Birthdays this past week - Stolen Base Leaders

This week we'll focus on stolen bases. Since I had the notion that stolen bases were a relatively recent important offensive weapon, I had expected to see a lot of modern players. But there are more old timers than last week with some interesting old cards. We also have another Hall of Famer. As much as I wish I did, I don't own any of these old cards. Images are from Beckett.com.

January 16
1911 T205 Gold Border #39 Jimmy CollinsHall of Famer Jimmy Collins was born in 1870 in Buffalo NY. He played 13 of his 14-year career in Boston, either with the Beaneaters or the Americans. He had a career .294 batting average and stole 194 bases. He was elected to the HOF in 1945 by the Old Timers Committee.

January 17
1904 Fan Craze #3 Harry BayHarry was born in 1878, in Pontiac, IL. He played a total of 8 years but most of his playing time was in just 5 of those years. He had 169 stolen bases. He lead the American League in 1903 (45) and 1904 (38) in stolen bases. His nickname, appropriately enough, was Deer Foot.

January 18
1998 Fleer Tradition #191 Brady AndersonBrady was born in 1964 in Silver Spring MD. He played part of his first season with the Red Sox, and his last season with the Indians, but in between he played 14 years for the Orioles. He stole 315 bases, and is well out in front for players born this day. Curt Flood is a distant second with 88. I'm in the process of completing a trade (Orioles for Phillies) with "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog and this is one of the cards he'll be getting.

January 19
1909-11 T206 #1983 Chick GandilChick (born Arnold) was born in 1988 in St. Paul MN. His 9-year career was about evenly split between the White Sox and the Washington Senators (with a year with the Indians). He only managed to steal 151 bases. He was mainly a 1st baseman. His White Sox won the World Series in 1917 and he was on the infamous "Black Sox" team in 1919.

January 20
1990 Upper Deck #267 Ozzie GuillenOzzie was born in 1964 in Venezuela. He's managing to lead players born this date in stolen bases with only only 169. He played 13 of his 16 seasons with the White Sox and was their manager from 2004-2006. He led the White Sox to a World Series victory in 2005 over my Astros.

January 21
1888 August Beck #40 Mike TiernanMike Tiernan was born in 1867 in Trenton NJ. He played 13 seasons with the New York Giants and stole 428 bases in his career. The next closest player born on this date is Jose Uribe with 78. Interestingly there are only 2 currently active players born on this date and neither of them has stolen a base yet, so Silent Mike is likely to keep this crown.

January 22
2002 Topps Traded Chrome # 196 Chone FigginsChone Figgins was born in 1978 in Leary GA. He was the Royals 4th round draft pick in 1997. He spent the first 8 years of his career with the Angels but signed as a free agent with the Mariners for 2010. He seems to have played every on-field position except catcher. He hits for a good average and steals a lot of bases (322 in his career). He is likely to remain the career leader in stolen bases for players born on January 22 for a long time as the closest active player on the list is Carlos Ruiz with 10.