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Stolen Bases as Extra Bases Print E-mail
By Stanley Fleming

    When the lively ball era was launched in 1920 there were few players who displayed the combined ability of speed and power. If a player were to accumulate a lot of extra bases it would be with his bat and not his feet. Thus it was automatic that when we thought of extra bases it was in terms of doubles, triples and home runs.

    In recent years, however, there has been a vast increase in stolen bases, a trend climaxed by the 341 thefts of the Oakland A's in 1976.  And many of these steals are by players capable of hitting for extra bases, like Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, Bobby Bonds, Joe Morgan, and Cesar Cedeno.

    With this situation, why don't we bring ourselves to think more in terms of stolen bases as extra bases? When a player gets on first and then steals second, it is much like stretching a single into a double.  Why don't we, therefore, add stolen bases to extra bases from hits-three for a homer, two for a triple, one for a double, and one for a stolen base? That would seem to be a more appropriate measure of extra-base strength, particularly for some one like Joe Morgan in comparison with Willie Stargell, who seldom steals a base.

    The 1941 American League batting parade might serve as a good illustration. There was a close race in extra bases between Joe DiMaggio, who had a 56-game hitting streak, Ted Williams, who batted .406, and Jeff Heath, the only AL player in history to hit 20 or more doubles, triples, and homers in a season. This is how they wound up the season in extra bases:

                                                2B       3B       HR     SB       EB

     Jeff Heath, Clev.                32        20        24        18        162

     Joe DiMaggio,N.Y.            43        11        30        4          159

     Ted Williams, Bos.             33        3          37        2          152

    Note that Heath is the leader counting steals as extra bases, but he would have lost out to both DiMaggio and Williams if the compilation had been limited just to long hits.

    This does not mean that stolen bases affect the leadership that frequently. In fact, from 1920 to the 1950s it was pretty typical for the home run leader to dominate in extra bases. And why shouldn't he, with three extra bases to one for a steal? Johnny Mize led in 1938 and 1939 without stealing a base either season. And even when Lou Brock had 118 stolen bases in 1974, he did not lead in extra bases.  Of course, that year, he was particularly deficient in long hits. On the other hand, Cesar Cedeno, who was not a home run leader that year, led largely because of his 57 stolen bases. The same thing happened in the National League in 1976 when Joe Morgan led largely on the strength of his 60 thefts.

    Who had the most extra bases in a season? It was the man who had the most extra base hits, Babe Ruth, 1921. He also stole 17 bases that year, giving him a total of 270 extra bases. Lou Gehrig was next with 239 in  1927, including 10 stolen bases. Willie Mays had the highest NL total with 221 in 1955, thanks to 24 stolen bases. Chuck Klein, the only player of the lively ball era to lead his league in home runs and stolen bases the same season, had 214 in 1932.

    The players leading in extra bases each year in each league are listed below. Asterisks indicate leadership in the categories that contribute to extra bases.

Extra Base Leaders (American League)

YEAR

PLAYER

TEAM

2B

3B

HR

SB

EB

1901

Nap Lajoie (1)

Phil.

48*

13

14*

27

143

1902

Buck Freeman (1)

Bost.

37

20

11

15

125

1903

Buck Freeman (2)

Bost.

39

21

13*

4

124

1904

Nap Lajoie (2)

Cle.

50*

14

6

31

127

1905

Harry Davis (1)

Phil.

47*

6

8*

36

119

1906

Elmer Flick (1)

Cle.

33

22*

1

39*

119

1907

Ty Cobb(1)

Det.

29

15

5

49*

123

1908

Ty Cobb (2)

Det.

36*

20*

4

39

127

1909

Ty Cobb(3)

Det.

33

10

9

76*

156

1910

Ty Cobb(4)

Det.

36

13

8

65

151

1911

Ty Cobb(5)

Det.

47*

24*

8

83*

202

1912

Tris Speaker(1)

Bost.

53*

12

10

52

159

1913

Tns Speaker (2)

Bost.

35

22

3

46

134

1914

Tris Speaker (3)

Bost.

46*

18

4

42

136

1915

Ty Cobb(6)

Det.

31

13

3

96*

162

1916

Ty Cobb(7)

Det.

31

10

5

68*

134

1917

Ty Cobb(8)

Det.

44*

23*

7

55*

166

1918

George Sisler (1)

St.L.

21

9

2

45*

90

1919

Babe Ruth(1)

Bost.

34

12

29*

7

152

1920

Babe Ruth (2)

N.Y.

36

9

54*

14

230

1921

Babe Ruth (3)

N.Y.

44

16

59*

17

270

1922

Ken Williams (1)

St.L.

34

11

39*

37

210

1923

Babe Ruth (4)

N.Y.

45

13

41*

17

211

1924

Babe Ruth(S)

N.Y.

39

7

46*

9

200

1925

Bob Meusel(l)

N.Y.

34

12

33*

10

167

1926

Babe Ruth (6)

N.Y.

30

5

47*

11

192

1927

Lou Gehrig(1)

N.Y.

