Thunder and Lightning: Players With Power and Speed

Power-Plus and Thunder and Lightning are just two of the names given to a select group of players who are capable of generating offense via the home run or the stolen base. A great emphasis has been placed on this dual prowess in recent years. For a single season there is the 30 home run and 30 stolen base club, and for career accomplishments there is the 200 home run and 200 stolen base club. Dale Murphy joined the season club this year and Don Baylor the career group in 1982.

Avid baseball fans now have at their disposal a new way of measuring a player’s combination of power and speed with the  Power/Speed Number or PSN. Bill James, in his 1983 Baseball Abstract, developed the PSN by using the following formula:

2(HR x SB)
HR+ SB

To demonstrate this formula, you will find that Dale Murphy, who had 36 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 1983, comes up with a Power/Speed Number of 32.7. This is good, but doesn’t rank quite near the top for a season’s effort. By this formula, it doesn’t mean that both totals – home runs and stolen bases – have to be equally high. In 1973 for example, Joe Morgan of the Reds had 26 homers and 67 stolen bases for a PSN of 37.5. Willie Mays in 1955 had 51 four-baggers and 24 thefts for a PSN of 32.6. Here are the season leaders (dominated by Bobby Bonds) who had PSNs of more than 30.

 

	Year	HR	SB	PSN
Bobby Bonds	1973	39	43	40.9
Bobby Bonds	1977	37	41	38.9
Ken Williams	1922	39	37	38.0
Willie Mays	1956	36	40	37.9
Joe Morgan	1973	26	67	37.5
Bobby Bonds	1969	32	45	37.4
Joe Morgan	1974	27	60	37.2
Willie Mays	1957	35	38	36.4
Henry Aaron	1963	44	31	36.4
Bobby Bonds	1978	31	43	36.0
Cesar Cedeno	1974	26	57	35.7
Cesar Cedeno	1973	25	56	34.6
Tommy Harper	1970	31	38	34.1
Bobby Bonds	1970	26	48	33.7
Mike Schmidt	1975	38	29	32.9
Dale Murphy	1983	36	30	32.7
Bobby Bonds	1972	26	44	32.7
Willie Mays	1955	51	24	32.6
Joe Morgan	1974	22	58	31.9
Cesar Cedeno	1972	22	55	31.4
Bobby Bonds	1975	32	30	31.0

 

On a career level, Joe Morgan in 1983 ran his total home runs to 262 and thefts to 681. This gives him a career PSN of 378.4 and moves him past Henry Aaron (755-244 for 358.9) into third place behind the leader Willie Mays (660-338 for 447.1) and Bobby Bonds (332-461 for 386.0).

Murphy’s balanced season totals of 36 homers and 30 steals raise the question about the most unbalanced totals. In the Lightning Only category, Alan Wiggins moved near the top in 1983 with no four-baggers and 66 thefts. Only Maury Wills with 0 home runs and 94 steals in 1965 demonstrated a greater imbalance. In the Thunder Only department, Roger Mans did the ultimate in 1961 when he hit 61 roundtrippers and didn’t steal a base. The season leaders in the two categories follow:

 

Lightning	Year	HR	SB
Maury Wills	1965	0	94
Alan Wiggins	1983	0	66
Eddie Collins	1912	0	63
Rodney Scott	1980	0	63
Miguel Dilone	1980	0	61
Frank Taveras	1976	0	58
Ozzie Smith	1980	0	57
Eddie Collins	1917	0	53
Donie Bush	1909	0	53
Maury Wills	1968	0	52
Thunder
Roger Mans	1961	61	0
Ted Kluszewski	1954	49	0
Harmon Killebrew	1964	49	0
Willie Stargell	1971	48	0
Harmon Killebrew	1963	45	0
Willie McCovey	1969	45	0
Frank Howard	1968	44	0
Willie Stargell	1973	44	0
Dick Stuart	1963	42	0
Rocky Colavito	1958	41	0
Harmon Killebrew	1970	41	0

On a career basis, using players with at least 200 home runs or stolen bases, Frank Taveras is the Lightning Only leader with two four-baggers and 300 steals. The Thunder Only is generated primarily by Dr. Strangeglove, Dick Stuart, who hit 228 homers and stole two bases.

It is always good to conclude on a balanced note. The final grouping in this brief analysis is the Double Negative category (some might call it dishonorable mention). These are players who had a season of play (more than 420 at bats) without hitting a home run or stealing a base.

 

	Year	HR	SB	AB
Dick Groat	1956	0	0	520
Lee Tannehill	1911	0	0	516
Emil Verban	1944	0	0	498
Hal Lanier	1969	0	0	495
Tommy Thevenow	1934	0	0	446
Nellie Fox	1963	0	0	442
Dave Chalk	1976	0	0	438
Len Schulte	1945	0	0	430
Woody Woodward	1967	0	0	429
Harold Lee	1935	0	0	422

Hal Lanier extended this seasonal nothingness into a ten-year career which included eight home runs and 11 stolen bases in 3,703 at bats. In a longer career, Dick Groat was 39 and 14 in 7,484 at bats.