There were always a lot of theories floating around as to why the stolen base “left” baseball. Remember the days of Vince Coleman and Ricky Henderson? Delino Deshields and Marquis Grissom? Some of the old burners; just to name a few.
Then all of a sudden everyone starting hitting the ball 400 feet (i.e. Brady Anderson) and the number 6 hitter was a 25-30 HR guy. This all factored in to keeping people on base and waiting for the power alley double or the bleacher ball to drive the runs in. Manufacturing runs wasn’t a necessity anymore.
I think it’s safe to say that the steroid era contributed heavily to this. In fact, you could say that it was the cause of it. Chicks may dig the long ball but fans want to see real baseball. Locally, I watch teams like the A’s and Giants. The Giants had 30+ steals as a team last month and the A’s just smashed up the Angels to a tune of 20 hits. That’s exciting and I’m glad that this brand of baseball is back.
As for the stolen base, I think we’re seeing a steady increase in bag robbery over the past few years. As ‘roid testing continues to improve there is once again an emphasis on the other 4 tools (aside from power) for players. Speed is one of these and the stolen bag is a derivative of speed.
I remember going to A’s games as a kid and waiting for Rickey to get on base just so I could watch him as he’s watching the pitcher right before he’s about to take off. Everyone in the crowd would be doing the same. “He’s digging, he’s gonna go,” I would remember people saying as fans collectively held their breathe waiting for the pitcher to deliver. It’s comical to watch how whacked out pitchers would get when Rickey (or any great base stealer) is on the bag.
I’m glad to see that the SB is once again part of MLB!
Love the stolen base the anticipation…the speed….the criminality of the whole thing. ok, maybe that’s being a bit dramatic, but it’s really a lost art these days it seems. Rickey is probably the player I idolized growing up. He wasn’t too smart in interviews but the guy had heart and worked his a$$ off. His accolades are well-deserved.
- Freddie Footballer
re: Great points, completely agree. But one of the reasons big time SB players aren’t so prevalent anymore is because they can’t hit for average. Scott Podsednik stole 60 bases one years, but he never plays anymore because he can’t hit. Guys like Joey Gathright and Michael Bourn have averages are so low that they are in danger of being benched despite their base stealing proficiency.
I think the real problem is rooted in the de-emphasizing the value of a hit when developing players. For most of these guys, it’s homerun or out. For base stealers, they only need to get on base once a game to get a stolen base and the fact that they are content with that is where the problem really originates.
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LB23
RE: Good post, but as a Dodgers fan I felt a tinge of pain seeing the the name Delino Deshields (and in a positive context no less). I wish I could remember long, successful Pedro Martinez seasons in place of the drivel Delino provided with his corked bats. Oh, did I mention they were traded for each other?
Why did Rickey Henderson…. ....always refer to himself in the third person?
Ricky Hendo is the man! he was always one of my favorite players on the oakland a’s during the eckersley era.. he was always so fund to watch becuase of the way he stole bases..i also loved the gold chain he always wore.
those old school A’s were tight Dave Parker, Dave “Hendu” henderson, Rickey, McGwire, Canseco, Lansford, Weiss, Eck, Stewart, I even liked the role players like Mike Gallego, Luis Polonia and Tony Philips. Good ol’ days.
the good ol days when u could inject roids into a teammates buttocks freely without fear or concern