The O's could theoretically start the fastest lineup in all of baseball

[Aristotelian]

1 hour ago, Camden_yardbird said:

One of the most exciting teams I ever saw was the Marlins 2003 WS team with Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo at the top of the lineup.

With 68/21 SB and .361/.381 OBPs respectively it seemed like in those playoffs that the Marlins always had one of their top 2 players on and in scoring position for Derek Lee or Mike Lowell to drive in.

The 2014 Royals were pretty nuts. Almost three players with 30 steals (Cain 28, Escobar 31, and Dyon 36 off the bench) plus two more starters with double digits (Gordon and Aoki). 

[ChrisP]

7 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

The 2014 Royals were pretty nuts. Almost three players with 30 steals (Cain 28, Escobar 31, and Dyon 36 off the bench) plus two more starters with double digits (Gordon and Aoki). 

We don't speak of such team on this site.

[Frobby]

This is about the time Drungo would chime in that the 1887 St. Louis Browns stole 581 bases in one season.   But I’ll do it for him.  

More recently, the 1976 Oakland A’s stole 341 bases.  When I read that, my mind went immediately to Rickey Henderson, but he hadn’t started playing yet.   That team had three players who stole 50+ bases: Bill North (75), Bert Campaneris (54) and Don Baylor (52), acquired from the Orioles that year.  They also had three other players who stole 30+ and another two who stole 20.    Several of those guys weren’t burners, either.   

The 1985 Cardinals were the team that came immediately to mind for me, but they “only” stole 314 bases, 110 by Vince Coleman.   
 

[vab]

It would be sound strategy to move the fences out at Camden Yards to take full advantage of this speed and exploit the devaluation of speed in the market with everyone looking for power. Zigging while everyone else is zagging. It would really come in handy too if they ever bring in the rule that would allow you to take off for first on any wild pitch/passed ball. 

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

This is about the time Drungo would chime in that the 1887 St. Louis Browns stole 581 bases in one season.   But I’ll do it for him.  

More recently, the 1976 Oakland A’s stole 341 bases.  When I read that, my mind went immediately to Rickey Henderson, but he hadn’t started playing yet.   That team had three players who stole 50+ bases: Bill North (75), Bert Campaneris (54) and Don Baylor (52), acquired from the Orioles that year.  They also had three other players who stole 30+ and another two who stole 20.    Several of those guys weren’t burners, either.   

The 1985 Cardinals were the team that came immediately to mind for me, but they “only” stole 314 bases, 110 by Vince Coleman.   
 

Speaking of Baylor, he was an absolute freak of an athlete.  He and Bobby Grich came up together in the O's organization and put up absurd numbers before getting the call to Baltimore in 1970.  Too bad both put up their biggest power number with the Angels in the steroid era.  I think Baylor's power was already established before then, and he finished his career is 338 homers, 285 steals, and an amazing 267 HBP's.  Check out the 1979 stats for Baylor and Grich - amazing numbers.    

[sevastras]

15 minutes ago, vab said:

It would be sound strategy to move the fences out at Camden Yards to take full advantage of this speed and exploit the devaluation of speed in the market with everyone looking for power. Zigging while everyone else is zagging. It would really come in handy too if they ever bring in the rule that would allow you to take off for first on any wild pitch/passed ball. 

Move the fences back 20 feet in the off season and have a fast lineup, plus the pitching would vastly improve and the outfielders have blazing speed.  That would be fun to watch.  It’s not like they would miss the lost seats. 

[jamalshw]

High contact, low power guys and speed are currently undervalued assets in the game. It would be interesting to see those pursued and see what happens though as others have pointed out, the Orioles park isn't the best for that strategy. 

Still, I'd love to see a speedy lineup every day with some steals and excitement on the base paths. It would at least provide some excitement in the inevitable losses. 

[Ruzious]

6 minutes ago, sevastras said:

Move the fences back 20 feet in the off season and have a fast lineup, plus the pitching would vastly improve and the outfielders have blazing speed.  That would be fun to watch.  It’s not like they would miss the lost seats. 

Interesting.  We need creative thinking to compete with bigger markets, and that's a good one.  

[Yossarian]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

This is about the time Drungo would chime in that the 1887 St. Louis Browns stole 581 bases in one season.   But I’ll do it for him.  

More recently, the 1976 Oakland A’s stole 341 bases.  When I read that, my mind went immediately to Rickey Henderson, but he hadn’t started playing yet.   That team had three players who stole 50+ bases: Bill North (75), Bert Campaneris (54) and Don Baylor (52), acquired from the Orioles that year.  They also had three other players who stole 30+ and another two who stole 20.    Several of those guys weren’t burners, either.   

The 1985 Cardinals were the team that came immediately to mind for me, but they “only” stole 314 bases, 110 by Vince Coleman.   
 

The '85 Cardinals stole 314 bases as a team.  They had a quick lineup.  Vince Coleman stole 110. Willie McGee 56, Andy Van Slyke 34, Tommy Herr and Ozzie Smith each had 31.  I remember that team being a bunch of rabbits and Jack Clark.  But when I look at the stats, Clark only had 22 home runs that year - which was the team lead.  They still managed to win 101 games that year.