Sunday, July 11, 2021

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 N.L. STOLEN BASES

Moving further along in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, today we have the 1972 National League stolen base leaders in the 1973 set, featuring two future Hall of Famers and a guy who seemed well on his way early in his career:

 
Starting off, of course we begin with the great Lou Brock, who once again paced the league in stolen bases, this time with 63.
It was the sixth of eight stolen base titles for the St. Louis Cardinals great, who would take the baseball world over two seasons later when he'd swipe a then record 118 bases at the age of 35.
Right behind him with 58 stolen bases was another Hall of Famer, Joe Morgan, who made a splash in his first season with the burgeoning "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds, leading the league with 122 runs scored and 115 walks, as well as a .417 on-base-percentage while helping the team make it all the way to the World Series before losing to the three-peat Oakland A's.
Coming in third with his own 55 stolen bases in 1972 is Houston Astros young stud Cesar Cedeno, who was still only 21 years of age when he led the league with 39 doubles, collecting 103 runs scored and 179 hits while batting a cool .320 with 22 homers and 82 runs batted in.
Really, when look at Cedeno's first eight seasons, ending in 1977 while still only 26 years of age, it seemed certain he was going to go on to do incredible things in Major League ball before injuries hampered his progress, though he did go on to play 17 years, through the 1986 campaign.
Nevertheless, there you have it, three elite players who paced the league in stolen bases and went on to put in wonderful Big League careers.
Up next, the American League's top base-stealers!