52*

18

47

10

239

1928

Babe Ruth (7)

N.Y.

29

8

54*

4

211

1929

Babe Ruth (8)

N.Y.

26

6

46*

5

181

1930

Lou Gehrig(2)

N.Y.

42

17

41

12

211

1931

Lou Gehrig(3)

N.Y.

31

15

46*

17

216

1932

Jimmie Foxx (1)

Phil.

33

9

58*

3

228

1933

Jimmie Foxx (2)

Phil.

37

9

48*

2

201

1934

Lou Gehrig (4)

N.Y.

40

6

49*

9

208

1935

Hank Greenberg (1)

Det.

46

16

36*

4

190

1936

Lou Gehrig(5)

N.Y.

37

7

49*

3

201

1937

Joe DiMaggio (1)

N.Y.

35

15

46*

3

206

1938

Hank Greenberg (2)

Det.

23

4

58*

7

212

1939

Hank Greenberg (3)

Det.

42

7

33

8

163

1940

Hank Greenberg (4)

Det.

50*

8

41*

6

195

1941

Jeff Heath (1)

Cle.

32

20*

24

18

162

1942

Ted Williams (1)

Bost.

34

5

36*

3

155

1943

Rudy York (1)

Det.

22

11

34*

5

151

1944

George Stirnweiss (1)

N.Y.

35

16*

8

55*

146

1945

George Stirnweiss (2)

N.Y.

32

22*

10

33*

139

1946

Hank Greenberg (5)

Det.

29

5

44*

5

176

1947

Ted Williams (2)

Bost.

40

9

32*

0

154

1948

Joe DiMaggio (2)

N.Y.

26

11

39*

1

166

1949

Ted Williams (3)

Bost.

39*

3

43*

1

175

1950

Joe DiMaggio (3)

N.Y.

33

10

32

0

149

1951

Gus Zemial (1)

Phil.-Chi.

30

5

33*

0

139

1952

Larry Doby (1)

Cle.

26

8

32*

5

143

1953

Al Rosen (1)

Cle.

27

5

43*

8

174

1954

Minnie Minoso (1)

Chi.

29

18*

19

18

140

1955

Mickey Mantle (1)

N.Y.

25

11*

37*

8

166

1956

Mickey Mantle (2)

N.Y.

22

5

52*

10

198

1957

Roy Sievers (1)

Wash.

23

5

42*

1

160

1958

Mickey Mantle (3)

N.Y.

21

1

42*

18

167

1959

Harmon Killebrew (1)

Wash.

20

2

42*

3

153

Rocky Colavito (1)

Cle.

24

0

42*

3

153

1960

Mickey Mantle (4)

N.Y.

17

6

40*

14

163

1961

Roger Mans (1)

N.Y.

16

4

61*

0

207

1962

Harmon Killebrew (2)

Min.

21

1

48*

1

168

1963

Dick Stuart (1)

Bost.

25

4

42

0

159

1964

Tony Oliva (1)

Min.

43*

9

32

12

169

1965

Zoilo Versalles (1)

Min.

45*

12*

19

27

153

1966

Frank Robinson (1)

Bal.

34

2

49*

8

193

1967

Carl Yastrzemskj (1)

Bost.

31

4

44*

10

181

1968

Frank Howard (1)

Wash.

28

3

44*

0

166

1969

Reggie Jackson (1)

Oak.

36

3

47

13

196

1970

Tommy Harper (I)

Mil.

35

4

31

38

174

1971

Reggie Jackson (2)

Oak.

29

3

32

16

147

1972

DickAllen(1)

Chi.

28

5

37*

19

168

1973

Reggie Jackson (3)

Oak.

28

2

32*

22

150

1974

Reggie Jackson (4)

Oak.

25

1

29

25

139

1975

Reggie Jackson (5)

Oak.

39

3

36*

17

170

1976

Reggie Jackson (6)

Balt.

27

2

27

28

140

Graig Nettles (1)

N.Y.

29

2

32*

11

140

Extra Base Leaders (National League)

YEAR

PLAYER

TEAM

2B

3B

HR

SB

EB

1901

Jimmy Sheckard (1)

Bkn.

31

19*

11

42

144

1902

Honus Wagner (1)

Pitt.

33*

16

3

43*

117

1903

Jimmy Sheckard (2)

Bkn.

29

9

9*

67*

141

1904

Honus Wagner (2)

Pitt.

44*

14

4

53

137

1905

Honus Wagner (3)

Pitt.

32

14

6

57

135

1906

Sherry Magee (1)

Phil.

36

8

6

55

125

1907

Honus Wagner (4)

Pitt.

38*

14

6

61*

145

1908

Honus Wagner (5)

Pitt.

39*

19*

10

53*

160

1909

Honus Wagner (6)

Pitt.

39*

10

5

35

109

1910

Sherry Magee (2)

Phil.

39

17

6

49

140

1911

Frank Schulte (1)

Chi.

30

21

21*

23

158

1912

OwenWilson(1)

Pitt.

