MLB Fantasy Baseball 2008: Stolen Bases

MLB Fantasy Baseball: Thief!
The stolen base is back in Major League Baseball, and nobody knows that better than Kansas City Royals speedster Joey Gathright

April 17, 2008

By Mike Halford
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Rickey Henderson wouldn't understand what all the fuss is about.

Rickey wouldn't get why fantasy players across the country are jacked about the current crop of basestealers. Rickey doesn't see how anybody cares about Jose Reyes, Joey Gathright, Juan Pierre and Carl Crawford.

And Rickey might be justified if he said so.

Lest we forget that Mr. Henderson – the all-time MLB swipe leader, with 1,406 – posted three seasons with 100+ steals, including a cornea-bulging 130 in 1982. He'd likely scoff at an era where the reigning MLB leader posed a measly 78.

But that's where we're at.

It's not to say, however, that the stolen base is a lost art, or a thing of the past. Chicks don't especially dig the long ball anymore, and the Moneyball routine hasn't extinguished burning basepaths. In fact, teams aren't just attempting to steal more – they're doing it more successfully. Over the last half decade, successful stealing percentages have risen. Last season, the success rate of would-be basestealers went up in the majors for the fifth year in a row, from 68.2 percent in 2002 to 74.4 percent in 2007.

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