I somehow missed a very important Braves milestone last week. Last Wednesday night, David Ross stole his first career base, after nearly 190o PA. He removed his name from the top 5 of this dubious list:
| Rk | Player | PA | SB | From | To | G | CS | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russ Nixon | 2715 | 0 | 1957 | 1968 | 906 | 7 | .268 | .310 | .361 |
| 2 | Chris Snyder | 2386 | 0 | 2004 | 2012 | 691 | 3 | .226 | .330 | .386 |
| 3 | Johnny Estrada | 2244 | 0 | 2001 | 2008 | 612 | 0 | .277 | .317 | .400 |
| 4 | Aaron Robinson | 2191 | 0 | 1943 | 1951 | 610 | 6 | .260 | .375 | .412 |
| 5 | Ryan Garko | 1752 | 0 | 2005 | 2010 | 463 | 1 | .275 | .347 | .434 |
| 6 | Ted Lyons | 1725 | 0 | 1923 | 1946 | 704 | 1 | .233 | .270 | .285 |
| 7 | Phil Niekro | 1707 | 0 | 1964 | 1987 | 866 | 1 | .169 | .183 | .211 |
| 8 | Javier Valentin | 1663 | 0 | 1997 | 2008 | 631 | 0 | .251 | .310 | .402 |
| 9 | Al Ferrara | 1573 | 0 | 1963 | 1971 | 574 | 1 | .259 | .344 | .423 |
| 10 | Matt LeCroy | 1539 | 0 | 2000 | 2007 | 476 | 4 | .260 | .326 | .440 |
| 11 | Jason Phillips | 1537 | 0 | 2001 | 2007 | 465 | 5 | .249 | .314 | .370 |
As one would expect, the top four spots all belong to catchers. Lyons and Niekro are the only pitchers above 1500 PA on the list, though pitchers comprise a large amount of the list after this. Robinson was the only player to surpass 5 career WAR (offensively), managing an 11.5 figure. If he was known for anything, it would be that he was the bridge between Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra behind the plate for the Yankees. He didn’t get any major league experience until age 30, which eliminated most chances to become a remembered player.
While the stolen base was a nice moment for Ross, let’s hope he doesn’t think he’s Michael Bourn now. He must have felt pretty ambitious that night, as the picture above was the same night. Pushing Phillies into the dugout will always be accepted in my book, however.
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