I was pulling for the Braves and whenever the Indians’ Kenny Lofton came to the plate I would get very nervous… And if he made it on base with no one on in front of him I’d break into a sweat! The reason? Lofton’s speed and the presence of it was extremely disruptive to the Braves pitching staff and their defense.

Speed truly changes the game! It forces pitchers and catchers to divert their attention from executing pitches and it forces infielders to move in or shift out of position to cover on a potential steal. Fast base-runners literally speed the game up and force the defense to rush.