40–40 club

Early history and pioneers

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 a home run in the 1973 MLB All Star Game, which did not count as an official home run.

When Jose Canseco predicted he would reach 40–40 in 1988, he mistakenly assumed "five or six players must have done it." 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!" Mantle's closest total was 31–21 in 1959.

Members

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.

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. 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. Meanwhile, Ohtani is the first pitcher to join the club.

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.

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; Bonds and Canseco were each implicated in the December 2007 Mitchell Report, while Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to using steroids.

In non-MLB leagues

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. 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.

References

General

Specific

References

1. Eskenazi, Gerald. (October 5, 1988). "Canseco Facing High Expectations". The New York Times.
2. Thomas Boswell. (August 19, 1988). "Jose Canseco's 40–40 Vision Starting to Come Into Focus". Los Angeles Times.
3. Roberts, Russell. (1999). "Stolen!: A History of Base Stealing". McFarland.
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.
6. "Oakland Athletics vs Milwaukee Brewers Box Score: September 23, 1988".
7. "San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies Box Score: September 27, 1996".
8. "Seattle Mariners vs Anaheim Angels Box Score: September 19, 1998".
9. "Milwaukee Brewers vs Washington Nationals Box Score: September 16, 2006".
10. "Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals Box Score: September 22, 2023".
11. "Tampa Bay Rays vs Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score: August 23, 2024".
12. "Taking a deep dive into Ohtani's historic 40–40 feat".
13. "Most Valuable Player MVP Awards & Cy Young Awards Winners". Baseball-Reference.com.
14. "2024 Major League Baseball Team Statistics".
15. (May 24, 2012). "Soriano first ever to reach 40–40–40 mark".
16. "Career Leaders & Records for Home Runs". Baseball-Reference.com.
17. Posnanski, Joe. (February 16, 2009). "The End Of An Era?".
18. Bloom, Barry M.. (December 13, 2007). "Mitchell Report proposes solutions". MLB.com.
19. "Baseball's Mitchell Report Players". Baseball-Reference.com.
20. Gammons, Peter. (February 9, 2009). "A-Rod admits, regrets use of PEDs". ESPN.
21. Schmidt, Michael S.. (February 9, 2009). "Rodriguez Admits to Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs". New York Times.
22. (October 2, 2015). "Eric Thames becomes first with 40–40 in S. Korean baseball; Park Byung-ho sets RBI mark".
23. (25 August 2024). "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".