40-40 club

The 40-40 club represented the most elite company of power and speed in a single season - until Shohei Ohtani established the ethereal 50-50 club in 2024. The name usually refers to a season with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases - although occasionally it is meant to refer to 40 home runs and 40 doubles in a season (Willie Stargell got quite a bit of attention for accomplishing that in 1973).

The members are:

• Jose Canseco, 1988, 42 home runs, 40 stolen bases
• Barry Bonds, 1996, 42 home runs, 40 stolen bases
• Alex Rodriguez, 1998, 42 home runs, 46 stolen bases
• Alfonso Soriano, 2006, 46 home runs, 41 stolen bases
• Ronald Acuna, 2023, 41 home runs, 73 stolen bases
• Shohei Ohtani, 2024, 54 home runs, 59 stolen bases

Near misses:

• Ken Williams, 1922, 39 home runs, 37 stolen bases
• Willie Mays, 1956, 36 home runs, 40 stolen bases
• Willie Mays, 1957, 35 home runs, 38 stolen bases
• Bobby Bonds, 1973, 39 home runs, 43 stolen bases
• Bobby Bonds, 1977, 37 home runs, 41 stolen bases
• Eric Davis, 1987, 37 home runs, 50 stolen bases
• Darryl Strawberry, 1987, 39 home runs, 36 stolen bases
• Howard Johnson, 1989, 36 home runs, 41 stolen bases
• Shawn Green, 1998, 35 home runs, 35 stolen bases
• Vladimir Guerrero, 2002, 39 home runs, 40 stolen bases
• Alfonso Soriano, 2002, 39 home runs, 41 stolen bases
• Carlos Beltran, 2004, 38 home runs, 42 stolen bases
• Matt Kemp, 2011, 39 home runs, 40 stolen bases
• Ronald Acuna, 2019, 41 home runs, 37 stolen bases
• José Ramírez, 2024, 39 home runs, 41 stolen bases

There is also a less exclusive - but still prestigious - 30-30 club. Players are never said to be in the 20-20 club or 25-25 club, although Eric Davis and Joe Morgan drew attention for their unusual accomplishments: Davis and Rickey Henderson created the 25-80 club in 1986, while Morgan achieved the 25-60 club twice.

Bill James devised the Power/speed number to quantify the combination of stolen bases and homers. Alex Rodriquez' 1998 figure of 43.9 is the highest Power/Speed number ever. The second and third highest Power/Speed Numbers (PSN) registered were Eric Davis in 1987 - 42.5 (37 HR/ 50 SB) and Rickey Henderson in 1986 - 42.4 (28 HR/ 87 SB).

The first 40-40 player in the Korea Baseball Organization was Eric Thames of the NC Dinos in 2015 (47 HR, 40 SB).

Further Reading

• Ed Eagle: "40-40 club: 40 steals, 40 homers in a season", mlb.com, April 10, 2020. [1]
• Andrew Simon: "40-40? We could see something even more rare", mlb.com, August 17, 2023. [2]

See also

• 30-30 club
• 50-50 club