What Is A 40-40 Season In MLB?

A 40-40 season in Major League Baseball happens when a player hits at least 40 home runs and steals at least 40 bases during the same regular season.

The combination is one of baseball’s most famous statistical milestones because it requires two skills that do not often occur together: elite home-run power and elite baserunning speed. Only six players in AL/NL history have recorded a 40-40 season.

What Does 40-40 Mean In Baseball?

“40-40” means 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season.

The player does not have to finish with exactly 40 of each. Any combination of at least 40 home runs and at least 40 stolen bases qualifies.

For example, Ronald Acuña Jr. qualified in 2023 with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, while Shohei Ohtani joined the club in 2024 and ultimately went well beyond both benchmarks. [MLB]

Who Has Had A 40-40 Season In MLB?

Six players have recorded a 40-home-run, 40-stolen-base season in AL/NL history. [MLB]

That means the 40-40 club has been reached only six times despite more than a century of Major League Baseball history. [Baseball Reference]

Who Was The First MLB Player To Have A 40-40 Season?

Jose Canseco became baseball’s first 40-40 player in 1988.

The Oakland Athletics star finished that season with 42 home runs and 40 stolen bases. He officially reached the milestone on September 23, 1988, when he stole two bases against the Milwaukee Brewers to reach 40 steals. [MLB]

Before Canseco, several players had come close, but nobody had combined 40 home runs with 40 stolen bases.

Barry Bonds’ 40-40 Season

Barry Bonds became the second member of the club in 1996 while playing for the San Francisco Giants.

Bonds hit 42 home runs and stole exactly 40 bases. It was a particularly striking combination for a player who had already demonstrated both elite power and speed during the earlier part of his career. [MLB]

Alex Rodriguez’s 40-40 Season

Alex Rodriguez joined the club with the Seattle Mariners in 1998.

The 22-year-old shortstop hit 42 home runs while stealing 46 bases, becoming just the third player to accomplish the feat. [MLB]

For years, Rodriguez’s 46 steals represented the most stolen bases anyone had recorded during a 40-home-run season.

Alfonso Soriano’s 40-40 Season

Alfonso Soriano became the fourth member of the club with the Washington Nationals in 2006.

Soriano produced a career-high 46 home runs while stealing 41 bases. He had nearly accomplished the feat four years earlier with the Yankees, when he finished 2002 with 39 home runs and 41 stolen bases. [MLB]

Soriano’s 2006 season would remain MLB’s most recent 40-40 campaign for 17 years.

What Did Ronald Acuña Jr. Do In 2023?

Ronald Acuña Jr. did more than simply join the 40-40 club in 2023. He created the first 40-70 season in AL/NL history.

The Atlanta Braves star finished with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, dramatically surpassing the previous record for steals by a player who had also hit 40 homers. [MLB]

Acuña had already stolen 68 bases by the time he hit his 40th home run. Before his season, no 40-home-run hitter had stolen more than Rodriguez’s 46 bases in 1998. [MLB]

His performance effectively created several new statistical categories along the way, including the first 40-50, 40-60 and eventually 40-70 season.

How Did Shohei Ohtani Join The 40-40 Club?

Shohei Ohtani became the sixth member of the 40-40 club on August 23, 2024, and did it in dramatic fashion.

Ohtani stole his 40th base against the Tampa Bay Rays earlier in the game and then hit a walk-off grand slam for his 40th home run in the ninth inning. He became the first player to reach his 40th homer and 40th steal in the same game. [MLB]

Ohtani reached 40-40 in his 126th game played, substantially faster than any previous member of the club. Alfonso Soriano had held the previous mark by reaching the milestone in his 147th game in 2006. [MLB]

[MLB Video: Shohei Ohtani Reaches 40-40]

Did Shohei Ohtani Finish With 40-40?

Ohtani went far beyond 40-40.

He finished the 2024 regular season with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first 50-50 player in MLB history. [Baseball Reference]

Ohtani officially created the 50-50 club on September 19, 2024, against the Miami Marlins. He stole his 50th base and later hit his 50th home run during a historic six-hit, three-homer performance. [MLB]

That means Ohtani’s 2024 season belongs simultaneously to the 40-40, 50-50 and numerous intermediate power-speed categories.

