Decade stolen bases ranked by spot in the batting order (AL & NL)

[MyDogSparty]

Is there a way to get a rank of what spots in the batting order had the most stolen bases?

For example
in the AL for the 1970s: 1, 2, 9, 7, 8, 3, 6, 5, 4
in the NL for the 1970s: 1, 2, 7, 8, 3, 6, 5, 4, 9

Or if not by decade then a cumulative over the history of the game? or from the 1950 to current?

[Second Base Coach]

Just guessing, but I bet your example is pretty close...

[ipitch]

For the past 3 seasons, the top 4 spots have been 1, 2, 3, 6.

Here is a starting point. If you want to do it by decade, you'll have to get your calculator out and add up each season.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=MLB&year=2011#lineu

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=MLB&year=2010#lineu

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=MLB&year=2009#lineu

Links to AL or NL only are at the top of the pages.

[JDanger]

I ran it through my retrosheet database and posted my results from 1950-2010 HERE. The table includes post-season data except for the 2010 season, which I deliberately left out in order to cross-check my results with B-Ref.

[MyDogSparty]

I ran it through my retrosheet database and posted my results from 1950-2010 HERE. The table includes post-season data except for the 2010 season, which I deliberately left out in order to cross-check my results with B-Ref.

Wow, thanks. That's pretty interesting data. I'm rather surprised by the amount of SBs in the middle of the order vs. the end of the order. I know the middle get's more PA & AB than the end of the order but I figured that there was more speed at the end of the order. Maybe the middle of the order is the beneficiary of being on the backend of a lot of double-steals?

[JDanger]

Yeah, you can see how managers choose to arrange their batting orders, as the cleanup slot is nearly always a significant drop off from the 1,2,3 slots. Except in the '80s-- everybody ran in the '80s.

An SB/PA rate stat would definitely help to clarify things; if I get time tonight I'll give it a run.

[JDanger]

OK, here is the same chart with SB/PA added. Its a google doc, so you can play around with the sort. For instance, the highest SB/PA of this group is the 1980's NL lead-off hitters (9.83%). The lowest is 1950's NL Pitchers (.26%).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiJWR6a0B5vndGF6UV9iRlFZdVhSYXQ4a2hsOVU0VlE

[MyDogSparty]

OK, here is the same chart with SB/PA added. Its a google doc, so you can play around with the sort. For instance, the highest SB/PA of this group is the 1980's NL lead-off hitters (9.83%). The lowest is 1950's NL Pitchers (.26%).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...XQ4a2hsOVU0VlE

Adding the PAs was helpful. I threw it into Microsoft Excel and applied some conditional formatting to it too. Clearly the DH makes a difference. The AL utilizes more speed at the bottom of the order. That's not a real surprise but it's fun to see.

I guess what surprised me was that the NL doesn't seem to use much speed in the 8 spot. Their players have to be just as fast as the AL yet but they must rely on the old strategy of the pitchers sacrificing runners over.

EDIT: Thanks again!

[BiZmaRK]

Is there a way to get a rank of what spots in the batting order had the most stolen bases?

For example
in the AL for the 1970s: 1, 2, 9, 7, 8, 3, 6, 5, 4
in the NL for the 1970s: 1, 2, 7, 8, 3, 6, 5, 4, 9

Or if not by decade then a cumulative over the history of the game? or from the 1950 to current?

Has anyone compiled lists of stolen base leaders for decades which didn't start with a year ending in a 0? Such as 1964-1973 or 1988-1997?

[JDanger]

I could run that for you if you gave me which specific decades you wanted.

[BiZmaRK]

I could run that for you if you gave me which specific decades you wanted.

Why not just run all decades and not just the decades which start with a year ending in 0?