No one expected it.
But on Tuesday, there went Rowdy Tellez, getting a healthy lead off first base and sprinting toward second. Sliding in feet first, the Seattle Mariners’ 270-pound first baseman was safe with a stolen base.
It was the fifth of Tellez’s MLB career.
Can we all stop and appreciate the little things… like Rowdy Tellez stealing a base. pic.twitter.com/SkKEymu7nh
— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) June 18, 2025
And believe it or not, with his fifth career steal, Tellez made some MLB history.
He’s now tied for the most steals by a guy named Rowdy in MLB history, according to FanSided’s Mariners page.
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Prior to Tellez, there was Rowdy Elliott.
Elliott was a 5-foot-9, 160-pound catcher born in 1890 in Kokomo, Indiana.
He played five years in the National League. He suited up for the 1910 Boston Doves, who soon became the Boston Braves. Then he spent time with the Chicago Cubs and the Brooklyn Robins, soon to be the Dodgers.
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Elliott also stole five bases in his career.
He was a .241 hitter with one career homer whose full name was Harold Bell Elliott.
Tellez is a career .232 hitter with 116 homers whose full name is Ryan John Tellez.
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Caught stealing statistics don’t exist from Elliott’s career, so we don’t know how many times he was thrown out. Tellez is now 5-for-8 in his MLB base-stealing career.
He had one in 2019, one last year, and one this year. In 2022 with the Brewers, Tellez swiped two bags.
And if he can manage just one more stolen base in his career, Rowdy Tellez will leave Rowdy Elliott in the dust.
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