While plenty of people collect baseball cards of home run hitters like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, there’s a certain corner of collecting that, like baseball itself, is appealing in its own quirky way.
Collecting all the Hall of Fame left-handed pitchers, for example. Or the best defensive infielders. The all-time hit leaders. The best relief pitchers. Starting pitchers of the 1970’s. Baseball card collecting options that might not break the bank, but are still impressive and exciting to chase.
In today’s installment of baseball card collecting ideas, we focus on one of the most thrilling plays in baseball: the stolen base.
Here’s a look at the top base stealers of all time and which rookie cards are must-haves for a collection of stolen base leaders.
3. Billy Hamilton (914 stolen bases between 1888 and 1901)
Up first is a familiar name, Billy Hamilton, but it’s probably not the one you are thinking of.
While the Billy Hamilton of the 21st Century is an excellent base stealer, having stolen 310 bases in nine MLB seasons, there was another far more accomplished Billy Hamilton who played over 120 years earlier.
Playing with the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Beaneaters in the late 19th century, Hamilton stole an astonishing 914 bases and batted .344 over his career. Baseball was a different game back then, of course; catchers weren’t throwing base stealers out like they are today, infielders weren’t adept fielders quite yet, and pitchers were still learning how to keep base runners honest.
Hamilton has several baseball cards in the Old Judge N172 set, one of the first ever baseball card sets. One such card is his 1887 “Bat At Ready, Looking At Camera” rookie with the Kansas City Cowboys:
A PSA 8 version of this card sold in July of 2020 for $22,200 and there aren’t many other low or mid grade versions of this card out there. There are other variations of Hamilton in this set (“Strike Looking Up At Ball” & “Stooping To Field Grounder” for example) which are worth looking out for, but the problem with all of the variations of Billy Hamilton is scarcity. Not many of these appear to have surfaced.
Of the top three base stealers all-time, Billy Hamilton’s rookie might be the hardest to find. Also keep in mind that, for the most part, you won’t be able to get many cards in the 1887 Old Judge N172 set for less than $1,000 in any condition… if you can find one at all.
2. Lou Brock (938 stolen bases between 1961 and 1979)
Though Lou Brock began his Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Cubs in 1961, he was eventually traded to Chicago’s rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. While there, he developed into the best base stealer the league had seen up to that point.
Over the course of 16 years in St. Louis, Brock led the National League in stolen bases eight times, was named an All-Star six times, and won a World Series Championship twice.
On August 29th, 1977, Lou Brock broke Ty Cobb’s record of 892 stolen bases, which was viewed as the all-time record at the time. Brock played only two more seasons after that, having lost most of his speed with age. He finished with an all-time record 938 stolen bases.
Lou Brock’s 1962 Topps rookie #387 is his most sought after baseball card, and it of course features him on the Chicago Cubs. Some might prefer his 1965 Topps #540, his first baseball card for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Getting your hands on Lou Brock’s 1962 rookie isn’t difficult, though it can get pricey if you want it in a high grade. A mid-grade version will cost around $400. If you want the 1965 Topps, with him in a Cardinals uniform, you’ll only end up spending around $50.
1. Rickey Henderson (1,406 stolen bases between 1979 and 2003)
Interestingly, Lou Brock’s final season in St. Louis was also the rookie season for a player in Oakland who would go on to be the greatest base stealer in baseball history.
Rickey Henderson, who debuted for the Oakland Athletics at only 20 years old, rattled off three 100+ stolen base seasons in his first five Major League seasons, suggesting he could one day take over as the stolen base king.
He then ensured his place in baseball history by averaging 74 stolen bases a season for 25 years.
His career record of 1,406 stolen bases is an almost unthinkable number. In terms of “unbreakable records” in baseball, it has to be considered one of the most unbreakable.
Just consider for a moment that in 2021, the active MLB leader in career stolen bases is Dee Gordon, who has 333 stolen bases. That’s less than a third of Henderson’s final stolen base total.
So if you are wanting to collect the all-time stolen base leaders, your collection hasn’t even begun unless you have a 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson #482.
The recency of the 1980 Topps set suggests it may be easier to find copies of the #482 Rickey Henderson in high grade condition. But it won’t likely be cheap.
The average sale price of a PSA 10 Rickey Henderson #482 over the last 12 months is right around $119,000. PSA 9’s are a mere fraction of that, right around $1,900. And if you are willing to go with a mid-grade copy (PSA 5 or 6), you are looking at a much more reasonable $80-100.
All in all, if you focus on mid or low grade copies, you could own graded rookie cards of the three best base stealers in baseball history on a budget of around $1,000-1,500.
Sources: baseball-reference.com, vintagecardprices.com, eBay.com