List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders

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Rickey Henderson is the all-time stolen bases leader, stealing 1,406 bases over the course of his 25-year career. Baseball steal.jpg
Rickey Henderson is the all-time stolen bases leader, stealing 1,406 bases over the course of his 25-year career.

In baseball statistics, a stolen base is credited to a baserunner when he successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is throwing the ball to home plate. Under Rule 7.01 of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Official Rules, a runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. [1] Stolen bases were more common in baseball's dead-ball era, when teams relied more on stolen bases and hit and run plays than on home runs. [2]

Contents

Rickey Henderson holds the MLB career stolen base record with 1,406. [3] He is the only MLB player to have reached the 1,000 stolen bases milestone in his career. Following Henderson is Lou Brock with 938 stolen bases; [3] Billy Hamilton is third on the all-time steals listing. The number of career steals attributed to Hamilton varies by source, but all sources hold his career steals placing him in third on the list before Ty Cobb (897), Tim Raines (808), Vince Coleman (752), Arlie Latham (742), [4] Eddie Collins (741), Max Carey (738), and Honus Wagner (723), [5] who are the only other players to have stolen at least 700 bases. [3] Coleman is the leader for retired players that are not members of the Hall of Fame. [3] Brock held the all-time career stolen bases before being surpassed by Henderson in 1991. Brock had held the record from 1977 to 1991. [6] Before Brock, Hamilton held the record for eighty-one years, from 1897 to 1977. [6] Before that, Latham held the record from 1887 to 1896. Latham was also the first player to collect 300 career stolen bases. [6] With Kenny Lofton's retirement in 2007, 2008 was the first season since 1967 in which no active player had more than 500 career stolen bases. [6] Between 2008 and 2010, no active player had more than 500 stolen bases until Juan Pierre collected his 500th stolen base on August 5, 2010. He was the leader in stolen bases for active players until his retirement at the end of the 2013 season. [6]

As of the end of the 2024 season no active player is in the list of top 100 base stealers. [3]

Key

RankRank amongst leaders in career stolen bases. A blank field indicates a tie.
PlayerName of player.
SBTotal career stolen bases.
*denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame.

List

Lou Brock held the stolen base record from 1977 to 1991 and is one of just three players with more than 900 career stolen bases. Lou Brock 2005.png
Lou Brock held the stolen base record from 1977 to 1991 and is one of just three players with more than 900 career stolen bases.
Sliding Billy Hamilton held the stolen base record for 80 years. Billy Hamilton Baseball Card.jpg
Sliding Billy Hamilton held the stolen base record for 80 years.
Arlie Latham was the stolen base record holder from 1887 to 1896. Arlie Latham-Wilbert Robinson.jpg
Arlie Latham was the stolen base record holder from 1887 to 1896.
Juan Pierre won multiple stolen base titles and finished his career with 614 stolen bases. Juan Pierre on August 8, 2011.jpg
Juan Pierre won multiple stolen base titles and finished his career with 614 stolen bases.
RankPlayerSB
1 Rickey Henderson*1,406
2 Lou Brock*938
3 Billy Hamilton*914
4 Ty Cobb*897
5 Tim Raines*808
6 Vince Coleman 758
7 Arlie Latham 742
8 Eddie Collins*741
9 Max Carey*738
10 Honus Wagner*723
11 Joe Morgan*689
12 Willie Wilson 668
13 Tom Brown 657
14 Bert Campaneris 649
15 Kenny Lofton 622
16 Otis Nixon 620
17 George Davis*616
18 Juan Pierre 614
19 Dummy Hoy 596
20 Maury Wills 586
21 George Van Haltren 583
22 Ozzie Smith*580
23 Hugh Duffy*574
24 Bid McPhee*568
25 Brett Butler 558
26 Davey Lopes 557
27 Cesar Cedeño 550
28 Bill Dahlen 548
29 John Montgomery Ward*540
30 Herman Long 537
31 Patsy Donovan 518
Jack Doyle 518
33 José Reyes 517
34 Barry Bonds 514
35 Fred Clarke*509
Harry Stovey 509
Ichiro Suzuki 509
38 Luis Aparicio*506
39 Paul Molitor*504
40 Willie Keeler*495
Clyde Milan 495
42 Omar Moreno 487
43 Carl Crawford 480
44 Roberto Alomar*474
45 Mike Griffin 473
46 Jimmy Rollins 470
47 Tommy McCarthy*468
48 Jimmy Sheckard 465
Eric Young 465
50 Delino DeShields 463
RankPlayerSB
51 Bobby Bonds 461
52 Ed Delahanty*455
Ron LeFlore 455
54 Curt Welch 453
55 Steve Sax 444
56 Joe Kelley*443
57 Sherry Magee 441
57 John McGraw*436
Tris Speaker*436
60 Marquis Grissom 429
61 Bob Bescher 428
Mike Tiernan 428
63 Frankie Frisch*419
Jimmy Ryan 419
65 Charlie Comiskey*416
66 Rajai Davis 415
67 Craig Biggio*414
68 Johnny Damon 408
Tommy Harper 408
70 Chuck Knoblauch 407
71 Donie Bush 406
72 Omar Vizquel 404
73 Frank Chance*403
74 Bobby Abreu 400
Bill Lange 400
76 Willie Davis 398
77 Sam Mertes 396
Juan Samuel 396
79 Dave Collins 395
Billy North 395
81 Jesse Burkett*389
82 Tommy Corcoran 387
83 Tom Daly 385
Freddie Patek 385
85 George Burns 383
Hugh Nicol 383
Fred Pfeffer 383
Walt Wilmot 383
89 Nap Lajoie*380
90 Barry Larkin*379
91 Harry Hooper*375
George Sisler*375
93 Jack Glasscock 372
94 Luis Castillo 370
Lonnie Smith 370
96 Tom Goodwin 369
97 Tommy Dowd 368
King Kelly*368
99 Sam Crawford*367
100 Hal Chase 363
Tony Womack 363

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References

  1. ↑ "Official Rules: 7.00 - The Runner". Major League Baseball. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Okrent, Daniel; Lewine, Harris (200). The Ultimate Baseball Book, Expanded and Updated. Mariner Books. p. 33. ISBN   0-618-05668-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Career Leaders & Records for Stolen Bases". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ MLB Advanced Media. "Arlie Latham Stats, Video Highlights, Photos, Bio". MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ MLB Advanced Media. "Honus Wagner Stats, Video Highlights, Photos, Bio". MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Progressive Leaders & Records for Stolen Bases". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
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