MLB: The Top 15 Major League Baseball Base Stealers of All-Time
Had Tim Raines not played a combined 21 games during the 1979 and 1980 seasons, he would have been credited with 801 steals across 21 years in the big leagues, which would have been an average of 38.14 per campaign. That would have pushed Raines to eighth in the category, an improvement of four points in our standings, for a total of 12 points (prior to the addition of the 162-game metric). That would make him the second greatest base stealer in Major League history according to our earlier methods.
808 Career SB
35.13 SB Per Season
84.7% Success Rate
52 SB Per 162 Games
22 Points
Alas, Raines made his Major League debut with the Montreal Expos and played in six games for the club as a 19-year old in 1979 and saw action in 15 more in 1980 and stole seven bases during that time. He stole at least one base in every season until he was finally shut out as a 42-year old in 2002 with the Florida Marlins– his final Major League season. However, once we accounted for Raines’ 162-game average of 52, which ranked 6th, third on our list is his rightful place.
Of course, during his prime Raines could make a case as the best base stealer in Major League history. From 1981 to 1992, he stole 723 bases in 840 attempts – an average of 65.73 per season and an unbelievable success rate of 86.07%. As it stands, Raines’ 808 steals are third on our list and fifth in the Major League record books and at 84.7%, he is among the most efficient base stealers of all-time.
Next: Rickey Henderson