30/30 Stuff

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:39 am

Next time you see a projection for 30-30 or draft a player and think he has a chance at 30-30, remember this...

11 current players have gone 30/30

Nobody did it last year

Only three players have done it over the last three years. Two of them are now, big question marks. Hanley Ramirez, Grady Sizemore, and Ian Kinsler.

34 players have done it in baseball history. Ken Williams was the first in 1922. Playing for the St. Louis Browns, he hit 39 homers and stole 37 bases.

The stolen base was not a well publicized stat. There was/is a notation at the bottom of the box score. That's it. It just wasn't a big deal. Ty Cobb's 96 steals in a year was a record that only baseball nerds knew. When Maury Wills broke the 100 stolen base barrier in 1962, the stolen base was noticed again, but only for a short time. Brock, Henderson, the go-go eighties, and small ball all brought the stolen base back into the picture. But, would fade. It wasn't until fantasy baseball was devised that fans really took notice of the stolen base. Now, thanks to fantasy, the fan thinks that the stolen base is more integral to the sport than real baseball Managers. Go figure.

Sorry, went off course there a little with the stolen base thing. Anyway, Kenny Williams was not ballyhooed, his achievment was hardly mentioned amonst baseball fans or even purists.

It wasn't done again till 34 years later in 1956, when Willie Mays did it two years in a row.

Bobby Bonds did it FIVE times, but never received much attention for it. Later, his son, Barry, would do it five times as well.

When the feat became a little more common in the eighties, there was some talk of it, but it wasn't until Jose Canseco's 1988 run at the 40/40 club that these dual feats would be pushed to the front burner.

Canseco, ARod, Barry Bonds, and Alfonzo Soriano are the only ones to have conquered 40/40

Despite having the advantage of being the only players on the field till Jackie Robinson arrived, only 10 anglo saxon players have gone 30/30

Think about it, see how many you can name. I'll have the answers at the bottom of the post.

With all the money advantage and great teams, the New York Yankees have only had one 30/30 guy, Soriano.

The Red Sox have had ZERO.

Teammates have done it twice-

Howard Johnson and Daryl Strawberry on the '87 Mets

Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks on the '96 Rockies

In 2002, Vladimir Guerrero had 39 homers and 40 stolen bases.

Although Bobby Bonds accomplished the feat five times, he never hit 40 home runs. He also had one year with 29 homers and 37 stolen bases.

I t has only been done in the American League by 11 1/2 ( explained in next item) players.

Carlos Beltran did it while playing with two clubs in the same year, the Royals and Astros

There have been 55 30/30's recorded by 34 players. Before agents, steroids, and fantasy baseball that all started with the eighties, it was only done 10 times by five different players

Kenny Williams

Willie Mays

Hank Aaron

Tommy Harper

Bobby Bonds

Ten Anglo Saxon players who have accomplished 30/30?

Ken Williams

Dale Murphy

Howard Johnson

Dante Bichette

Larry Walker

Jeff Bagwell

Shawn Green

David Wright

Ian Kinsler

Grady Sizemore

One more trivia question since you made it to the bottom of the post-

Who set the record for getting caught stealing in a single year?

Hint- He never achieved 30/30

The Mighty Men · Post by **The Mighty Men** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:20 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Ten Anglo Saxon players who have accomplished 30/30?

Ken Williams

Dale Murphy

Howard Johnson

Dante Bichette

Larry Walker

Jeff Bagwell

Shawn Green

David Wright

Ian Kinsler

Grady Sizemore

Wow! I didn't even know there were 10 guys from England who played baseball! Somebody really should scout more on the island!

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:43 am

This is what I get for trying to be pc!

Hey buddy, can you spare a Maya?

Navel Lint · Post by **Navel Lint** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:45 am

Originally posted by The Mighty Men:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Ten Anglo Saxon players who have accomplished 30/30?

Ken Williams

Dale Murphy

Howard Johnson

Dante Bichette

Larry Walker

Jeff Bagwell

Shawn Green

David Wright

Ian Kinsler

Grady Sizemore

Wow! I didn't even know there were 10 guys from England who played baseball! Somebody really should scout more on the island! [/QUOTE]

There aren't, Larry Walker is from Canada

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:48 am

Is 'Bagpipes' considered Scottish?

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:49 am

Anybody named Ian has to be English, right?

Navel Lint · Post by **Navel Lint** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:51 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Who set the record for getting caught stealing in a single year?

Hint- He never achieved 30/30 But he came close twice. And last year only 6 TEAMS had as many attempts as he had the year he set this record.

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:58 am

And safe to say, that he may be the only player ever to be in the 10/130 club

To heck with 30/30, give me a 10/130 to go, please

Atlas · Post by **Atlas** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:57 am

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

And safe to say, that he may be the only player ever to be in the 10/130 club

To heck with 30/30, give me a 10/130 to go, please Willie Mays Hayes?

bjoak · Post by **bjoak** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:59 am

Where do you find this stuff?

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:05 am

He only had one 30/30 season, but Eric Davis was the hottest fantasy baseball property when I started playing. His per 162 game numbers in 1986 and 1987:

553 AB

135 Runs

40 HR

107 RBI

81 SB

Total domination, but he only played in 261 games those two years. In fact, the most games in a season he would ever play was 135 in 1988 -- and it was pretty much all downhill from there.

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:25 pm

Just to piggyback-

Miller Huggins, still holds the National League record for most times caught stealing, 36. Yes, the same Miller Huggins who managed Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig most of their careers.

Huggins walked a league leading 105 times that year. His walks were not drawn in fear from the pitcher. Rather, his five foot, six inch frame was impish, even in those times.

Although he still holds the record, the rcord itself is sketchy. Back then, dancing off first base and getting picked off could result in a caught stealing by the official scorekeeper.

But, it 's a good piece of trivia to know in a bar, just the same.

DiamondKing · Post by **DiamondKing** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:31 pm

I don't know about dancing.But,still today "any movement toward the next base"is a caught stealing.So one step toward second.Dive back to first.Caught stealing.

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:07 pm

True, and I should have been more explicit.

Back then it didn't matter which way a player danced or stepped. There were no 'pickoff' stats. For a time, before and after the turn of the century, a player hitting a single and was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double was also credited with a caught stealing.

Murky then, for sure.