Who has the most stolen bases in MLB history?

Who has the most stolen bases in MLB history? The stolen base is an integral part of the game. A runner threatening to steal forces the opposing team to restructure their entire defensive game.

As the game has matured over the ages that baseball has been played, the art of base stealing has too. According to Athlon Sports, the rate at which bases are successfully stolen is in a state of decline. No player has stolen over 80 bases in a season since 1988. The 2018 season saw the lowest amount of stolen bases in nearly forty years at only 2,474 bases.

Who has the most stolen bases in MLB History?

Many players have had a serious amount of stolen bases. The current active-player stolen base leader is Kansas City Royals utility man Whit Merrifield. Merrifield stole 40 bases last season. Merrifield currently has 162 career stolen bases, but that does not come close to the record for the most stolen bases in MLB history.

Consistent with what has been found in the aforementioned research, base stealers simply are not really around anymore. The game is becoming more and more competitive, and players have less space on the field. None of the top 10 stolen base leaders in MLB history currently play in the league.

So who has stolen the most bases in history? Legendary names like Ty Cobb, Billy Hamilton, and Eddie Collins all find themselves near the top, but none are able to lay claim to the title.

The leader for the most stolen bases in history is left-fielder Rickey Henderson. Henderson played for a plethora of teams, most notably for the Oakland Athletics, with whom he won the American League MVP designation in 1990.

"Rickey Henderson holds the @MLB record for SB with 1,406. In order for someone to break his record they would need to steal 60 bases a season for over 23 seasons!" - @ MLB STATS

In his years playing pro baseball, Rickey Henderson stole 1,406 bases. He led the league in the category in 12 of his 24 seasons, including six years in a row from 1980-1985.

"1981 Fleer Rickey Henderson Mint $5" - @ Cardchop23

Henderson, now 63, will always be remembered in Major League Baseball for his ability to turn hits into stolen bases and stolen bases into runs.