Who are the last 5 players in Cardinals' history to steal 30 bases in a season?

Stolen bases were losing their place in the new age of baseball. Teams would feel more content to keep their base runners stay put and wait for somebody to hit the long ball. But with the new rule changes that came to Major League Baseball in 2023 limiting how many times a pitcher can throw over to a base, and increasing the size of the bases, athleticism has a place in baseball again.

The Cardinals have a storied history when it comes to stealing bases with players like Ozzie Smith, Vince Coleman, and of course, Lou Brock, who was baseball's all-time stolen base king for almost 2 decades.

The most stolen bases the Cardinals have had in a single season is 314 in 1985, which is the 4th most for a team in MLB history, only the 1911 and 1912 Giants and the 1976 Athletics have had more. No team has relatively come close to that mark set by the '85 Cards team.

We will start to see more and more stolen bases in the near future, but there were still some Redbirds that were able to steal 30 bags before the new rules and new bases. Who was able to swipe 30 bases in the post "Whitey Ball" era? Let's start with the most recent.

1. Tommy Edman- 30 steals in 2021 and 32 steals in 2022

Edman is the definition of versatility. He won a Gold Glove at second base in 2021, and definitely could've won another last season, and has played gold glove caliber defense at shortstop and in the outfield. He can hit anywhere in a lineup but has always had the ability to be a burner on the bases.

Not only has Edman led the Cardinals in stolen bases the past 3 seasons (which includes this year) he is also very efficient in swiping bags too. In his 5 year career, he has 94 stolen bases, and he has only been caught stealing 15 times. That adds up to an 86.2% stolen base percentage, to put that in some perspective, the all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson, had an 80.8% stolen base percentage, and the Cardinals' all-time steals leader Lou Brock was only at 75.3%. Granted the sample size is much much smaller for Edman, but very impressive nonetheless.

His base-stealing abilities were strong in the minor leagues as well. In his last full minor league in 2018, Edman stole 30 bases in 35 attempts with Springfield and Memphis. He currently has 15 steals on the 2023 season and is 6 steals away from becoming the 28th player in Cardinal history with 100 stolen bases.

2. Edgar Renteria- 37 steals in 1999 and 34 steals in 2003

Almost 2 decades separate the last two 30-steal seasons in Cardinals history. The Cardinals traded for Renteria one year after he got the walk-off hit in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins.

Renteria had a very productive career in St. Louis, in his 6 seasons he had a .290/.347/.420 slash line with 71 home runs and 451 RBI. He was an All-Star 3 times, a Silver Slugger winner 2 times, and he also won 2 Gold Gloves. His 148 steals ranks tied for 17th in Cardinal history.

Since Renteria was 18 years old when he first got to the big leagues, he was able to show off his speed in the big leagues for several years. He stole 32 bases in 1997 and in his final season in Florida he put up 41 steals while leading the league in caught stealings (22). 2003 was Renterias best with the Cardinals, along with the 34 stolen bases he hit .330, a career-high 100 RBI without the benefit of many home runs (13) and he received a handful of MVP votes that season.

The Cardinals were able to acquire a 20-year-old shortstop from Florida in the 1998 off-season, and he turned out to be one of the greatest shortstops in Cardinal history. One of many players Florida let slip away from their first championship team.

4. Royce Clayton- 33 steals in 1996 and 30 steals in 1997

DeShields and Clayton were a very speedy middle infield for the Redbirds in 1997. Royce Clayton was brought in the season before in a 5 player trade with the Giants to eventually take the reigns at shortstop when Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith retired. This led to a lot of pressure for Clayton with the fan base seeing their favorite player being replaced, but despite the outside noise he produced offensively.

In 1996, he swiped 33 bases in 129 games, then stole 30 more after he became the full-time shortstop in 1997, which was his only All-Star season in the majors. Clayton appeared to be on his way to another 30-steal season with the Cardinals in 1998 as he had 19 in late July, however, the Cardinals were not in contention that season, so he, a pending free agent along with pitcher Todd Stottelmyre were traded to the Rangers for Darren Oliver, Fernando Tatis Sr., and Mark Little as a player to be named later.

Clayton would play another 10 seasons in the majors after the Cardinals traded him away, with 9 different teams. His only two 30 stolen bases seasons in the MLB came with St. Louis, and if he wasn't traded mid-season he may have had a third season.

5. Ray Lankford- 44 steals in 1991, 42 steals in 1992, and 35 steals in 1996

Cardinal Hall of Famer Ray Lankford had the ability to hit for power, steal bases, and defend that only a select few baseball players have been blessed to have, mainly referred to as a "five-tool player".

His highest stolen base total in a season came in his rookie season in 1991, where he also drove in 69 runs despite hitting mostly first in the lineup to take advantage of his wheels, he also led the league with triples with 15 and was a finalist for Rookie of the Year. He followed up his rookie season with another 40+ steal campaign, what prevented Lankford from getting more stolen bases that year was he was caught stealing a league-leading 24 times, and he struck out 147 times, also the most in baseball. The swings and misses cost Lankford more chances to get on base to run, but he was developing into a power hitter.

As Lankford went into his prime, he became a middle-of-the-order hitter due to his power but was still stealing bases, just not as prolific as he was in his first couple of seasons in the MLB. The term "20-20 club" is for players that have hit 20 home runs and stole 20 bases in the same season. Lankford accomplished this feat 5 times, including doing so in 4 consecutive seasons from 1995-1998, no Cardinal has had more. He really showed his value with his combination of power, speed, and defense (despite never winning a Gold Glove) but the strikeouts did hold him back from maybe being able to use his speed more.

Lankford struck out 100 times or more in 11 consecutive seasons (1991-2001) which wasn't as common as it would be now, but the strikeouts stayed when the production started to slow down when he got older and started suffering injuries. The Cardinals traded Lankford to San Diego in '01 for Woody Williams but would return to St. Louis three years later to end his stellar career where it started. He would be elected by the fans to go into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2018. He is still the only player in Cardinals history to have 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases in his Cardinal career.