Five years of 40-steal seasons

by Bill Chuck on December 7, 2012

With all the deals and all the talk about deals there seems to be one guy who continues to be ignored: Michael Bourn.

Bourn has a unique distinction in that he is the only player who has stolen at least 40 bases each of the last five seasons

Rk Yrs Age
1 Michael Bourn 5 25-29
2 Rajai Davis 3 28-31
3 B.J. Upton 3 23-25
4 Ichiro Suzuki 3 34-37
5 Brett Gardner 2 26-27
6 Chone Figgins 2 31-32
7 Carl Crawford 2 27-28
8 Jose Reyes 2 25-29
9 Juan Pierre 2 30-32
10 Jacoby Ellsbury 2 24-25
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/7/2012.

Here is the full list of players of players, aged 25-29, who stole 40+ bases for five consecutive years

Rk Yrs From To Age
1 Michael Bourn 5 2008 2012 25-29
2 Juan Pierre 5 2003 2007 25-29
3 Kenny Lofton 5 1992 1996 25-29
4 Rickey Henderson 5 1984 1988 25-29
5 Joe Morgan 5 1969 1973 25-29
6 Lou Brock 5 1964 1968 25-29
7 Eddie Collins 5 1912 1916 25-29
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/7/2012.

As players age, it is not unexpected that their steals decrease.

Here are the players, aged 30-34, who stole 40+ bases in each season

Rk Yrs From To Age
1 Rickey Henderson 5 1989 1993 30-34
2 Davey Lopes 5 1975 1979 30-34
3 Lou Brock 5 1969 1973 30-34
4 Honus Wagner 5 1904 1908 30-34
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/7/2012.

So, besides Bourn there were six players aged 25-29 who had 40+ steal seasons and two of them, Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock, continued to do it each of the next five seasons.

Of the remaining four:

The ball is in Scott Boras‘ court to see how well he sells Bourn’s skills.

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Tagged as: Michael Bourn, Scott Boras

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