On Tuesday night in Atlanta, Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. left himself one swing of the bat away from one of baseball's most elusive feats: joining the MLB 40-40 club.
For the unititiated or unaware, the 40-40 club in MLB is when a player hits 40 home runs and accrues 40 stolen bases in the same season. If that sounds particularly impressive, that's because it is. And the rarity of it being accomplished in the big leagues only further amplifies that consideration.
Acuña hit his 38th and 39th home runs of the season against the Phillies on Tuesday, Sept. 19. With 10 games remaining on the schedule thereafter and with him at 67 stolen bases on the season as well, he seems likely to join the 40-40 club. But how many players in MLB have done that before and what did their years look like?
Let's take a look.
MLB 40-40 club: Full list of players and stats
For what it's worth, Acuña's slash line with the 2023 Braves could dwarf some his 40-40 club predecessors if he does join. On the season, he's slashing a ridiculous .338/.418/.596, giving him the best batting average of the group and an OBP and slugging percentage only behind Bonds in 1996.
Another interesting note is that only one of the four players won MVP in their 40-40 season, which was Jose Canseco in 1988. Bonds finished fifth in NL MVP voting in 1996, Alex Rodriguez finished ninth in AL MVP voting in 1998, while Alfonso Soriano finished sixth in 2006.
Even if it doesn't guarantee a player an MVP win, hitting 40 home runs while stealing 40 bases is a truly incredible feat.
Has any MLB player ever hit 40 home runs with 60 stolen bases?
As you can see above, no MLB player has ever hit 40 homers with 60 stolen bags in a season. If Acuña Jr. joins the 40-40 club in the 2023 season, however,he'll also be the founding member of the 40-60 club as well. Talk about making history while making history.
