Billy Hamilton is a source of excitement for baseball purists who covet the stolen base as an instrumental part of the game. If they are ecstatic about Hamilton’s recent feat, they will also be exhilarated when they look at the leading hitters in the South Atlantic League.
Hamilton has made the stolen base fashionable again in baseball. A top prospect of the Cincinnati Reds who is currently at Double-A Pensacola, the 21-year-old Hamilton broke Vince Coleman’s single-season minor league record of 145 steals on Tuesday and now has 148 this year. In the low Single-A South Atlantic League, the stolen base is especially emphasized, perhaps representing a new breed of tablesetters.
Other highly regarded prospects who incorporate the running game into their mix of skills include:
- Augusta’s Shawn Payne (Giants), who has a .311 average, five home runs, 59 RBI and 49 stolen bases
- Greenville’s Garin Cecchini (Red Sox), who has 43 stolen bases to accompany a .304 average, four home runs and 55 RBI
- Augusta’s Jesus Galindo (Giants), who is only hitting .251 and has little power but has swiped 40 bags
- West Virginia’s Gregory Polanco (Pirates), who has 40 swipes to accompany a .328 average, 15 home runs and 81 RBI
Along with the stolen base, a stat these five prospects have in common is a high on-base percentage. This includes Galindo, who has a .330 OBP even though his batting average is .251.
There was a time, not so long ago in the modern era, when teams used the stolen base to generate runs. In the 1980s, Rickey Henderson and Coleman eclipsed 100 steals multiple times. Henderson swiped 130 in 1982, breaking Lou Brock’s single-season record. Coleman stole more than 100 bases from 1985-1987.
From 1985-1990, Coleman led the National League in steals, including 110 in 1985 and 77 in 1990.
From 1980-1991, Henderson led the American League in stolen bases in all but one season (1987, when Seattle’s Harold Reynolds topped the list with 60). In 1980, Henderson swiped 100 bases. By 1991, his league-leading total was down to 58.
Indicating how the stolen bases has not been emphasized as much in the last two decades, the most swipes in a season since over the last 20 years is 78, accomplished by Montreal’s Marquis Grissom in 1992 and then New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes in 2007.
Last season, Coco Crisp and Brett Gardner tied for the American League lead in stolen bases with 49, less than half of what Henderson and Coleman produced in their best years. Michael Bourn paced the National League in 2010 with 50.
Hamilton and DeShields are similar to Henderson and Coleman in that they steal bases in bunches. Some of the speedy prospects in the South Atlantic League are traditional base stealers who have little power and use their plus speed to get into scoring position.
Others – like Polanco, West Virginia’s Alen Hanson (a Pirates prospect with a .315 average, 16 home runs, 61 RBI and 32 stolen bases) and even DeShields (who had 10 home runs and 52 RBI before his call up) – are run producers who have the added element of speed.
Chances are, since the home run is still preferred by most organizations over the stolen base, there will not be a return to the ’80s style of baseball built on speed and especially popularized by the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. Yet, as prospects are showing in the South Atlantic League, the steal is making a comeback bid.
