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