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40–40 club

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a baseball accomplishment. For the sports bar, see The 40/40 Club. For the college soccer achievement of the same name, see List of NCAA Division I men's soccer players with 40 goals and 40 assists.

Alfonso Soriano, the third most recent 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 who have collected 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season. Jose Canseco was the first to achieve this, doing so in 1988 after having predicted the feat in April of that year.[1][2] The most recent player to reach the milestone is Shohei Ohtani, achieving the feat during the 2024 season. Ohtani also did it in the fewest number of games, 126. This broke the previous record held by Alfonso Soriano, who completed it in 147 games.

Joining the club

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In total, only six players have reached the 40–40 club in MLB history and none have done so more than once. Of these, four were right-handed batters and two were left-handed. Two players—Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez—are also members of the 600 home run club.[3] Rodriguez (shortstop) and Ohtani (designated hitter) are the only non-outfielders to attain 40–40. Soriano played second base exclusively from 2001 through 2005, but moved to left field starting in his 40-40 season in 2006.[4] Ohtani has been a pitcher and two-way player for most of his MLB career, but was exclusively a DH in his 40-40 season in 2024 due to an arm injury he suffered in the previous year.

For the games in which each player joined the 40-40 club, Canseco, Bonds, and Soriano joined via stealing their 40th base, while Rodriguez, Acuña Jr., and Ohtani joined by hitting their 40th home run. Ohtani is the only player to achieve both in the same game, stealing his 40th base in the fourth inning of the game and then hitting a game-winning, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth for his 40th home run.[5]

Jose Canseco and Ronald Acuña Jr. both won the MVP Award in the same year of their 40–40 seasons. Bonds finished 5th in the league on the MVP ballot, Soriano 6th, and Rodriguez 9th, the seasons in which they accomplished the 40–40. Canseco and Acuña both made the post-season during their 40-40 years, although neither team won the World Series.[6] Soriano also hit 41 doubles during his 40–40 season, the only player ever to achieve that feat.[7]

All four non-active 40–40 club members had at least 400 career home runs and 200 stolen bases. Acuña Jr. (41–37 in 2019), Soriano (39–41 in 2002), and Bonds (40–37 in 1997) were all close to having multiple 40–40 seasons. Canseco’s next closest 40–40 season was 1998 (46–29). Rodriguez hit 40 home runs on seven other occasions but never stole more than 24 bases in any of those years.

Legacy

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Becoming a member of the 40–40 club is an elusive achievement in modern American baseball, as very few players possess both the power to hit 40 home runs and the speed to steal 40 bases in a season. Generally, a player with the strength to hit 40 home runs will not have the speed necessary to steal 40 bases, and vice versa. This remains true even as statistical trends change in the MLB—stolen base totals in the 1980s were unusually high, but very few players reached 40 home runs; home run totals were extremely high in the late 1990s, but stolen bases became more rare as the steal was a sparingly-used tactic.

Due to the modernity of the 40–40 club, as well as the links to the use of performance-enhancing drugs[8] by Bonds, Canseco and Rodriguez, no eligible club members have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Eligibility requires that a player has been retired five seasons or deceased for at least six months.[9] Acuña Jr and Ohtani are the only active players that have achieved a 40–40 season. Soriano fell off the Hall of Fame ballot in his first year of eligibility in 2020. Bonds made it to 10 years on the ballot but ultimately fell short in 2022, his final year of eligibility.

Bonds and Canseco were both implicated in the December 2007 Mitchell Report,[10][11] while Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to using steroids.[12][13]

Non-MLB 40-40 club

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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 join the Korea Baseball Organization's 40–40 club.[14]

Members

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Key
HR Home runs
SB Stolen bases
G Games played as of the player reached 40-40 (Not the total games played in that season)
The 40-40 game The game which the player achieved 40-40
† Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
‡ Player is active
Members of the 40–40 club
Season Player Team HR SB G The 40-40 game Ref
1988 Jose Canseco Oakland Athletics 42 40 151 September 23, 1988, Milwaukee Brewers (away), pitcher Juan Nieves [15]
1996 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants 42 40 158 September 27, 1996, Colorado Rockies (away), pitcher Armando Reynoso [16]
1998 Alex Rodriguez Seattle Mariners 42 46 153 September 19, 1998, Anaheim Angels (away), pitcher Jack McDowell [17]
2006 Alfonso Soriano Washington Nationals 46 41 147 September 16, 2006, Milwaukee Brewers (home), pitcher Dave Bush [18]
2023 Ronald Acuña Jr.‡ Atlanta Braves 41 73 152 September 22, 2023, Washington Nationals (away), pitcher Patrick Corbin [19]
2024 Shohei Ohtani‡ Los Angeles Dodgers 40 40 126 August 23, 2024, Tampa Bay Rays (home), pitcher Colin Poche [20]

