This is the sixth part of my series on base running in 2007. The table of contents for the entire series is listed below.
Taking the extra base
The ground game
On the fly
Stolen bases, etc.
Who was the best Tigers base runner?
Best base runners in baseball
In my analysis of the Tigers, I concluded that Curtis Granderson was the best base runner on the team in 2007. That is, he netted more bases by taking the extra base on hits and by advancing on ground outs, air outs, stolen bases and other plays than any player on the team last year.
Who was the best base runner in the American League? According to the statistics in Table 1 below, it was Jason Bartlett (35.6 bases gained above average) followed by Ian Kinsler (34.0), Johnny Damon (33.6), Grady Sizemore (33.6) and Coco Crisp (32.1). The only Tiger in the top 25 was Granderson (13th). The development of the statistics in the table is discussed in the articles linked above in the table of contents.
The National League leaders are listed in Table 2 below. The top base runner in the NL and also in the Majors was Jose Reyes (46.4 bases gained above average). Next in line were Juan Pierre (44.9), Kaz Matsui (35.1), Jimmy Rollins (31.2) and Eric Byrnes (29.9).
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Table 1: American League Bases Gained Leaders in 2006
| Team | BG Hits | BGAA Hits | BG Ground | BGAA Ground | BG Air | BGAA Air | BG Other | BGAA Other | BG Total | BGAA Total | |
| Bartlett | MIN | 34.0 | 14.4 | 24.0 | 8.7 | 7.0 | 3.4 | 17.5 | 9.2 | 82.5 | 35.6 |
| Kinsler | TEX | 27.0 | 8.5 | 19.0 | 4.8 | 8.0 | 3.9 | 24.1 | 16.8 | 78.1 | 34.0 |
| Damon | NYA | 29.0 | 3.7 | 18.0 | 2.3 | 20.0 | 12.3 | 23.8 | 15.3 | 90.8 | 33.6 |
| Sizemore | CLE | 34.0 | 14.8 | 18.0 | 1.1 | 14.0 | 5.7 | 22.4 | 12.0 | 88.4 | 33.6 |
| Crisp | BOS | 21.0 | 1.8 | 22.0 | 8.2 | 14.0 | 7.9 | 22.6 | 14.2 | 79.6 | 32.1 |
| Crawford | TBA | 23.0 | 4.5 | 6.0 | -4.0 | 18.0 | 8.9 | 30.4 | 21.5 | 77.4 | 30.9 |
| Rodriguez | NYA | 35.0 | 11.8 | 13.0 | 2.7 | 10.0 | 2.5 | 21.5 | 11.1 | 79.5 | 28.1 |
| Figgins | ANA | 35.0 | 14.3 | 14.0 | 2.1 | 7.0 | 0.7 | 18.1 | 10.3 | 74.1 | 27.5 |
| Owens | CHA | 16.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 | 12.7 | 7.6 | 49.7 | 23.5 |
| Suzuki | SEA | 42.0 | 11.4 | 15.0 | -7.2 | 8.0 | -3.3 | 33.3 | 21.3 | 98.3 | 22.1 |
| Roberts | BAL | 29.0 | 6.9 | 26.0 | -0.8 | 0.0 | -6.7 | 32.7 | 22.4 | 87.7 | 21.8 |
| Cabrera | ANA | 35.0 | 9.4 | 11.0 | 0.3 | 9.0 | 2.3 | 19.2 | 9.3 | 74.2 | 21.2 |
| Granderson | DET | 26.0 | -2.5 | 21.0 | 4.1 | 11.0 | -0.3 | 28.1 | 19.2 | 86.1 | 20.5 |
| Rios | TOR | 30.0 | 9.3 | 15.0 | 1.6 | 9.0 | 2.9 | 15.2 | 5.8 | 69.2 | 19.7 |
| Matthews | ANA | 29.0 | 11.5 | 8.0 | 0.7 | 5.0 | 0.3 | 14.2 | 6.9 | 56.2 | 19.5 |
| Patterson | BAL | 22.0 | 7.8 | 4.0 | -4.0 | 2.0 | -2.5 | 23.3 | 17.0 | 51.3 | 18.2 |
| Upton | TBA | 23.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 0.8 | 8.0 | 4.2 | 11.7 | 3.8 | 52.7 | 15.7 |
| Barfield | CLE | 14.0 | 2.6 | 9.0 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 12.2 | 6.9 | 43.2 | 15.2 |
| Swisher | OAK | 25.0 | 6.1 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 4.4 | 9.4 | 0.3 | 51.4 | 14.8 |
| DeJesus | KCA | 29.0 | 6.2 | 18.0 | -1.9 | 9.0 | 1.5 | 17.8 | 8.3 | 73.8 | 14.1 |
| Brown | KCA | 13.0 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 0.9 | 12.4 | 7.4 | 35.4 | 13.5 |
| Lugo | BOS | 17.0 | -1.5 | 12.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 2.3 | 18.0 | 10.1 | 56.0 | 12.9 |
| Castillo | MIN | 18.0 | 2.7 | 17.0 | 3.2 | 6.0 | 0.9 | 10.8 | 5.1 | 51.8 | 11.9 |
| Gomes | TBA | 8.0 | 1.9 | 12.0 | 4.3 | 4.0 | -0.1 | 9.8 | 5.2 | 33.8 | 11.4 |
| Mauer | MIN | 17.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | -4.6 | 7.0 | 3.2 | 16.7 | 9.7 | 45.7 | 10.3 |
Table 2: National League Bases Gained Leaders in 2007
| Player | Team | BG Hits | BGAA Hits | BG Ground | BGAA Ground | BG Air | BGAA Air | BG Other | BGAA Other | BG Total | BGAA Total |
| Reyes | NYN | 29.0 | 10.5 | 37.0 | 13.2 | 13.0 | 5.1 | 28.3 | 17.5 | 107.3 | 46.4 |
| Pierre | LAN | 44.0 | 13.4 | 18.0 | 3.4 | 14.0 | 6.9 | 31.3 | 21.2 | 107.3 | 44.9 |
| Matsui | COL | 25.0 | 8.6 | 7.0 | -1.4 | 11.0 | 4.7 | 29.5 | 23.2 | 72.5 | 35.1 |
| Rollins | PHI | 34.0 | 13.3 | 13.0 | -1.9 | 13.0 | 2.5 | 27.3 | 17.4 | 87.3 | 31.2 |
| Byrnes | ARI | 21.0 | 6.4 | 15.0 | -0.7 | 7.0 | 1.9 | 31.7 | 22.3 | 74.7 | 29.9 |
| Roberts | SFN | 17.0 | 2.4 | 25.0 | 9.3 | 8.0 | 1.3 | 21.9 | 16.0 | 71.9 | 29.0 |