Baseball Roundtable Trivia Teaser
Who holds the professional baseball record for the most stolen bases in a single season?
While not a multiple choice question, this query does have multiple acceptable answers – at least in Baseball Roundtable’s view.
If you are going with Major League Baseball post-1900, you would be looking at MLB’s all-time best lead-off hitter – Rickey Henderson – who swiped 130 bases for the Oakland A’s in 1982,
If you would prefer MLB all-time, we are talking about Hugh Nicol, credited with 138 steals for the 1887 American Association (considered a major league) Cincinnati Red Stockings. (At that time, stolen bases were credited on a different standard. A player, for example, was awarded a steal for taking an extra base on a teammate’s hit – say, for going from first to third on a single.)
Side note: Researching this post, I did come across a couple of references to a 140-stolen base season by Tommy McCarthy (St. Louis Browns, American Associating, 1890). However, Baseball-Refeence.com; Baseball-Almanac.com and the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia all credit McCarthy with a league-leading 83 steals that campaign.
If you want to include the minor leagues, Reds’ CF Billy Hamilton (who recently signed with the Royals as a free agent) is your guy. In 2012, Hamilton played in 132 games at High A (Bakersfield Blaze) and Double A (Pensacola Blue Wahoos), pilfering a combined, minor-league record 155 bags.
The answer BBRT is looking for. However, put all of the above to shame. In 1946, Sophie Kurys of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League’s (AAGPBL) Racine Belles stole an all-time professional record of 201 bases (in 113 games) – and she was thrown out only twice. (By comparison, in his 130-steal season, Rickey Henderson was gunned down 42 times.)
Let’s take a look at the players who make up this quartet of acceptable answers, starting with Kurys.
Sophie Kurys … 1946 Racine Bells … 201 Stolen Bases
At just 5’ 5”, 120-pounds, the biggest thing about the Racine Belle’s second baseman was her daring heart. An all-around great player (four-time AAGPBL All Star), Kurys was at her best when she was on the base paths – stealing 1,114 bases in 914 games. Kurys, who earned the nicknames the Flint Flash (she hailed form Flint, Michigan) and Tina Cobb (after the Tigers’ great base stealer), stole 115 or more bases in seven straight seasons – and she did it in a skirt (no sliding pads) on infields that were often as rougher than sandpaper.
Kurys, who signed with the AAGPBL in 1943, was a superb athlete. As a teenager, she was a leading competitor in track, basketball, softball and volleyball. After a successful tryout, she further proved her athletic skills and competitive heart with the AAGPBL Racine Belles.
Kurys holds the AAGPBL single season records for runs scored (117); walks (93); and, of course, steals (201). She also holds the AAGPBL career records for runs scored (688) and stolen bases (1,114). She was a All Star each season from 1946 through 1949 and the AAGPBL Player of the Year in 1946. Kurys led the league in stolen bases seven times, runs scored six times and home runs once.
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Billy Hamilton … 2012 Bakersfield Blaze and Pensacola Blue Wahoos … 155 Stolen Bases
Photo by Keith Allison 
The minor league stolen base record belongs to Billy Hamilton, who swiped 155 bases in 1955, while playing in the Reds’ farm system. Hamilton signed with the Reds in 2009, after being selected in the second round of the June MLB Draft. Like the other players that share portions of the professional stolen base record (at least for the purposes of this post), Hamilton was an all-around athlete – a high school all-stater (Mississippi) in baseball, basketball and football.
In his first two minor league campaigns, the 6’, 180-pound switch hitter stole 62 bases in 112 games (caught just 12 times) for the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Reds and Pioneer League Billings Mustangs. In 2001, the then 20-year-old turned on the afterburners with the Class A Dayton Dragons, hitting .278 and swiping 103 bases in 123 attempts. Then came 2012, when he took the field for 132 games (at High A and double A), hitting a combined .311, with 155 steals 192 attempts.
Hamilton spent most of 2013 in the minors, swiping another 75 bases – this time for the Triple A Louisville Bats (.256 average in 123 games). He made his MLB debut on September 3 of that season. In his first MLB starting assignment – September 18, 2013, Hamilton (playing CF and batting ninth against the AL Astros) went three-for-four, with two walks, two runs scored, one RBI and four stolen bases. Over the past five MLB campaigns (all with the Reds), Hamilton has averaged .244 and stolen 264 bases – topping 50 four times.
