There are few skillsets more valuable in baseball than a prolific home run hitter or base stealer. Each has their own merits and the ability to make a tremendous impact on a nightly basis.
However, it is exceedingly rare that a player comes along who is able to combine both tools into one package.
And within that already small group, there is an even more exclusive club that only five players in MLB history of the game can lay claim to. While there have been many 30-30 seasons in comparison, few have been able to take it up that extra notch.
Shohei Ohtani joined the 30-30 club during the 2024 season and he kept closing in on joining those with 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in the same year.
Matt Kemp was the last Dodgers player to get close to joining the list of players in MLB history with a 40-40 season, falling just one homer short during his MVP runner-up campaign in 2011.
Kemp and the Dodgers only played 161 games that season, so he may very well have joined the exclusive club with one more game played.
40-40 seasons in MLB history
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani put himself into the record books on Aug. 23, 2024, with one stolen base and a walk-off grand slam against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ohtani became the fastest player to a 40-40 season in MLB history by accomplishing the feat in 126 games.
Now well within Ohtani’s reach is the first 45-45 season in MLB history.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves, 2023
Ronald Acuña Jr. became the most recent member of the 40-40 club, writing his name in the MLB record book with 41 home runs and an astounding 73 stolen bases in 2023. He had been in position to join the club in 2019, but fell three stolen bases short of history.
In the first season of the new rule changes that encouraged base stealing, Acuña took full advantage to ensure that would not happen again.
Alfonso Soriano, Nationals, 2006
Alfonso Soriano had probably the best contract year performance of any player in the history of baseball with the Washington Nationals in 2006. Soriano hit a career-high 46 home runs, and his 41 stolen bases were the second most of his career. Soriano turned that into an eight-year, $136 million contract with the Chicago Cubs in the offseason.
While his power would persist throughout his career, Soriano would never again reach 20 stolen bases in a single season.
Alex Rodriguez, Mariners, 1998
Alex Rodriguez hit 36 home runs and stole 15 bases in his first full season in the Majors in 1996. He followed that up with 23 homers and 29 stolen bases the next season. In 1998 he put it all together to hit 42 home runs and steal 46 bags.
Barry Bonds, Giants, 1996
Already a three-time member of the 30-30 club by the time he reached his 11th MLB season, Barry Bonds had throughly displayed his ability as a power threat and base stealer.
His 42 home runs in 1996 were the second-highest mark of his career up to that point. Bonds was also incredibly effective on the base paths as he stole 40 bags while only being caught stealing seven times.
Jose Canseco, A’s, 1988
The pioneer of the 40-40 club and part of the “Bash Brothers,” Jose Canseco completed the feat in just his third full season in the Majors. Canseco had established himself as a power threat prior to 1988, hitting 64 combined home runs the previous two years.
His 40 stolen bases in 1988 were more than his previous two seasons combined, three if you count the 29 games he played in 1985.
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