Near-misses

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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. Bobby Bonds hit his 38th home run of the season on September 9, 1973, but came up one home run shy of becoming the founding member of the club after hitting just one home run in the Giants' final 21 games. That same season, he hit two home runs in a rain-out against the Braves on May 23, and a third home run in the All-Star game, none of which would count as "official" home runs and prevent him from becoming the first member of the 40–40 club.

In 1987, Eric Davis of the Cincinnati Reds missed becoming the first player to accomplish 40–40, falling three home runs short, when he hit 37 home runs and stole 50 bases. When Canseco predicted he would reach 40–40 in 1988, he mistakenly assumed "five or six players must have done it."[21] After Canseco became the first member of the club, 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!"[22] Mantle's career best for stolen bases in a single season was 21.[23]

In 2002, both Vladimir Guerrero of the Montreal Expos and Alfonso Soriano of the New York Yankees were only one home run short of reaching 40–40.[24] In 2004, Carlos Beltrán was two home runs shy as he hit 38 and collected 42 steals, splitting the season between the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros. In 2011, Matt Kemp came up one home run shy, as he hit 39 and stole 40 bases. Because of a rainout, the Dodgers played only 161 games in 2011.[25] Kemp had hit a home run on the last day of the 2010 season and Opening Day 2012, meaning over any 162-game period, he would have been a member of the 40-40 club.

In 2019, Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. barely missed the 40–40 club, hitting 41 home runs and stealing 37 bases before his season ended prematurely due to an injury.

Below are players who reached 40 or more in one category while reaching at least 35 but less than 40 in the other.

Year Player Team HR SB
1956 Willie Mays New York Giants 36 40
1973 Bobby Bonds San Francisco Giants 39 43
1977 California Angels 37 41
1987 Eric Davis Cincinnati Reds 37 50
1989 Howard Johnson New York Mets 36 41
1997 Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants 40 37
2002 Vladimir Guerrero Montreal Expos 39 40
Alfonso Soriano New York Yankees 39 41
2004 Carlos Beltrán Kansas City Royals
Houston Astros 		38 42
2011 Matt Kemp Los Angeles Dodgers 39 40
2019 Ronald Acuña Jr. Atlanta Braves 41 37

See also

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Notes

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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. ^ "Career Leaders & Records for Home Runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  4. ^ "Soriano's first game in left field goes smoothly". ESPN (Associated Press). April 3, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  5. ^ "Taking a deep dive into Ohtani's historic 40-40 feat". MLB.com.
  6. ^ "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ Posnanski, Joe (February 16, 2009). "The End Of An Era?". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  9. ^ "Rules for Election". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  10. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (December 13, 2007). "Mitchell Report proposes solutions". MLB.com. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  11. ^ "Baseball's Mitchell Report Players". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  12. ^ Gammons, Peter (February 9, 2009). "A-Rod admits, regrets use of PEDs". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
  13. ^ Schmidt, Michael S. (February 9, 2009). "Rodriguez Admits to Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs". New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "Oakland Athletics vs Milwaukee Brewers Box Score: September 23, 1988". Baseball-Reference.com.
  16. ^ "San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies Box Score: September 27, 1996". Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. ^ "Seattle Mariners vs Anaheim Angels Box Score: September 19, 1998". Baseball-Reference.com.
  18. ^ "Milwaukee Brewers vs Washington Nationals Box Score: September 16, 2006". Baseball-Reference.com.
  19. ^ "Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals Box Score: September 22, 2023". Baseball-Reference.com.
  20. ^ "Tampa Bay Rays vs Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score: August 23, 2024". Baseball-Reference.com.
  21. ^ Roberts, Russell (1999). Stolen!: A History of Base Stealing. McFarland. p. 175. ISBN 9780786406500. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  22. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (June 16, 2009). "These Lakers fans are living in la-la land". The Boston Globe.
  23. ^ "Mickey Mantle Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  24. ^ Chass, Murray (September 30, 2002). "BASEBALL; Two Star Players Join A Select, if Odd, Group". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  25. ^ Standig, Ben (September 8, 2011). "Game with Nationals canceled due to rain". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
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