Phillies top five career records that appear untouchable

Major League power hitting records are likely to fall, but here are five career Phillies records that are unlikely to be broken.

There’s no doubt that power is at the forefront in the current era of Major League Baseball. With balls flying out of the ballpark at an uncannily high rate, league and team records are likely to fall. Looking back at the history of the Phillies during the post-dead-ball era, we examine the top five Phillies career records that are unlikely to be broken. Since it’s challenging to rate which record is more untouchable than the others, they are ranked in no particular order.

Jimmy Rollins: 453 stolen bases

Rollins was off and running from the start, swiping a league-leading 46 bases during his rookie season of 2001. He stole 30 or more bases ten times and 40 or more bases four times, topping out at 47 in 2008. During his 17-year Major League career, Rollins swiped 470 bases, 453 with the Phillies.

Of all Phillies players during the post-dead-ball era, Larry Bowa ranks second with 288 steals, and Bobby Abreu is third with 254. Juan Samuel stole 72 bases in 1984, far and away the single-season leader in the post-dead-ball era, but ranks fourth with 249 steals.

Stolen bases are a lost art in today’s game. To put things in perspective, Trea Turner‘s 43 steals last season to lead the NL was the lowest for a league leader since Craig Biggio stole 39 for the Astros in 1994. Cesar Hernandez leads all active Phillies players in stolen bases with 76, a mere 356 behind Rollins.

For a player to catch Rollins, he’d have to average 30 steals a year for 15 years or 40 steals a year for more than 11 years. This is one Phillies record that should stand for the ages.