This article lists records for

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s within

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). For individual players, leaders in stolen bases for a career, single season, and single game are provided, along with leaders in

stolen base percentage Stolen base percentage is a statistic used in baseball. A player's stolen base percentage (a.k.a. SB%) measures his rate of success in stealing bases. Because stolen bases tend to help a team less than times caught stealing hurt, a player needs to ...

for a single season and career. Team records for stolen bases in a single season are also provided. Stolen bases were not officially noted in a baseball game's summary until 1886, and it was not until 1888 that it officially earned a place in baseball's

box score A box score is a structured summary of the results from a sport competition. The box score lists the game score as well as individual and team achievements in the game. Among the sports in which box scores are common are baseball, basketball, f ...

. The modern rule for stolen bases was adopted in 1898. While some sources do not include stolen base records before 1898—because they are difficult to compare to the era after 1898—as the sourcing on the below list indicates, Major League Baseball continues to recognize them.

Individual records

Career stolen base leaders

Source: Entering the 2022 MLB season, only three active players have 300 or more career stolen bases:

Dee Strange-Gordon Devaris "Dee" Strange-Gordon (born April 22, 1988) is an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and center fielder who is currently a free agent. He has played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Mar ...

Elvis Andrus Elvis Augusto Andrus Torres (born August 26, 1988) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox. Ente ...

, and Billy Hamilton.

Career stolen bases leaders, top 10 by league

Single-season stolen base leaders (100 or more)

The pre-modern single-season mark for stolen bases is 138 by

Hugh Nicol Hugh N. Nicol (January 1, 1858 – June 27, 1921) was a Scottish born professional baseball player. An outfielder, Nicol played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Stockings, St. Louis Browns, Cincinnati Red Stockings, and Cincin ...

of the

Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867– ...

in 1887 . In the modern era,

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...

set a single-season mark of 96 stolen bases in 1915 that lasted until it was broken by

Maury Wills Maurice Morning Wills (October 2, 1932 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1959 through 1966 and the latter part of ...

with 104 in 1962. A new modern mark was set by

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis Ca ...

with 118 in 1974, and again by

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

with 130 in 1982. Henderson and Vince Coleman are the only players to record three 100-steal seasons in the modern era. Coleman is the only player to do it three seasons in a row, much less in the first three season of his career, as well as the only player to record 100 steals as a rookie. denotes a player's rookie season

Single-game stolen base leaders (5 or more)

Under the pre-modern rule,

George Gore George F. Gore (May 3, 1854 – September 16, 1933), nicknamed "Piano Legs", was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for 14 seasons, eight for the Chicago White Stockings, five for the New York Giants, one for the St. ...

stole 7 bases in a game in 1881, a mark that was tied by "Sliding Billy" Hamilton in 1894. In the modern era, Eddie Collins stole 6 bases in a game on two occasions, both in September 1912, a mark that stood alone for nearly eight decades before being tied by

Otis Nixon Otis Junior Nixon (born January 9, 1959) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1983), Cleveland Indians (1984–87), Montreal Expos (1988–90), Atlanta Brav ...

(1991), Eric Young (1996), and

Carl Crawford Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

(2009).

Consecutive stolen base leaders (35 or more)

Records for consecutive successful stolen base attempts are limited by the available data, as times caught stealing has been recorded officially only since 1920.

Max Carey Maximillian George Carnarius (January 11, 1890 – May 30, 1976), known as Max George Carey, was an American professional baseball center fielder and manager. Carey played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1910 through 1 ...

established a mark in 1922–23 of 36 consecutive stolen bases without being caught, which stood until it was broken by

Davey Lopes David Earle Lopes (; born May 3, 1945) is an American former second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted and threw right-handed. He played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Houston ...

with 38 consecutive steals in 1975.Steve Brener
Dave Lopes, New Champion of Major League Base Stealers
''

Baseball Digest ''Baseball Digest'' is a baseball magazine resource, published in Orlando, Florida by Grandstand Publishing, LLC. It is the longest-running baseball magazine in the United States. History and profile It was created by Herbert F. Simons, a spor ...

'', March 1976, p.58, accessed November 23, 2010. Lopes's record was broken by Vince Coleman with 50 consecutive stolen bases in 1988–89.

Multiple-season stolen base records

Three or more seasons with 70 stolen bases

Under pre-modern rules, "Sliding Billy" Hamilton amassed six separate seasons of 70-plus stolen bases over his career. In the modern era,

established a mark of three such seasons that stood (though tied by

and

Omar Moreno ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

) until it was broken by

Tim Raines Timothy Raines Sr. (born September 16, 1959), nicknamed "Rock",Raines received this nickname at an Expo rookie camp when he was seventeen, based on his physique. is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a left ...

in 1984. In 1986, Raines reached six seasons of 70-plus steals, all consecutive (a record), but

notched his seventh such season in 1989.

Ten or more seasons with 40 stolen bases

In 1924, Eddie Collins tied Billy Hamilton's pre-modern mark of ten seasons with 40-plus stolen bases. A year later,

also tied the record. The record was broken by

in 1974. Brock eventually recorded a thirteenth 40-steal season, but was in turn surpassed by

in 1993. Henderson eventually stole 40 bases in sixteen separate seasons.

Eight or more consecutive seasons with 40 stolen bases

Fifteen or more seasons with 20 stolen bases

League-leader stolen base records

League leader in stolen bases, 5 or more seasons

League leader in stolen bases, 4 or more consecutive seasons

League leader in stolen bases, two leagues

League leader in stolen bases, three different teams

Stolen base percentage leaders

Career leaders (80% or more, 400+ attempts)

Those marked in bold have at least 600 career stolen base attempts. Of those,

Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, ...

(in 1984) was the first to retire with a career stolen base percentage of at least 80%. His mark was successively surpassed by

(retired 1987), Willie Wilson (retired 1994), and

(retired 2002).

Single-season leaders (95% or more, 30+ steals)

Note: includes all statistics from both leagues for players traded during a season.

Team records

Tables in this section indicate which MLB-recognized league each team played in.

Most stolen bases by a team in one season, by league

While not recognized as a major league by MLB, the National Association (NA) operated from 1871 through 1875, with the 1873 Boston Red Stockings amassing the most stolen bases in a single season, 145.

Most stolen bases by a team in one season (450 or more)

Records in this category are dominated by teams of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, which operated from 1882 to 1891, and whose records are recognized by Major League Baseball. In particular, the top four entries in the below table are from the league's 1887 season, when every team in league had at least 305 stolen bases and the league ''average'' was 458 (each team played between 133 and 141 games). Source:

Most stolen bases by a team in one season, 1901–present (300 or more)

The below table is restricted to teams that have competed since , the first season of play for the American League. Source:

Fewest stolen bases by a team in one season (less than 20)

Note: this table excludes teams from the shortened season. Source:

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stolen Base Major League Baseball records Major League Baseball lists