You can steal a base in baseball any time the ball is live and you’re already a runner on base, typically as the pitcher delivers the ball to home plate.

Basic idea

A stolen base happens when a runner advances to the next base on their own while a pitch is being delivered, without help from a hit, error, or other play. The scorer only credits a stolen base if the advance is judged to be primarily due to the runner’s own action and not, for example, just a wild pitch allowing everybody to move up.

When you can steal

  • A runner may attempt to steal as soon as the ball is live and the pitcher is engaged with the batter, usually breaking the moment the pitcher is committed to throwing to home.
  • Steals are most common from first to second or second to third during the pitch, often timed off the pitcher’s move or on off‑speed pitches that give extra time.
  • A steal can also be combined with situations like double steals and strategic attempts to get into scoring position before a hit or sacrifice fly.

When you cannot steal

  • You cannot steal when the ball is dead , such as after a foul ball, timeout, or any play where the umpire has called “time.”
  • You cannot “steal” while required to tag up on a fly ball; you must wait until the ball is touched or caught before advancing.
  • There is no legal way to “steal” first base from the batter’s box in standard rules; a runner must first reach base by a normal means (hit, walk, hit‑by‑pitch, etc.).

Strategy and unwritten norms

  • Runners look for predictable pitcher timing, slower deliveries, or inattentive infielders to choose a good moment to go.
  • While it is always technically legal when the ball is live, some fans and players see stealing with a huge late‑game lead as poor sportsmanship, leading to the kind of “unwritten rules” debates often seen in forum discussions and highlight clips.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.