JUPITER, Fla. • Other than slow-footed, tuba-toting backup catcher Bob Uecker, who never stole a base in his big-league career, Cardinals manager Johnny Keane had no volunteers when he held a clubhouse meeting and asked for a leading man to step forward.
In 1964, Keane’s team lagged behind the pace set by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Keane believed the difference was LA’s leadoff hitter, Maury Wills. On his way to a league-best 53 steals that summer and 94 steals the next year, Wills and his thieving feet had reimagined the leadoff role, turning it from a parade of walkers to a swarm of runners.