In baseball, a stolen base most often occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate. In baseball statistics, stolen bases are denoted by “SB”.
If the defense makes no attempt to put the baserunner out (for example, if the catcher doesn't even look his way), the play is scored as defensive indifference (also called fielder's indifference), and no stolen base is credited to the runner. Defensive indifference is generally only scored instead of a stolen base when the game is in a late inning and the team with the stealing baserunner is down by more than one run. MLB Rule 10.07(g) covers defensive indifference.
Successful base-stealing requires not only simple running speed but also good base-running instincts and split-second timing. The scoring and criteria for awarding a stolen base to a runner are covered by rule 10.07 of the Major League Baseball rule book.
Read more about Stolen Base: Background, Technique and Strategy, Measuring Success, Evolution of Rules and Scoring, Stealing First
Famous quotes containing the words stolen and/or base:
“If some beggar steals a bridle
he’ll be hung by a man who’s stolen a horse.
There’s no surer justice in the world than that
which makes the rich thief hang the poor one.”
—Peire Cardenal (c. 1180–1272)
“What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetles o’er his base into the sea,
And there assume some other horrible form
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason,
And draw you into madness?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)