Sliding Home - The Best Baserunner of All Time

Ty Cobb Stealing Third Base

Ty Cobb is known for getting on base. If you have any doubt about that check out our "Hit to Hit Comparison" between Ty Cobb and Miguel Cabrera. On this page you will see that Cobb still holds the highest career batting average in Major League Baseball history at .367. In "Ty Cobb The Idol of Baseball Fandom," Sverre Braathen boasts about Cobb's ability to strategically hit the baseball, which allowed him to reach this record. However, Cobb's batting is not the only reason he is seen as one of the best offensive weapons in baseball history. Ty Cobb is also considered to be one of the greatest baserunners of all time.

Braathen describes in detail how Ty Cobb was often able to turn singles into doubles against opposing teams. Cobb was able to do this by reading fielders. By seeing how a fielder was positioned, Cobb could determine if there was a throw coming to a base. This allowed him to look forward when running instead of back at the ball. Cobb also studied the sound of baseballs coming off of bats. Cobb used this sound to help determine how many extra bases he could potentially get off of a hit. 

Cobb never missed an opportunity to take an extra base and sometimes liked to use deception on the base paths. According to Braathen, Cobb was methodical in his base running. He would often fool teams into thinking he was not attempting to stretch out a hit by standing and dusting himself off at a base. When outfielders saw this and began acting complacent, Cobb would then turn and run for the next base.

Cobb's uncanny ability to read fielders also lead him to steal many bases. By the end of his career Cobb acquired 879 stolen bases. Cobb held the record for most career stolen bases until 1977. He currently ranks 4th all time. The current leader is Rickey Henderson with 1,406 stolen bases. Sverre Braathen recounts a time where Cobb stole second, third, and home in one at bat. In a separate instance Cobb stole home as a player was arguing a call. Ty Cobb currently holds the record for stealing home base the most times at 54 steals. Max Carey ranks second in this category with 33 steals.

When trying to determine who the best baserunner in Major League Baseball history is there are many factors to review. In 2009 Bleacher Report published a list of the top 10 base runners in baseball since 1954. Below is a comparison of the top three players who made the list, and Ty Cobb. There are some inconsistencies in the calculations due to the difference in how stats were kept during Ty Cobb's career versus how stats are kept now. However, comparing Ty Cobb's Runs Scored Percentage, Stolen Base Percentage, Extra Base Percentage, and Double/Triple Percentage to Bleacher Report's top 3 baserunners proves that Ty Cobb dominated the base paths during his career.

Is there anyone in today's Major League Baseball who can both hit and run the bases like Ty Cobb was able to?

Ichiro Suzuki makes for a great comparison.

Ichiro Suzuki currently plays for the Seattle Mariners and just completed his 18th year of Major League Baseball. Suzuki is currently second among active major league baseball players with the most steals with 509 stolen bases. This puts Ichiro in a tie for 35th for the most stolen bases all time. Suzuki is also third among active major league baseball players with the highest batting average at .311. This average puts Suzuki in 97th place all time.