Few things in baseball are more rare than a 40/40 year. Four players in history have consistently displayed elite power and speed
and while remaining healthy to hit 40 homeruns and steal 40 base. None of these four players has been active since 2006. Ronald Acuna Jr. joined the 40/70 club with a leadoff homer against the Nationals on Friday. Acuna stole 2 bases on Wednesday against the Cubs. This brought him to 70 steals for the year, and put the Braves star in an even more exclusive club: the 40/70 Club. Alex Rodriguez, who was a member of the 40/40 group in 1998, had the previous record for the most steals. After slowing down during the first half of the second season, Acuna suddenly turned it on in September. His 40th home run came via his 10th September home run, tying Acuna with Brave Matt Olson as the most for the month. But this is only the beginning. He was able to create his own team earlier this year by becoming the first to hit 30 homers and steal 60 base in a season. Acuna reached that milestone on the strength of a four home run week, which included a grand slam at his wedding. Acuna is also the first National League player in history to achieve 40/40 and win AL MVP honors while leading the A’s to the World Series. Ronald Acuna Jr., a Braves player, becomes the inaugural member of the 40-70 club1988 – Jose Canseco (Oakland Athletes)
: 42 HRs, 40 SBs
1988 – Jose Canseco was the first to achieve the 40/40 feat and win the AL MVP while leading the A’s to the World Series. Canseco had a rare combination of speed and power in baseball. He achieved the first 40/40 in MLB history. He also led the AL with a slugging rate of.390 and hit over.300 only once in his career. Canseco was named American League MVP and helped the Athletics to the World Series. The Athletics lost the series to Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1.
1996: Barry Bonds,
San Francisco Giants
: .308/.461/.615/1.076; 42 HR, 40 SB
Barry Bonds has a lot of records, but the first half of his career saw an elite power-speed combination that younger fans who saw him break home-run records were not privy to. Bonds had 42 home runs and 40 steals in 1996. This was the third time he’d ever reached 40 or more. Bonds was not able to make the top three of the MVP voting despite having the second season ever with 40 longballs and 40 steals. The dynamic outfielder had to meet a higher standard after winning MVP awards in 1990, 1992, and 1993.
Despite his incredible play, the Giants finished in last place in the NL West and missed the playoffs, a likely reason he failed to garner more MVP support.
1998: Alex Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners: .310/.360/.560/.919; 42 HR, 46 SB
The all-time stolen base leader in 40/40 seasons, Rodriguez topped 40 steals for the first and only time in his career when he swiped 46 bags to go along with swatting 42 big flies. Those numbers helped A-Rod earn MVP votes for the second time in his career but he somehow finished just ninth in the voting despite also leading the AL in hits for the season (213) as well as being top-five in RBI (124), total bases (384), runs scored (123) and extra-base hits (82).
However, despite his greatness, Rodriguez and the Mariners finished under .500 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Mariners’ failure to qualify for the playoffs is a surefire explanation. It was also his only season with Washington, and his 46 home runs are still the franchise record for a single season. Soriano also surpassed 40 long balls for the first time in his career and 35 big flies was the last time. It was also the final time that he had 40 stolen bases. All those numbers and his franchise record, however, were not enough to garner MVP support — as like the teams of two previous 40/40 players, the Nationals didn’t make the playoffs and finished in last place in the NL East.2023: Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves: .336/.414/.596/1.010; 42 HR, 71 SB (on-pace stats)
Through 155 games: .336/.414/.596/1.010;
41 HR, 70 SB
As mentioned above, Acuna slugged his 40th homer last Friday and swip Get more from Major League Baseball
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