Scott Podsednik has stolen 165 bases since becoming a regular major leaguer in 2003. David E. Klutho/SI

Maury Wills, Lou Brock, Vince Coleman, Tim Raines, Rickey Henderson ... Scott Podsednik.

You were probably with me up until ... Scott Podsednik.

You recognized a list of baseball's all-time thieves (in the best sense of the word) until ... Scott Podsednik.

And now, you're most likely either scratching your head, rolling about with belly laughter or wondering whether the recent East Coast heat wave sapped my senses.

Base-stealing is a lost art, and the first five names represent some of the game's greatest practitioners of the craft. They were all-around players, certainly. One (Brock) is a Hall of Famer, and another (Henderson) certainly will be. The rest were respected pros who contributed to their teams with skill and leadership.

But each is largely remembered for the way he changed the game not at the plate, but once he reached first base -- for how he set pitchers' hair on end and caused catchers to fidget like little kids in church. The mere threat that he might steal made infielders squirm and fans buzz with anticipation.

Time was when every team had at least one base-stealing threat, and the best clubs had at least two. Now, all of baseball has only ... Scott Podsednik.

This is no knock against the surprising White Sox's left fielder. He's a true baseball success story -- a survivor who is now thriving. A pro since 1994, he's spent way more years in the minors (nine) than in the majors (three). He was picked up for $12,000 when the Marlins left him unprotected, then later waived by the Mariners.

Signed by Milwaukee (after every AL team passed on him), Poz became one of only four rookies in baseball history to hit at least .300 (.314), steal 40 bases (43) and score 100 runs (103). Last season he led baseball with 70 stolen bases but was then traded to Chicago for outfielder Carlos Lee, a more productive hitter. So far in 2005, Poz is batting .288 and again leading the sport in the statistic baseball seems to have forgotten; he has 58 stolen bases -- 15 more than anyone else.

And, at 29, he became a first-time All-Star.

But you'd never equate him with the game's base-stealing greats. It's not his fault, though.

Baseball, sadly, is at a standstill. A generation ago, Podsednik's MLB-leading stolen-base total wouldn't have even been among the league leaders behind Coleman's 110. The 10 players who led baseball in steals during the 1980s averaged 98 per season. Since the 2000 season, the top thieves have pilfered an average of only 60 bags each year.

Team numbers are down as well. Last season, Anaheim led the majors with 143 stolen bases. That's the lowest total to lead baseball in 20 years, and it's one fewer than the Kansas City Royals achieved during the strike-shortened 1994 season.

Mookie Wilson, the Mets' former speed threat (No. 12 on baseball's all-time list) who now manages the franchise's Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, calls today's speed-deprived game "boring baseball."

I thought for a moment that my cell phone had hit a dead zone after I asked him to name today's top base stealers. "Ten years ago," he finally said, "you could name 10 or 15 guys off the top of your head. Now, you have to think about it."