The Cincinnati Reds have the consensus best base runner in all of baseball. The issue is whether he hits enough to be the best base stealer of the era. Fangraph’s Jeff Sullivan looked at the duo of Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon back in 2014 and now it is time to take a different look.
Sullivan called Billy Hamilton the Babe Ruth of base stealers and Gordon a poor man’s imitation. Gordon barely beat out Hamilton for the stolen base lead in the National League in 2014 and 2015 before Hamilton left Gordon in the dust, staying in second place behind Jonathan Villar of the Milwaukee Brewers last season.