Kenny Lofton Marquee

b. May 31, 1967 · Houston Astros 1991, Cleveland Indians 1992–1996, 1998–2001, 2007, Atlanta Braves 1997, Chicago White Sox 2002, San Francisco Giants 2002, Pittsburgh Pirates 2003, Chicago Cubs 2003, New York Yankees 2004, Philadelphia Phillies 2005, Los Angeles Dodgers 2006, Texas Rangers 2007

He led the American League in stolen bases in each of his first five full seasons — 66, 70, 60, 54 and 75 — and finished with 622, which is fifteenth all-time. Seventeen seasons gave him 2,428 hits, 1,528 runs, 116 triples, 945 walks and a .299 average, with six All-Star selections and four Gold Gloves.

He was the leadoff hitter and center fielder for the Cleveland clubs that reached the World Series in 1995 and 1997, and he played in the postseason eleven times for six different clubs. Eleven organizations employed him in all, most of them at the deadline.

He played basketball at Arizona, went to a Final Four as the point guard, and did not play a full season of college baseball. The 2013 ballot gave him 18 votes of 569 and he came off after one year, which for 622 steals and 2,428 hits is the most-cited miscarriage of that decade's voting.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	6	1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Gold Glove	4	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
Player of the Week	3	1994, 1997, 2000

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1991	HOU	20	74	9	15	1	0	0	0	5	19	2	.203
1992	CLE	148	576	96	164	15	8	5	42	68	54	66	.285
1993	CLE	148	569	116	185	28	8	1	42	81	83	70	.325
1994	CLE	112	459	105	160	32	9	12	57	52	56	60	.349
1995	CLE	118	481	93	149	22	13	7	53	40	49	54	.310
1996	CLE	154	662	132	210	35	4	14	67	61	82	75	.317
1997	ATL	122	493	90	164	20	6	5	48	64	83	27	.333
1998	CLE	154	600	101	169	31	6	12	64	87	80	54	.282
1999	CLE	120	465	110	140	28	6	7	39	79	84	25	.301
2000	CLE	137	543	107	151	23	5	15	73	79	72	30	.278
2001	CLE	133	517	91	135	21	4	14	66	47	69	16	.261
2002	CHW/SFG	139	532	98	139	30	9	11	51	72	73	29	.261
2003	CHC/PIT	140	547	97	162	32	8	12	46	46	51	30	.296
2004	NYY	83	276	51	76	10	7	3	18	31	27	7	.275
2005	PHI	110	367	67	123	15	5	2	36	32	41	22	.335
2006	LAD	129	469	79	141	15	12	3	41	45	42	32	.301
2007	CLE/TEX	136	490	86	145	25	6	7	38	56	51	23	.296
Career	—	2103	8120	1528	2428	383	116	130	781	945	1016	622	.299

On this day & linked events

1967

Born May 31, 1967

East Chicago, IN, USA

1991

Major-league debut: Kenny Lofton

Kenny Lofton made a major-league debut on September 14, 1991.

2007

Final major-league game: Kenny Lofton

Kenny Lofton played a final major-league game on September 29, 2007.

Image: Andrew Malone, CC BY 2.0