To catch a thief

Ron LeFlore at work in 1980 with the Montreal Expos

Ron LeFlore steals his 62nd base of the 1980 season during the Montreal Expos’ 5-4 victory over Cincinnati 46 years ago today at Olympic Stadium.‍

LeFlore, though, has little time to celebrate his latest stolen base in front of the Monday night crowd of 40,301.

Seems LeFlore’s eyes catch the Olympic Stadium scoreboard, where a message notes his stolen base in the seventh inning comes 115 years after Ned Cuthbert of the Philadelphia Keystones is credited with the game’s first-ever steal in 1865.

As LeFlore reads the message, he mindlessly wanders off second base and Cincinnati relief pitcher Dave Tomlin promptly picks him off.

LeFlore finishes the 1980 season – his only one in Montreal – with a career-high 97 stolen bases before moving on to the Chicago White Sox for his final two seasons in the majors.

LeFlore’s career totals in nine seasons with Detroit, Montreal and Chicago: 455 stolen bases and one embarrassing pickoff.

Looking for more to read? More than 3,900 archived posts may be found at Blog 3 — Baseball (and other cool stuff) … Enjoy!