More Evidence That Ricky Be The Greatest

Posted by sadcox

August 22, 2007

The WSJ Numbers Guy, Carl Bialik, talks about the impressive numbers that Jose Reyes is putting up this year in stolen bases and the growing success of stealing in general.

It’s no surprise that Jose Reyes has stolen 63 bases and been caught stealing just 15 times, for a success rate of 80.8% — Reyes is leading all of baseball in steals.

That is impressive, and I’m not taking anything away from Reyes. But think about this…Ricky Henderson had the same success rate as Reyes, 80.8%, over a 25 year career! Additionally, while Reyes is leading the majors this year with 63 SBs, Ricky stole 130 bases in 1982!

Ricky also holds the records for most career steals (1,406), most runs scored (2,295), most postseason stolen bases (33) and several other records.

Ricky would probably still hold the record for career walks if not for Barry’s help from “the cream” and “the clear“. Ricky earned his walks by working the pitch count, and still holds the record for unintentional walks (2129).

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–Ricky is the greatest. If you don’t believe me, ask him.