19

36*

11

16

140

1913

Gavvy Cravath (1)

Phil.

34

14

19*

10

129

1914

Sherry Magee (3)

Phil.

39*

11

15

25

131

1915

Gavvy Cravath (2)

Phil.

31

7

24*

11

132

1916

MaxCarey(1)

Pitt.

23

11

7

63*

129

1917

George Bums (1)

N.Y.

25

13

5

40

106

1918

Max Carey (2)

Pitt.

14

6

3

58*

90

1919

George Bums (2)

Phil.

30

9

2

40*

94

1920

Rogers Hornsby (1)

St.L.

44*

20

9

12

123

1921

Rogers Hornsby (2)

St.L.

44*

18*

21

13

156

1922

Rogers Hornsby (3)

St.L.

46*

14

42*

17

217

1923

Cy Williams (1)

Phil.

22

3

41*

11

162

1924

Rogers Homsby (4)

St.L.

43*

14

25

5

151

1925

Kiki Cuyler (1)

Pitt.

43

26*

18

41

190

1926

Jim Bottomley (1)

St.L.

40*

14

19

4

129

1927

Hack Wilson (1)

Chi.

30

12

30*

13

157

1928

Jim Bottomley (2)

St.L.

42

20*

31*

10

185

1929

Chuck Klein (1)

Phil.

45

6

43*

5

191

1930

Hack Wilson (2)

Chi.

35

6

56*

3

218

1931

Chuck Klein (2)

Phil.

34

10

31*

7

154

1932

Chuck Klein (3)

Phil.

50

15

38*

20*

214

1933

Chuck Klein (4)

Phil.

44*

7

28*

15

157

1934

Rip Collins (1)

St.L.

40

12

35*

2

171

1935

Wally Berger(l)

Bost.

39

4

34*

3

152

1936

Joe Medwick (1)

St.L.

64*

13

18

3

147

1937

Joe Medwick (2)

St.L.

56*

10

31*

4

173

1938

Johnny Mize (I)

St.L.

34

16*

27

0

147

1939

Johnny Mize (2)

St.L.

44

14

28*

0

156

1940

Johnny Mize (3)

St.L.

31

13

43*

7

193

1941

Dolph Camilli (1)

Bkn.

29

6

34*

3

146

1942

Dolph Camilli (2)

Bkn.

23

7

26

10

125

1943

Bill Nicholson (1)

Chi.

30

9

29*

4

139

1944

Bill Nicholson (2)

Chi.

35

8

33*

3

153

1945

Tommy Holmes (I)

Bost.

47*

6

28*

15

158

1946

Stan Musial (1)

St.L.

50*

20*

16

7

145

1947

Johnny Mize (4)

N.Y.

0.3

2

51*

2

185

Ralph Kiner (1)

Pitt.

23

4

51*

1

185

1948

Stan Musial (2)

St.L.

46*

18*

39

7

206

1949

Ralph Kiner (2)

Pitt.

19

5

54*

6

197

1950

Ralph Kiner (3)

Pitt.

21

6

47*

2

176

1951

Ralph Kiner (4)

Pitt.

31

6

42*

2

171

1952

HankSauer(1)

Chi.

31

3

37*

1

149

1953

Eddie Mathews (1)

Mil.

31

8

47*

1

189

1954

Willie Mays(l)

N.Y.

33

13*

41

8

190

1955

Willie Mays (2)

N.Y.

18

13*

51*

24

221

1956

Willie Mays (3)

N.Y.

27

8

36

40*

191

1957

Willie Mays (4)

N.Y.

26

20*

35

38*

209

1958

Ernie Banks (1)

Chi.

23

11

47*

4

190

1959

Hank Aaron (1)

Mil.

46

7

39

8

185

1960

Hank Aaron (2)

Mil.

20

11

40

16

178

1961

Orlando Cepeda (1)

S.F.

28

4

46*

12

186

1962

Willie Mays (5)

S.F.

36

5

49*

18

211

1963

Hank Aaron (3)

Mil.

29

4

44*

31

200

1964

Willie Mays (6)

S.F.

21

9

47*

19

199

1965

Willie Mays (7)

S.F.

21

3

52*

9

192

1966

Hank Aaron (4)

Atl.

23

1

44*

21

178

1967

Hank Aaron (5)

Atl.

37

3

39*

17

177

1968

Hank Aaron (6)

Atl.

33

4

29

28

156

1969

Bobby Bonds (1)

S.F.

25

6

32

45

178

1970

Johnny Bench (1)

Cin.

35

4

45*

5

183

1971

Willie Stargell (1)

Pitt.

26

0

48*

0

170

Hank Aaron (7)

Atl.

23

3

47

1

170

1972

Cesar Cedeno (1)

Hou.

39*

8

22

55

166

1973

Bobby Bonds (2)

S.F.

38

4

39

43

202

1974

Cesar Cedeno (2)

Hou.

29

5

26

57

174

1975

Mike Schmidt (1)

Phil.

34

3

38*

29

183

1976

Joe Morgan (1)

Cin.

30

5

27

60

181