Carlos Beltran Has 300 Home Runs, Stolen Bases, Which Is Neat

Handedness has always seemed, to me, like a weird way to denominate a new record, but here it is: Carlos Beltran, in picking up his 300th stolen base Friday night for the St. Louis Cardinals, became the only switch-hitter in baseball history to have both 300 home runs (he's at 321) and 300 stolen bases. Of all the things Beltran has done with stolen bases—he's among the very best percentage base stealers in the history of baseball—this is probably the least impressive, but now the long march toward it is finally over. (He got close back in April, and then stopped running after his knee problems came back.)

In all, Beltran is the eighth player to manage the feat, and the second one with a late-period renaissance with the Cardinals—Reggie Sanders joined the list back in 2006, as a member of the Kansas City Royals, and ended his career with 305 and 304, respectively. Also on the list are Barry Bonds (762/514), Willie Mays (660/338), Alex Rodriguez (639/311), Andre Dawson (438/314), Bobby Bonds (332/461), and Steve Finley (304/320.)

So yes, just in case you forgot how good Barry Bonds was at baseball, he's the only 400/400 or 500/500 player in the history of baseball. And I'm afraid Beltran's legs gave out just a little too early for him to contest that one. A full table is available after the jump; note that Carlos Beltran has 29 fewer times caught stealing than the rest of the club.