Speed on offense is not entirely necessary for stealing bases, although that would be nice on occasion. But just like speed on defense for a CF isn't entirely about speed to make highlight plays, speed on offense isn't entirely about using it to steal bases. Speed is about making it to third from first on a single, scoring from third on a ground out to the infield, beating out the throw to first on a GIDP to keep an inning going, et. al. The lack of speed in these areas make for a huge deficit in how you can score runs easier without a huge dependence on the longball. I think Milwaukee was a longball team this year and in the end, pitching let them down, but the lack of having more than one way to score held them in check and keep them from running away with the NL Central this year when they actually had a chance to run away and hide.
The above is an excellent primer on speed as a component of offense. Very nice.
I think one could make an argument that speed is overrated in terms of stealing bases, and underrated in terms of everything else to do with offense. Or, to put it another way, speed in terms of offense is sometimes wholly misunderstood.
Speed is of course predominant among the most prolific base stealers. Speed can make up for other deficiencies, like the inability to "read" a pitcher's move or get a good lead or jump. For awhile, anyway. One could argue the "best" base stealers, in terms of setting the team up to score runs (which is ultimately what offense boils down to) are the most efficient theives, not necessarily those with the highest totals. And it doesn't necessarily take great speed to swipe bases. We all know that. The years that Jeff Bagwell stole 30+, there were 4-5 other regulars in the lineup who were arguably faster afoot (Biggio, Bogar, Luis Gonzalez, Chuckie Carr, Commandant Bell in 1997; Biggio, Bogar, pre-wide ass Hidalgo, C4, Admiral Bell in 1999), yet only Biggio (and C4 for one year) approached Bagwell in total+percentage.
For historical perspective, the NL in 2007 collectively stole 1564 bases in 2070 attempts (75.5% success rate). In 1982, in the middle of a small ball, stolen base era, the NL stole 1782 bases in 2604 attempts (68.4%). The 2007 NL (16 teams) averaged just under 100 SBs per team; the 1982 NL (12 teams) averaged 150. They were certainly running more back in the good old days, just like I remember. But they were doing it a lot less efficiently. Also, classically the NL has been thought of as the speed league, and the AL more attuned to the three walks and a cloud of dust offensive style. That was certainly true back in 1982, when the 12-team NL stole 388 more bases than the 12-team AL (1782-1394). Now we hear the leagues are becoming more alike, with less distinctive styles of play. And that is absolutely true, as well, at least when it comes to stolen bases -- the 2007 16-team NL out-stole the 14-team AL by 210 (1564/97.75 per team vs. 1354/96.7 per team). So, adjusting for the number of teams/games, there is now virtually no difference between leagues in base stealing in total or success rate (75.5 vs.73.2). For someone who is old enough to remember the division in league offensive styles very clearly, that is pretty remarkable. But I digest.
As has been suggested, team speed in terms of offense really means the speed to take an extra base, either from the plate or on base, the ability to make an opponent play a less than ideal infield coonfiguration in order to cut off some of that speed, the ability to distract the opponent and especially the opposing pitcher, etc. That sort of thing is harder to quantify directly, though, which I think is why the stolen base total is often the default when it comes to discussing team speed offensively.
It is interesting to me that Milwaukee, which led the known universe in home runs, scored nearly 100 fewer runs than Philadelphia, which hit 20 less HRs but had a much better offense, because they actually hit for more power (.458 vs. .456 team SLG), and a higher average (.274 vs. 262); walked significantly more, and ran far more and far more efficiently - one of the most remarkable stats I have seen in awhile is the Philadelphia team stolen bases totals: 138 steals, 19 caught stealing, 88% success rate
for the team. That just seems incredible to me. In fact, overall the 2007 Philly offense may be one of the better ones to come along in awhile, in terms of overall production and balance. Everyone talks about Milwaukee, but damn. . .
