in the 1920s to 40s, players stole home several time a season, why not now? Bryce Harper stole home off Cole Hammels last year.?

Ty Cobb once stole home eight times in one season, and he's the career leader with 54 steals of home.

Steals in general dropped, from 1.5 per game in 1990 to just over one a game in 2000, as players juiced up and teams decided to play long ball.

Now that pitchers are beginning to dominate hitters, manufacturing runs has become a necessity, but that doesn't mean steals of home plate are on the rise.

For one thing, pitchers throw much harder and with greater accuracy, so runners are unlikely to beat the throw to the plate. If a runner steals home these days it's due more to opportunity -- pitcher or fielder being inattentive -- than a designed play.

I saw two runner hung up between 3rd and home this weekend because a batter whiffed on a squeeze -- teams can't afford to give runs away like that.

I believe the drop in sealing home corresponds to the change in pitching motions.

Back then it was common for pitchers to use a true "wind up" motion where they might swing their arm around 3 or 4 times before actually throwing a pitch. Take a look at the pitching motion used by Satchel Paige in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3TLzWAOE0

Skip to 1:29 to see the big dramatic wind-up motion which used to be common.

That long wind up gave runners the chance to get a bigger jump and a better chance to steal home.

Those wind ups aren't legal any longer, so stealing home is nearly impossible with modern pitching motions.

Because fielders have gotten much better - their arms are stronger, their gloves are better, and they've figured out how to prevent the steal of home in almost all circumstances.

High incidences of steals of home are a sign of a less developed game.