Stolen Base
Taking a base on the pitch, without a hit, walk or error.
What it actually is. A runner takes the next base on his own while the ball is being pitched.
What a scout reads off it. The steal is a bet, and the odds are stiffer than they look. A caught stealing costs roughly twice what a stolen base gains, because it burns a runner and an out at once, so the number that matters is the success rate rather than the total.
Where the lines are. Roughly three in four is the break-even point in the modern game; below that a runner is costing his team by running. Rickey Henderson's 1,406 career steals and 130 in 1982 are both far out of reach.
How it lies to you. Stolen base totals track the rules as much as the runners. Bigger bases and limits on pickoff attempts changed the math in 2023, which is why totals from either side of that line do not compare cleanly.
At Little League and travel ball. In Little League a runner may not leave until the pitch reaches the batter, so stealing there is a test of the catcher rather than of the pitcher's move. Travel ball with leadoffs is a completely different skill and is where the pickoff, and the balk, first appear.
Batter's Eye: look up anything in baseball