Stealing

Stealing is the act of a base runner, to gain a base, without the help of a walk or batted ball, by running to it during the delivery of a pitch. In the MLB stolen bases are denoted as “SB.” A base stealing runner must begin running as soon as the pitcher has committed himself to throwing a pitch to home plate. If he begins to run too soon, the pitcher may throw to a base rather than to home, in this case, the runner is picked off, and will most likely be tagged out. Before the pitch, the runner will often take a lead-off walking several steps away from the base as a head start for his next advance. In some cases, the pitcher may hold the runner on by throwing to the base several times before pitching, in the hope of dissuading the runner from too big a lead-off. This action can also result in the runner being tagged out in a pick-off. Another popular strategy is for the runner to attempt a steal while the hitter is instructed to swing at the pitch if it is at all hittable. This hit and run play can give the runner a good head start to take an extra base on the hit. But if the hitter fails to hit the ball, the hit-and-run becomes a pure steal attempt, and the runner may be thrown out. Another risk of the hit-and-run is that a caught line drive could result in an easy double play, although this is offset by the lower likelihood of a ground ball double play. Stealing is an effective but risky chance to take and could ultimately determine the out come of an important game.