 Ray Powell 3 12 1922 33 BSN NL 142 619 550 82 163 22 11 6 37 59 0 66 4 6 0 0 .296 .369 .409 .778 *8 31 Larry Kopf 3 14 1921 30 CIN NL 107 427 367 36 80 8 3 1 25 43 0 20 6 11 0 0 .218 .310 .264 .574 *6/457 32 Larry Gardner 3 20 1920 34 CLE AL 154 683 597 72 185 31 11 3 118 53 0 25 1 32 0 0 .310 .367 .414 .781 *5 33 Zinn Beck 3 10 1915 29 STL NL 70 245 223 21 52 9 4 0 15 12 0 31 3 7 0 0 .233 .282 .309 .591 *5/64 34 Butch Schmidt 3 10 1915 28 BSN NL 127 524 458 46 115 26 7 2 60 36 0 59 9 21 0 0 .251 .318 .352 .670 *3
Since caught stealing has been kept as a statistic, there have been 17 guys to steal even fewer bases than Dukes with at least 10 caught stealings.
I'm flabbergasted at such high CS totals for guys with so few stolen bases.
Check out all the players with at least 10 CS in 2009:
Cnt Player **SB** CS Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP BA OBP SLG OPS Positions +----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+ 1 Jacoby Ellsbury 70 12 2009 25 BOS AL 153 691 624 94 188 27 10 8 60 49 3 74 6 6 6 13 .301 .355 .415 .770 *8 2 Michael Bourn 61 12 2009 26 HOU NL 157 678 606 97 173 27 12 3 35 63 1 140 2 5 2 1 .285 .354 .384 .738 *8 3 Carl Crawford 60 16 2009 27 TBR AL 156 672 606 96 185 28 8 15 68 51 1 99 8 2 5 7 .305 .364 .452 .816 *7/D 4 B.J. Upton 42 14 2009 24 TBR AL 144 626 560 79 135 33 4 11 55 57 0 152 3 3 3 7 .241 .313 .373 .686 *8 5 Chone Figgins 42 17 2009 31 LAA AL 158 729 615 114 183 30 7 5 54 101 0 114 1 8 4 8 .298 .395 .393 .788 *5/4D7 6 Nyjer Morgan 42 17 2009 28 TOT NL 120 533 469 74 144 15 7 3 39 40 2 74 9 10 5 9 .307 .369 .388 .757 *78 7 Rajai Davis 41 12 2009 28 OAK AL 125 432 390 65 119 27 5 3 48 29 0 70 7 2 4 12 .305 .360 .423 .783 *8/9D 8 Scott Podsednik 30 13 2009 33 CHW AL 132 587 537 75 163 25 6 7 48 39 1 74 3 6 2 8 .304 .353 .412 .765 *78D/9 9 Juan Pierre 30 12 2009 31 LAD NL 145 425 380 57 117 16 8 0 31 27 3 27 8 9 1 7 .308 .365 .392 .757 *78 10 Dexter Fowler 27 10 2009 23 COL NL 135 518 433 73 115 29 10 4 34 67 1 116 1 14 3 4 .266 .363 .406 .769 *8 11 Denard Span 23 10 2009 25 MIN AL 145 676 578 97 180 16 10 8 68 70 3 89 10 12 6 7 .311 .392 .415 .807 *8*79 12 Ryan Theriot 21 10 2009 29 CHC NL 154 677 602 81 171 20 5 7 54 51 1 93 6 13 5 13 .284 .343 .369 .712 *6 13 Troy Tulowitzki 20 11 2009 24 COL NL 151 628 543 101 161 25 9 32 92 73 4 112 3 0 9 20 .297 .377 .552 .929 *6 14 Hunter Pence 14 11 2009 26 HOU NL 159 647 585 76 165 26 5 25 72 58 1 109 1 0 3 25 .282 .346 .472 .818 *9 15 Clint Barmes 12 10 2009 30 COL NL 154 604 550 69 135 32 3 23 76 31 2 121 10 6 7 6 .245 .294 .440 .734 *46 16 Kosuke Fukudome 6 10 2009 32 CHC NL 146 603 499 79 129 38 5 11 54 93 3 112 3 3 5 15 .259 .375 .421 .796 *89 17 Elijah Dukes 3 10 2009 25 WSN NL 107 416 364 38 91 20 4 8 58 46 2 74 3 0 3 8 .250 .337 .393 .730 *98/7
Now, all the guys on this list below B.J. Upton shouldn't have been trying to steal bases this season. A guy's success rate should be at least 75% or the outcomes aren't worth it for the team. But at least guys like Podsednik and Span managed to be successful more times than not. I don't understand how someone can get thrown out 10 times while stealing so few times. I mean--a few pickoffs I can understand. But ten? Geez...
October 26th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I think a lot of those high CS totals, especially in the 1920s, are off busted hit-and-runs.
Demanding a success rate of 75% isn't quite right. Based on when most SB attempts are actually made, the actual break-even point (which can never be known for sure) is usually lower. Of course, I haven't checked the play-by-play accounts to see when all these guys got caught, and you're right that some of them did cost their teams, overall.
October 26th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I tortured myself by looking up the circumstances for Dukes. It was too ugly to get beyond six.
- Leading by one with 2 outs in the 5th, he is CS 2nd with Zimmerman batting; (Zimmerman led off the 6th with a 2B);
- Trailing by three with 0 outs in the 2nd, he is CS 3rd with Kearns batting; (1st out at 3rd!!!) (Kearns walked, followed by a Flores 2b);
- Trailing by one with 1 out in the 2nd, he is PO 1st with Willingham batting;
- Tied with 1 out in the 4th, he is PO 1st with Kearns batting;
- Tied with 1 out in the 4th, he is CS 3rd with Belliard batting (excusable);
- Leading by for in the 9th (same game as above), he is PO 1st with Kearns batting.
Not only should he not have been stealing, he should not have been leading off.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
"Now, all the guys on this list below B.J. Upton shouldn't have been trying to steal bases this season. A guy's success rate should be at least 75% or the outcomes aren't worth it for the team."
I think JT is right, above, about 75% being too much to ask, but even at 75% Rajai Davis, who is several guys below Upton, is innocent of the charges.
Which is worse, Pete Runnels at 0-and-10, or Larry Gardner at 3-and-20? Some other contenders: Tommy Griffith, 1915, 6-and-24; Pat Duncan, 1922, 12-and-28. Somewhere I saw "net steals" given as SB minus twice CS; this puts Runnels at minus 20; Gardner, minus 37; Griffith, minus 41; Duncan, minus 44.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Maybe it's a Washington thing! Two of the top three in the first list, plus Dukes, played there. Nyjer Morgan, a part-year National in 2009, joins Dukes in the 2nd list.
Besides the Senators, other teams that aren't in the same place seem to be overrepresented in that first list, too, although the various BSNs (Boston Braves, Beaneaters, or whatever name they were going by that year), SLBs (St. Louis Browns), etc., appear after Dukes in the list.