NL Stolen Base Leaders Online Quiz | MLB Records

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Great base stealers can wreck havoc on the basepaths and a pitcher's psyche. Which of the following teams didn't have more then one player from their team win the National League stolen base crown between the 1960s and 1980s?

Answer: Houston Astros

The ways in which a base runner, especially a fast one who is known to steal bases, effects a pitcher are many. The most apparent is the pitcher will change his pitching position from a wind-pp, to a set or stretch position. Any base runner will cause the pitcher to change his pitching position, but the known base stealers cause the pitcher to focus on them as well as the batter.

Other things a good base stealer can cause a pitcher to do is throw the ball to first base to keep him from getting a big lead off the base.

When throwing over to hold a runner, such things as a balk or wild throw past the infielder, usually the first baseman, can occur. Balks give the base runner and any other runners on base, a free base. Wild throws past the infielder holding the runner on, usually leads to at least one free base for the runners on base, and sometimes two bases.

2. Between the 1960s and 1980s, 10 different players won the National League stolen base crown. Nine of these men played for only four different teams. That 10th player was Bobby Tolan, who won the crown in 1970. What team did he play for when he won the National League stolen base crown?

Answer: Cincinnati Reds

Bobby Tolan's career spanned from 1965-1979, he did not play in the Major Leagues in 1971 and 1978. He compiled 193 stolen bases in his career. As well as winning the National League stolen base crown in 1970, Bobby batted .316, got 186 hits and scored 112 runs.
1886 is the first year noted as having a stolen base leader, it was Ed Andrews with 56 stolen bases. The next year John Ward of New York was the first to go over the century mark in stolen bases with 111.

3. From 1960-1965, the stolen base category in the National League was dominated by Maury Wills. During his dominance he became the first player to steal more then 100 bases since 1891. Which team had the benefit of his fleet feet?

Answer: Los Angeles Dodgers

Maury finished his career with 589 stolen bases. In 1962, he led the National League with 104 stolen bases. He hit .299 that year with 208 hits and he scored an impressive 130 runs.
1890 and 1891 saw Billy Hamilton eclipse the 100 stolen bases in a season mark, which wasn't reached again until Maury Wills did it in 1962.

4. Lou Brock won eight of the nine stolen base crowns between 1966 and 1974. Lou recorded a then-record breaking 118 stolen bases in 1974. Which team did he scorch the base paths for?

Answer: St. Louis Cardinals

When Lou finished his career he had 938 stolen bases, and as the all-time season leader. His best base stealing season was 1974, but his best offensive year was in 1971, when he won the National League stolen base crown with 64. In 1971, he hit .313, had 200 hits, 37 doubles, 61 RBIs, and 126 runs scored.

5. This player won the National League stolen base crowns in 1975 and 1976. He never achieved the 100 stolen base mark, winning with 77 and then 63 stolen bases. Who was this second baseman Los Angeles Dodger to win the crowns?

Answer: Davey Lopes

Davey finished his career with 557 stolen bases. Davey played in four World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, in 1974, 1977. 1978, and 1981. In 23 World Series games he recorded 10 stolen bases. In the 1978 World Series, he hit three home runs, which is a lot for a player who only hit more then 20 home runs in an entire season once in his career.

6. Between 1977-1979, Frank Taveras and Omar Moreno played for the same team and won the National League stolen base crown. Taveras won the stolen base crown in 1977, and Moreno captured the title in 1978 and 1979. Which team did they play for?

Answer: Pittsburgh Pirates

Omar Moreno finished his career with 487 stolen bases. Frank Taveras had 300 stolen bases in his career. The Pirates won the World Series in 1979 and Moreno was part of that winning team. Taveras had been traded to the Mets early on in the 1979 season though, and only saw postseason action in the League Championship Series in 1974 and 1975 with the Pirates, never making it to a World Series.

7. In the 1980s and 1990s, one team had three players win a stolen base crown. They won the crown seven times in this span. Ron Leflore was the first member of this team to win the crown with 97 stolen bases. Which team did he claim ownership of the base paths for?

Answer: Montreal Expos

Ron completed his career with 455 stolen bases. Ron had previously won the American League stolen base crown in 1978 while playing with the Detroit Tigers. Ron was the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to have won a stolen base crown in both the American and National Leagues.
During this span that saw three member of the Expos win the National League stolen base crown, Rickey Henderson was over in the American League winning the stolen base title 11 of the 12 seasons from 1980-1991, including a Major League record 130 stolen bases in 1982.

8. This player was the National League stolen base champion from 1981 to 1984, and played for the same team as Ron Leflore who won the title in 1980. Who was this prolific base stealer nicknamed, "Rock"?

Answer: Tim Raines

Tim totaled 808 stolen bases during his career. Tim compiled over 800 of his stolen bases from 1979-1998 with the Expos, White Sox, and Yankees. In 1999 with the A's he had 4 stolen bases, he didn't play in 2000, and he returned to the Expos in 2001 and recorded one stolen base.

In 2000, he played for the Orioles, and in 2003 for the Marlins, but had no stolen bases during those two seasons.

9. Vince Coleman was the third National League modern day player to crack the 100 stolen bases in a season-mark. He did this an incredible three seasons in a row from 1985-1987. He held the crown for six seasons. Which team did he terrorize the base paths for?

Answer: St. Louis Cardinals

Vince finished with 752 career stolen bases. Vince is the only player to have ever recorded three 100-stolen base seasons in a row. Vince did not hit well in his only World Series appearance with the Cardinals in 1987, hitting only .143, with only four hits, while striking out 10 times in 28 at-bats.

He amazingly recorded six stolen bases from four hits and two walks and scored five runs.

10. Winning the crown in 1991 and 1992, this player became the third member of the same franchise to win the National League stolen base crown. Who was this player that would later catch the final out of the 1995 World Series, though not for the team he won the stolen base crown for?

Answer: Marquis Grissom

Marquis played for six teams from 1989-2005, and had 429 stolen bases in that time. His best offensive season happened the season after he was part of that World Series winning Atlanta Braves team. In 1996, he played in 158 games, hit .306, with 207 hits, 23 home runs, 10 triples, 32 doubles, 74 RBIs, 106 runs scored, and 28 stolen bases.

Source: Author BxBarracuda

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nightmare before going online.
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NL Stolen Base Leaders Trivia Quiz

In three decades beginning with the 1960s, the National League stolen base leaderboard was dominated by players from four teams in the 1960s to the 1980s. This quiz is about all those players and teams they played for.

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