Up on the blog this fine day, my 1979 "expanded league-leader" card featuring the top three stolen base thieves in the American League for 1978:
We begin with the Detroit Tigers All-Star
outfielder Ron LeFlore, who would lead the league with his 68 stolen
bases in what was his third straight All-Star caliber year.
LeFlore,
who made it all the way to the Big Leagues after spending time in
prison, led the A.L. with 126 runs scored, while just missing out on his
second straight 200-hit campaign, with 198, and a .297 batting average.
Two
years later he would lead the National league in thefts, with 97 as a
member of the Montreal Expos, on his way to 455 lifetime steals in just
nine seasons.
He'd finish his career with a .288 average, with
731 runs scored while garnering some MVP votes in four of his nine
years under the Big League sun.
In second place with 59 stolen
bases, Seattle Mariners second baseman Julio Cruz, who had himself a
fine first full year in the Majors.
Cruz would go on to play 10 years in the Big Leagues,
stealing 343 bases, with the 59 from 1978 his career-best, also stealing
57 in 1983 split between the Mariners and White Sox.
In third
place with 52 steals, Texas Rangers second baseman Bump Wills, son of a
man who knew a thing or two about stealing bases, Maury Wills.
Bump
had a solid Sophomore year after finishing third in Rookie of the Year
consideration in 1977, following up a .287 average with a .250 number in
1978.
He scored 78 runs to go with those 52 steals, driving
in 57 with 30 extra base hits, going on to score 90 and a career-best
102 runs the following two years.
After a solid year with the
Chicago Cubs in 1982 that saw him hit .272 with 35 steals at the age of
29, Wills went over to Japan where he played for two years as a member
of the Hankyu Braves, retiring for good as a Pro after the 1984 season,
still only 31.
