Slang Editorial :: Never Underestimate The Value Of A Holla'

Monday, September 14, 2009
Ichiro, Thievery, Etc.

Amidst all the Ichiro Suzuki hit talk, I just remembered how in 2006 the man stole 43 bases and was only caught stealing TWICE; and then, nearly as impressively, stole 45 last year with only 4 caught stealing.

The only other man that I can think of who has been so prolific yet also efficient is, curiously, Carlos Beltran (in 2003 and 2004 was he 41/4 and 42/3, plus a 31/1 in 2001), who at 88% success rate I think may be the most successful ever*** (weird, right?). Ichiro is "only" at 81.2% success rate (bogged down by a strange sophomore year of 31/15) but has been far more prolific of a thiever than Beltran and so I'm wont to give him the extra due. Sadly i cant figure out how to search this on baseball reference but I would guess that historically Ichiro is way up there (behind Tim Raines's 84% but an inch ahead of The Rickey's 80.7% and Vince Coleman's 80.9%)--but I'd love for someone to create some kind of "proficiency ratio" that pumped out a ratings number taking into account both efficiency and quantity (obviously getting more points for quantity). Does such a stat exist already? I'm probably overlooking it...

Anyhow, Ichiro, I salute you.

NOTES:

*** -- I will have to check to confirm this later, but I'm guessing that Carlos Beltran is probably a) the only player with 250+ steals who has never had a single season of double-digit caught stealings, and b) that he also has the highest "steals per season" of any player of this type as well. Again, it's awesome to be Rickey or Tim, but a lot of credit should go to a man who knows how to pick his spots better than any other (including, as i've said, Ichiro).

Labels: baseball, case studies, statistics

posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 9/14/2009 06:36:00 PM 0 comments

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