You can't steal first base

.. as the old saying goes - but you can steal every other base, just like Billy Hamilton.

The first step is to get on base.

After struggling to a .215 mark in his first pro stop — when the Reds turned the second-round draft pick into a switch-hitter — he's hitting .323 so far this year with a .413 on-base percentage.
Hamilton, a shortstop in the Reds organization, has played all year for the Bakersfield Blaze of the California League. In 82 games, he has stolen 104 bases.

That's right - 104 stolen bases!

Read more about Billy Hamilton

Source: Larry Stone, The Seattle Times

Keeping Up with Billy Hamilton
by Mark Smith, May 7, 2013

Billy Hamilton is one of the most intriguing prospects in baseball. In a game where home runs are king, Hamilton’s speed still excites the imagination in a Pete ‘Wheelie’ Wheeler way. Drafted in the second round in 2009, Hamilton stole our hearts. Then he stole 103 bases in 2011; and then a minor league record 155 last season.
Read more

Billy Hamilton - Bio and Minor League Stats

Billy Hamilton - FanGraphs Baseball
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