Max Carey
The greatest base thief of the dead-ball era wasn't Ty Cobb — it was Max Carey, who turned stolen bases into an art form during his 20-year career. Carey swiped 738 bags while getting caught just 109 times, an otherworldly success rate of 87 percent that makes modern speedsters look reckless by comparison.
Playing center field for Pittsburgh during their glory years, Carey led the National League in steals 10 times, including six consecutive seasons from 1922 to 1925. His .285 average over nearly 2,500 games shows he wasn't just fast — he could hit too, collecting over 2,600 career hits while patrolling center field with exceptional range.
What separated Carey from other speedsters was his intelligence on the basepaths. He studied pitchers' timing obsessively and rarely ran into outs, making him the perfect weapon for the strategic, low-scoring games of his era.
Career · Batting
20 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | PIT | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | .500 | — | — |
| 1911 | PIT | 129 | 427 | 5 | 43 | .258 | — | — |
| 1912 | PIT | 150 | 587 | 5 | 66 | .302 | — | — |
| 1913 | PIT | 154 | 620 | 5 | 49 | .277 | — | — |
| 1914 | PIT | 156 | 593 | 1 | 31 | .243 | — | — |
| 1915 | PIT | 140 | 564 | 3 | 27 | .254 | — | — |
| 1916 | PIT | 154 | 599 | 7 | 42 | .264 | — | — |
| 1917 | PIT | 155 | 588 | 1 | 51 | .296 | — | — |
| 1918 | PIT | 126 | 468 | 3 | 48 | .274 | — | — |
| 1919 | PIT | 66 | 244 | 0 | 9 | .307 | — | — |
| 1920 | PIT | 130 | 485 | 1 | 35 | .289 | — | — |
| 1921 | PIT | 140 | 521 | 7 | 56 | .309 | — | — |
| 1922 | PIT | 155 | 629 | 10 | 70 | .329 | — | — |
| 1923 | PIT | 153 | 610 | 6 | 63 | .308 | — | — |
| 1924 | PIT | 149 | 599 | 8 | 55 | .297 | — | — |
| 1925 | PIT | 133 | 542 | 5 | 44 | .343 | — | — |
| 1926 | PIT | 113 | 424 | 0 | 35 | .231 | — | — |
| 1927 | BRO | 144 | 538 | 1 | 54 | .266 | — | — |
| 1928 | BRO | 108 | 296 | 2 | 19 | .247 | — | — |
| 1929 | BRO | 19 | 23 | 0 | 1 | .304 | — | — |
| Career | 2476 | 9363 | 70 | 800 | .285 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.