Robby Thompson's Record-Setting Game

While playing around with Baseball-Reference's Play Index tool, I stumbled upon something quite interesting. I was looking at games in which players had three or more caught-stealings. That's the kind of thing that interests me -- for whatever reason. Random, obscure feats like this. It makes you wonder, "Why would they keep attempting steals?!"

Anyway, here's the chart of players who have achieved the feat -- three or more CS in a single game. Fourteen players have done it since 1901.

Rk	Player	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	SB	CS
1	Robby Thompson	1986-06-27	SFG	CIN	W 7-6	0	4
2	Ben Francisco	2009-10-04	PHI	FLA	W 7-6	0	3
3	Brad Ausmus	1999-06-12	DET	STL	L 7-8	0	3
4	Luis Polonia	1993-05-24	CAL	SEA	L 3-4	0	3
5	Eric Young	1993-05-01	COL	FLA	L 6-7	1	3
6	Rickey Henderson	1982-07-27	OAK	CAL	L 7-8	1	3
7	Lenny Randle	1978-04-15	NYM	MON	L 3-4	0	3
8	Frank Robinson	1959-09-19	CIN	PIT	L 3-4	0	3
9	Liz Funk	1932-09-21 (1)	CHW	DET	W 11-3	0	3
10	Bernie Friberg	1924-06-08	CHC	BRO	W 8-5	0	3
11	Joe Hauser	1922-08-18	PHA	SLB	W 8-4	0	3
12	Rogers Hornsby	1922-06-12	STL	PHI	W 14-8	2	3
13	High Pockets Kelly	1921-09-11	NYG	BRO	W 11-3	0	3
14	Dave Robertson	1920-05-22	CHC	PHI	W 15-8	0	3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/21/2011.

Lo and behold, only one player in history has been caught stealing four times in a single game, and that player was San Francisco Giants second-baseman Robby Thompson. Not Brett Butler, who led the league in CS on three separate occasions. Not even Will Clark, who was an awful basestealer (one year he had five stolen bases to go along with 17 CS). But Thomspon.

I dug through the archives on this one and found an article from June 28, the day after Thompson's record-setting game. The article, published in the Harlan Daily Enterprise, was entitled "Robby Thompson Not Happy With Record." Surprise, surprise. 

I love the way the article began, although it was admittedly a bit predictable:

Bobby Thomson is remembered for his home run trot around the bases that gave the Giants the 1951 pennant.

Robby Thompson also had four bases to remember Friday night -- but they were all second base, as he became the first player in major-league history to be caught stealing four times in a game. 

Anyway, as it turns out, the first three CS, occurring in the fourth, sixth, and ninth innings respectively, were failed hit-and-runs. In the eleventh inning, John Franco picked Thompson off at first, but Thompson bolted for second, earning his fourth CS.

And there you have it. Just another San Francisco Giant in the record books...

---

Follow SP on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook