40–40 club

This article is about a baseball accomplishment. For the restaurant chain, see 40/40 Club (venue).

Alfonso Soriano, the fourth player to join the 40–40 club, commemorated the occasion in 2006 by retrieving the bag from second base after his 40th steal.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 40–40 club is the group of batters, currently six, who have collected 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season. Few professional baseball players have possessed both the power and speed to reach this level, and no players have done so more than once. The six players with a 40–40 season are Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is the only player to achieve a 50–50 season, having done so in 2024.

Early history and pioneers

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The first player to approach the mark was Ken Williams in 1922, with 39 home runs and 37 stolen bases, thus making him the first player to reach the 30–30 club. It took another 30 years for another player to come close to 40–40, as Willie Mays did in 1956 with 36 home runs and 40 stolen bases. In 1973, Bobby Bonds achieved 39–43; he hit two more home runs in a rain-out against the Braves on May 23, and a third home run in the 1973 MLB All Star Game, none of which counted as official home runs.

When Jose Canseco predicted he would reach 40–40 in 1988,[1][2] he mistakenly assumed "five or six players must have done it."[3] After Canseco became the first player to reach 40–40, Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle was quoted as saying, "Hell, If I'd known 40–40 was going to be a big deal, I'd have done it every year!"[4] Mantle's closest total was 31–21 in 1959.[5]

Members

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Season Player HR SB Games taken to
reach 40–40 		Player's team 40–40 game
1988 Jose Canseco 42 40 151 Oakland Athletics September 23, 1988, vs Milwaukee Brewers, pitcher Juan Nieves[6]
1996 Barry Bonds 42 40 158 San Francisco Giants September 27, 1996, vs Colorado Rockies, pitcher Armando Reynoso[7]
1998 Alex Rodriguez 42 46 153 Seattle Mariners September 19, 1998, vs Anaheim Angels, pitcher Jack McDowell[8]
2006 Alfonso Soriano 46 41 147 Washington Nationals September 16, 2006, vs Milwaukee Brewers, pitcher Dave Bush[9]
2023 Ronald Acuña Jr. 41 73 152 Atlanta Braves September 22, 2023, vs Washington Nationals, pitcher Patrick Corbin[10]
2024 Shohei Ohtani 54 59 126 Los Angeles Dodgers August 23, 2024, vs Tampa Bay Rays, pitcher Colin Poche[11]

Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alfonso Soriano, and Ronald Acuña Jr. were outfielders in their 40–40 seasons, while Alex Rodriguez played shortstop. Shohei Ohtani served as a designated hitter in his 40–40 season due to an arm injury he suffered in the previous year. Acuña Jr. (41–37 in 2019), Soriano (39–41 in 2002, when playing second base), and Bonds (40–37 in 1997) all came close to having multiple 40–40 seasons.

Canseco, Bonds, and Soriano joined the 40–40 club by stealing their 40th bases, while Rodriguez, Acuña Jr., and Ohtani joined by hitting their 40th home runs. Ohtani is the only player to achieve both in the same game, stealing his 40th base in the fourth inning and then hitting a game-winning, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth for his 40th home run.[12]

Canseco, Acuña Jr., and Ohtani all won the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award in the year of their 40–40 seasons. All three's teams also reached the MLB playoffs in their 40–40 years, and Ohtani's Dodgers won the World Series in his 50–50 year.[13][14] Soriano is the only member of the club to have a batting average under .300 in his 40–40 season. Soriano also hit 41 doubles during his 40–40 season, making him the only player to achieve that feat.[15]

As of 2024, Acuña Jr. and Ohtani are the only active players who have achieved a 40–40 season. All four retired 40–40 club members had at least 400 career home runs and 200 stolen bases in their careers, and Bonds and Rodriguez are also members of the 600 home run club.[16]

No members of the 40–40 club have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Active players are ineligible for the Hall of Fame, and Soriano fell off the Hall of Fame ballot in his first year of eligibility in 2020. The other retired members of the 40–40 club have been linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs;[17] Bonds and Canseco were each implicated in the December 2007 Mitchell Report,[18][19] while Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to using steroids.[20][21]

In non-MLB leagues

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After stealing a base in an October 2, 2015 game for the NC Dinos, first baseman Eric Thames became the first player to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season in a Korea Baseball Organization season.[22] The feat has never been achieved in Nippon Professional Baseball; the closest effort was Koji Akiyama's 1987 season, in which he hit 43 home runs and stole 38 bases.[23]

50–50 season

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Ohtani poised to steal a base and Ohtani at bat in his 50–50 season, 2024.

As of 2024, players have stolen 50 bases or more in an MLB season almost 500 times, while players have hit 50 home runs or more 50 times, but only Shohei Ohtani in 2024 has done both in the same season.[24] Two other players, Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson, achieved 50 home runs in one season and 50 stolen bases in another season during their careers.[25]

Before Ohtani's 50–50 season, the highest number of home runs in a 50-stolen base season was 41 by Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023, and the highest number of stolen bases in a 50-home run season was 24, a mark shared by Willie Mays in 1955 and Alex Rodriguez in 2007.[24][26]

In the September 19, 2024, game in which Ohtani reached the 50–50 plateau, Ohtani became the first Dodgers player to achieve 10 or more runs batted in (RBIs) in a single game, a mark only achieved by 16 other batters.[25] In total, Ohtani had six hits in six at bats, including three home runs and two doubles, as well as two steals in that game.[25] Ohtani finished the 2024 season with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases.

Season Player HR SB Games taken to
reach 50–50 		Player's team 50–50 game
2024 Shohei Ohtani 54 59 150 Los Angeles Dodgers September 19, 2024, vs Miami Marlins, pitcher Mike Baumann[27]

See also

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References

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General

  • "40–40 Club". Baseball-Almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  • "The 40–40 Club – Rare Feats". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved July 4, 2012.

Specific

  1. ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (October 5, 1988). "Canseco Facing High Expectations". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
  2. ^ Thomas Boswell (August 19, 1988). "Jose Canseco's 40–40 Vision Starting to Come Into Focus". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  3. ^ Roberts, Russell (1999). Stolen!: A History of Base Stealing. McFarland. p. 175. ISBN 9780786406500. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  4. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (June 16, 2009). "These Lakers fans are living in la-la land". The Boston Globe.
  5. ^ "Mickey Mantle Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  6. ^ "Oakland Athletics vs Milwaukee Brewers Box Score: September 23, 1988". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ "San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies Box Score: September 27, 1996". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. ^ "Seattle Mariners vs Anaheim Angels Box Score: September 19, 1998". Baseball-Reference.com.
  9. ^ "Milwaukee Brewers vs Washington Nationals Box Score: September 16, 2006". Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ "Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals Box Score: September 22, 2023". Baseball-Reference.com.
  11. ^ "Tampa Bay Rays vs Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score: August 23, 2024". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. ^ "Taking a deep dive into Ohtani's historic 40–40 feat". MLB.com.
  13. ^ "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  14. ^ "2024 Major League Baseball Team Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  15. ^ "Soriano first ever to reach 40–40–40 mark". Associated Press. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on November 2, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
  16. ^ "Career Leaders & Records for Home Runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  17. ^ Posnanski, Joe (February 16, 2009). "The End Of An Era?". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  18. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (December 13, 2007). "Mitchell Report proposes solutions". MLB.com. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  19. ^ "Baseball's Mitchell Report Players". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  20. ^ Gammons, Peter (February 9, 2009). "A-Rod admits, regrets use of PEDs". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
  21. ^ Schmidt, Michael S. (February 9, 2009). "Rodriguez Admits to Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs". New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
  22. ^ "Eric Thames becomes first with 40–40 in S. Korean baseball; Park Byung-ho sets RBI mark". Yonhap. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  23. ^ "日本のプロ野球では前人未到の４０―４０ 最も惜しかったのは４３本塁打３８盗塁". Sports Hōchi. August 25, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Padilla, Ramon (September 19, 2024). "Shohei Ohtani the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases". USA Today. data provided by Sport's Reference's StatHead Baseball
  25. ^ a b c Axisa, Mike (September 20, 2024). "Shohei Ohtani records first 50-50 season in MLB history: Dodgers superstar slugs 50 homers, steals 50 bases". CBS Sports.
  26. ^ Langs, Sarah (September 21, 2024). "11 stats and facts as amazing as Ohtani's record-setting day at the plate". MLB.com.
  27. ^ "Tracking Shohei Ohtani's quest for 50 home runs, 50 stolen bases".
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