The 50 batters with the most stolen bases, 1871–2021

Every batter on this list is ranked on one number: stolen bases in the regular season between 1871 and 2021. Nothing else is weighed, and the figures each ranking rests on are in the table.

Stolen bases — the leading 15. Every one of the 50 is in the table below.

#	Player	Seasons	Stolen bases	Games	Hits	Runs
1	Rickey Henderson	1979–2003	1,406	3,081	3,055	2,295
2	Lou Brock	1961–1979	938	2,616	3,023	1,610
3	Billy Hamilton	1888–1901	914	1,594	2,164	1,697
4	Ty Cobb	1905–1928	896	3,035	4,189	2,247
5	Tim Raines	1979–2002	808	2,502	2,605	1,571
6	Vince Coleman	1985–1997	752	1,371	1,425	849
7	Arlie Latham	1880–1909	742	1,629	1,836	1,481
8	Eddie Collins	1906–1930	741	2,826	3,315	1,821
9	Max Carey	1910–1929	738	2,476	2,665	1,545
10	Honus Wagner	1897–1917	723	2,794	3,420	1,739
11	Joe Morgan	1963–1984	689	2,649	2,517	1,650
12	Willie Wilson	1976–1994	668	2,154	2,207	1,169
13	Tom Brown	1882–1898	658	1,791	1,958	1,524
14	Bert Campaneris	1964–1983	649	2,328	2,249	1,181
15	Kenny Lofton	1991–2007	622	2,103	2,428	1,528
16	Otis Nixon	1983–1999	620	1,709	1,379	878
17	George Davis	1890–1909	619	2,372	2,665	1,545
18	Juan Pierre	2000–2013	614	1,994	2,217	1,075
19	Dummy Hoy	1888–1902	596	1,797	2,048	1,429
20	Maury Wills	1959–1972	586	1,942	2,134	1,067
21	George Van Haltren	1887–1903	583	1,990	2,544	1,642
22	Ozzie Smith	1978–1996	580	2,573	2,460	1,257
23	Hugh Duffy	1888–1906	574	1,737	2,293	1,554
24	Bid McPhee	1882–1899	568	2,138	2,258	1,684
25	Brett Butler	1981–1997	558	2,213	2,375	1,359
26	Davey Lopes	1972–1987	557	1,812	1,671	1,023
27	Cesar Cedeno	1970–1986	550	2,006	2,087	1,084
28	Bill Dahlen	1891–1911	548	2,444	2,461	1,590
29	John Ward	1878–1894	540	1,827	2,107	1,410
30	Herman Long	1889–1904	537	1,875	2,129	1,456
31	Jack Doyle	1889–1905	518	1,569	1,811	977
31	Patsy Donovan	1890–1907	518	1,824	2,256	1,321
33	Jose Reyes	2003–2018	517	1,877	2,138	1,180
34	Barry Bonds	1986–2007	514	2,986	2,935	2,227
35	Harry Stovey	1880–1893	509	1,489	1,775	1,495
35	Fred Clarke	1894–1915	509	2,246	2,678	1,622
35	Ichiro Suzuki	2001–2019	509	2,653	3,089	1,420
38	Luis Aparicio	1956–1973	506	2,601	2,677	1,335
39	Paul Molitor	1978–1998	504	2,683	3,319	1,782
40	Willie Keeler	1892–1910	495	2,123	2,932	1,719
40	Clyde Milan	1907–1922	495	1,982	2,100	1,004
42	Omar Moreno	1975–1986	487	1,382	1,257	699
43	Carl Crawford	2002–2016	480	1,716	1,931	998
44	Roberto Alomar	1988–2004	474	2,379	2,724	1,508
45	Mike Griffin	1887–1898	473	1,513	1,755	1,406
46	Jimmy Rollins	2000–2016	470	2,275	2,455	1,421
47	Tommy McCarthy	1884–1896	468	1,273	1,493	1,066
48	Jimmy Sheckard	1897–1913	465	2,122	2,084	1,296
48	Eric Young	1992–2006	465	1,730	1,731	996
50	Delino DeShields	1990–2002	463	1,615	1,548	872

How this list is made

Ranked on stolen bases in the regular season, 1871–2021. Players are ranked on that number alone and on nothing else: there is no judgement here about who was better. Where two are level they share a rank, and the list runs past fifty when fiftieth place is shared, because splitting a tie would mean choosing between them on no stated basis.

The Negro Leagues are not in these figures. Major League Baseball recognised the Negro Leagues as major-league in December 2020 and added their statistics to the official record in May 2024. This database does not carry them: Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Buck Leonard and Cool Papa Bell are absent from it altogether, and Satchel Paige appears only from 1948, his American League seasons. These lists are therefore not the complete official record, and that is a limit of the source rather than a judgement about who belongs on them.

Counting statistics only. A rate — an average, a percentage — needs a minimum number of appearances before it means anything, and no such minimum is published that this site could cite. Inventing one would put a number nobody chose at the centre of a ranking. A total needs no cut-off: most goals is a fact with nothing hidden in it.

No player on this list was still playing in 2021, the last season the database covers, so every career here is complete.

Career figures from the Lahman Baseball Database via the Chadwick Bureau’s Baseball Databank, CC BY-SA 3.0. Regular season only; the post-season is not counted.

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