Speed

[weams]

Every single trend in baseball is anti-stolen base. Between replay and being able to block bag with your foot, they're going to kill it.<— Joe Posnanski

https://www.samford.edu/sports-analytics/fans/2017/Sabermetrics-Killing-Taco-Bells-Steal-a-Base-Steal-a-Taco-World-Series-Campaign

[weams]

http://theweek.com/articles/466553/why-baseball-abandoning-stolen-base

Unfortunately for Hamilton, this is 2013, and speed is not the hot commodity it once was. Three decades ago, the stolen base was the weapon of choice for many Major League teams, as speedy players racked up steals by the hundreds over their careers. The high point was 1987, when the league average for team steals was 138, led by St. Louis' 248 swipes and Coleman's 109.

Since then, the stolen base has experienced a slow decline. The low point came in the mid-2000s, when the team stolen-base average was a mere 86 for three years running. The numbers have picked up since, but just barely. The MLB average was 117 in 2011, and 108 in 2012. Baseball just isn't a sprinter's sport anymore.

[Can_of_corn]

http://theweek.com/articles/466553/why-baseball-abandoning-stolen-base

Hamilton's problem is 287 career obp.

[Number5]

Hamilton's problem is 287 career obp.

You can't steal first base.

[Morgan423]

Good article. The author is right about strategic use. Power teams (like us) shouldn't be stealing that often... but if we do it in the right spots, it can pay off. Kind of like when a poker player who is normally careful and conservative can catch his opponents off guard with a well timed aggressive play.

[scOtt]

Manny says...

[video=youtube;0GN2kpBoFs4]

[DrungoHazewood]

The biggest problem with the stolen base as a weapon is math. A 30-second Google search will tell you that, on average, 50 steals and 10 caught have about the same impact as three or four homers. A lot of effort and risk and beating up the body for little gain.

[DrungoHazewood]

http://theweek.com/articles/466553/why-baseball-abandoning-stolen-base The low point came in the mid-2000s, when the team stolen-base average was a mere 86 for three years running.

Uh, no. The low point was a little more than a half-century ago. From 1950-55 no team stole 100 bases in a season. The median team SB total during that period was 46.

[Slappy]

I think we are just seeing a more strategic use of the SB. A SB in a close and late game can be a difference maker worth the risk.

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[Ven6]

Then Granderson steals 2nd and 3rd in a championship series and manufactures a run.

That was both daring and incredible.

[Uli2001]

You can't steal first base.

You can, if you are struck out. Batter turns into runner at that point.

[Number5]

You can, if you are struck out. Batter turns into runner at that point.

So let's strike out more... odds are that with more strikeouts, we will have more dropped third strikes. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Can_of_corn]

You can, if you are struck out. Batter turns into runner at that point.

Unless if first base is occupied.

[Number5]

Unless if first base is unoccupied.

You mean occupied.

[DrungoHazewood]

You can, if you are struck out. Batter turns into runner at that point.

You're not stealing first base. The opposition is letting you have it by not fielding well enough. It's not a stolen base when you're picked off first and the throw goes into the RF corner.