A proud franchise with a tradition of speed, from Maury Wills and Davey Lopes to Dee Gordon, is moving rather slowly these days. A look at the July leaderboard shows three players with more stolen bases than the 32 the Dodgers have as a team.
The Dodgers didn’t steal many bases last year either. A quick glance at their roster reveals why.
Chase Utley, 37, coming off a season in which he stole three bases, is their most frequent leadoff hitter. Howie Kendrick, 33, is the team leader in steals with seven. When catcher A.J. Ellis, 35, stole a base for the first time Wednesday, he took the canvas bag back to his locker, where a gaggle of reporters asked about his accomplishment.