Shohei Ohtani became the first Los Angeles Dodgers player and sixth ever in MLB history with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season. He achieved the feat with a walk-off grand slam against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.
Ohtani reached his 40th stolen base on Friday as well, doing so in the fourth inning against Tyler Alexander after reaching on an infield single.
Ronald Acuña Jr. holds the record for most stolen bases during a 40-40 season with 73 swiped bags, along with his 41 home runs, which he set during the 2023 season.
The four other previous 40-40 seasons belong to Jose Canseco, who became the first player in MLB history to accomplish it with 42 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 1988 for the Oakland Athletics.
Barry Bonds went 42-40 for the San Francisco Giants in 1996, and Alex Rodriguez had 42-46 for the Seattle Mariners in 1998.
Earlier this season, Ohtani set the Dodgers franchise record with an eighth game with at least one stolen base and home run. Kirk Gibson previously held the record with seven such games, which had stood since the 1988 season.
Matt Kemp was the last Dodgers player to close in on a 40-40 season, but he finished one home run shy of the accomplishment, also playing in just 161 games, rather than 162.
With 40 home runs, Ohtani now 211 in his career, putting him seven away from tying the record for most home runs by an Asian-born player, currently held by Shin-Soo Choo with 218.
If Ohtani is able to pass Choo this year, he would also tie Shawn Green’s Dodgers franchise record with his 49th homer of the season. One more would give Ohtani 50, setting a new Dodgers franchise record in a season and giving him a real chance at a 50-50 season, which would be the first in MLB history.
Shohei Ohtani fastest player to 40-40 season
Ohtani became the fastest player in MLB history to join the 40-40 club with just 126 games needed. Alfonso Soriano was the previous quickest to do it, needed 147 games to accomplish the feat.
Among the players with a 40-40 season in MLB history, Soriano leads the group with 46 home runs to go along with 41 stolen bases, during the 2006 season for the Washington Nationals.
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