Pretty Appropriate “Namesake”
Before today’s fleet-footed Billy Hamilton, MLB featured “Sliding Billy” Hamilton – who made his MLB debut in 1888 with the American Association Kansas City Cowboys. Hamilton played 11 MLB seasons, during which he topped 100 steals four times (and led his league in steals five times), with a high of 111 (1889 American Association Kansas City Cowboys and 1891 Philadelphia Phillies). Hamilton collected 2,164 MLB hits (.344 average) and stole 914 bases – MLB’s third-most all time. Pretty good (and fast) footsteps for today’s Billy Hamilton to follow in.
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Hugh Nicol … 1887 American Association Cincinnati Red Stockings … 138 Stolen Bases
Photo: Library of Congress
Cincinnati Red Stockings’ outfielder Hugh Nicol was “slight” even by 1880’s standards – standing just 5’4’ and weighing at 145 pounds. While, he wasn’t exactly a potent offensive force with the bat (.235 average over a ten-season MLB career), he could do some damage on the base paths – being credited with an American Association high 138 stolen bases in 1887. (Keep in mind that, at the time, stolen bases were award when a runner took an extra base on a batter’s hit – like moving from first to third on a single.) It was the only season Nicol led his league in steals, although he did top 100 thefts in 1888 and reached 80 in 1889.
In ten LB seasons (1881-90), Nicol played in 88 games, hitting .235 (813 hits), scoring 631 runs and driving in 272. He is credited with 383 stolen bases, but five of his MLB seasons came before stolen base were recorded.
Hugh Nicol was – again like all the players in this post – an all-around gifted athlete; particularly skilled in gymnastics and wrestling. Nicol, in fact, was known to supplement his baseball income as a gymnastics instructor. Nicol put his acrobatic skills to use in the outfield – earning a reputation for his range and dexterity. He twice led his league in outfield assists (also finishing second twice), twice finished second in outfield fielding percentage and twice finished in the top four in outfield putouts and double plays.
Hugh Nicol, in 1906, was selected as the first Athletic Director at Purdue University.
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Rickey Henderson … 1982 Oakland A’s … 130 Stolen Bases
Photo by Gary Soup
What can you say about Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson (off and running in the photo to the left), who swiped an MLB-record 130 bases for the A’s in 1982? What a year that was, as the 5’10/180-pound outfielder hit .267 (149 games), scored 119 runs, hit ten homers, drove in 51 runs and stole a 130 bags in 172 attempts.
It’s getting repetitive, but these all-time base stealers were all all-around athletes. In high school, Henderson starred in baseball, football and basketball. Henderson was, in fact, a high school All-American in football.
Born to be Wild
There can be no double that Henderson ran wild on the base paths. He led his league in stolen bases 12 times – and in caught stealing five times.
Henderson was selected by the A’s right out of high school, in the fourth round of the 1976 MLB Draft. And, he was going full speed right out of the gate. As a 17-year-old with the Low-A (Northwest League) Boise A’s, Henderson hit .336 and stole 29 bases in 46 games. That performance was just the first step in his “fast’ track to the major leagues. Henderson moved up to Class A Modesto in 1977 and hit .345, with 95 steals and 120 runs scored in 134 games; while also popping 11 home runs.
Let’ Get this Party Started
On May 26, 1977, Rickey Henderson stole seven bases in a single game, as his Modesto A’s topped the Fresno Giants 13-12 in a California League contest.
To make a long story short, in 3 ½ minor league seasons, Henderson hit .325 and stole 249 bases in 384 games. On June 24, 1979, the 20-year-old Henderson made his MLB debut and the rest – as they say – is history. In a 25-year MLB career, Henderson (who played for nine teams) was a ten-time All Star and the 1980 American League Most Valuable Player. He led his league in stolen bases 12 times, runs scored five times, walks four times and base hits once. He holds the MLB records for career stolen bases (1,406), run scored (2,295) and lead-off home runs (81). Henderson stole 100 or more bases three times (50 or more 14 times); scored 100 or more runs in a season 13 times; drew 100 or more walks seven times; and hit 20 more more home runs in four seasons.
Talk About Longevity
Rickey Henderson captured his first stolen base crown in 1980 (100 steals) at the age of 21. He won his final stolen base crown in 1998, at the age of 39 (when he swiped 66 bases in 79 attempts).
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; AAGPBL.org; Society for American Baseball Research; The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia.
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