What Is The Difference Between 40-40 And 50-50?

The concept is the same:

• 40-40: At least 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases.
• 50-50: At least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases.

Through the 2025 season, six players had achieved 40-40, while Ohtani remained the only player in MLB history to produce a 50-50 season. [MLB]

Why Is A 40-40 Season So Difficult?

Home-run hitting and base stealing generally reward different physical abilities and styles of play.

A player capable of hitting 40 home runs must possess elite power and receive enough plate appearances to produce that many homers. A player chasing 40 steals needs elite speed, baserunning instincts, frequent opportunities to reach base and a willingness to attempt steals.

Most great power hitters are not among MLB’s most aggressive base stealers. Likewise, many elite speedsters lack the power necessary to hit 40 home runs.

A 40-40 player has to do both during the same season while remaining healthy enough to accumulate the necessary plate appearances and stolen-base opportunities.

Have MLB’s New Rules Made 40-40 Seasons Easier?

MLB’s rules introduced in 2023 created a more favorable environment for stealing bases, although hitting 40 home runs and stealing 40 bases remains exceptionally difficult.

MLB increased the size of first, second and third base from 15 inches square to 18 inches square. That reduced the distance between first and second and between second and third by 4.5 inches. [MLB]

MLB also limited how many times pitchers could disengage from the pitching rubber for pickoff attempts or step-offs during a plate appearance. The changes were specifically expected to encourage more stolen-base attempts. [MLB]

Both Acuña’s historic 2023 season and Ohtani’s historic 2024 season occurred after those rule changes.

That context matters when comparing stolen-base totals across eras, but the player must still hit at least 40 home runs to qualify for the club — a threshold reached by only a small number of hitters in any given season.

What Is A 30-30 Season?

A 30-30 season is the more common version of the same power-speed accomplishment: at least 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in one season.

The 30-30 club has considerably more members because lowering both thresholds by 10 makes the feat much more attainable.

A player who reaches 40-40 automatically has a 30-30 season as well.

Does 40-40 Include Postseason Statistics?

No. The traditional 40-40 designation refers to a player’s regular-season statistics.

MLB regular-season and postseason statistics are maintained separately, so home runs or stolen bases recorded during the playoffs do not help a player reach the regular-season 40-40 club.

Who Came Close To A 40-40 Season?

Several players narrowly missed the milestone before or between the six successful seasons.

Ken Williams recorded 39 home runs and 37 stolen bases for the St. Louis Browns in 1922. Bobby Bonds — Barry Bonds’ father — stole 43 bases but finished one home run short of 40 in 1973. [MLB]

Soriano came especially close in 2002, finishing with 39 home runs and 41 steals before eventually reaching 40-40 four years later.

Acuña also narrowly missed the club earlier in his career. In 2019, at age 21, he hit 41 home runs and stole 37 bases — only three steals away from 40-40. [MLB]

Who Has The Most Stolen Bases In A 40-40 Season?

Ronald Acuña Jr. holds the record with 73 stolen bases in his 2023 season.

His 41-homer, 73-steal performance shattered the previous high for stolen bases accompanying a 40-home-run season. [MLB]

Who Has The Most Home Runs In A 40-40 Season?

Shohei Ohtani holds the record with 54 home runs in his 2024 season.

Before Ohtani, Soriano’s 46 home runs in 2006 were the most by a member of the 40-40 club. [Baseball Reference]

Who Reached 40-40 The Fastest?

Shohei Ohtani is the fastest player to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.

He reached the milestone in his 126th game played in 2024. The previous members reached it in the following number of games:

[MLB]

MLB 40-40 Club FAQ

What does 40-40 mean in MLB?

It means a player has hit at least 40 home runs and stolen at least 40 bases during the same regular season.

How many MLB players have gone 40-40?

Six players have done it in AL/NL history: Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Shohei Ohtani.

Who was the first 40-40 player?

Jose Canseco became the first in 1988 with 42 home runs and 40 stolen bases for Oakland.

Who was the most recent 40-40 player?

Shohei Ohtani joined the club in 2024 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and eventually finished with 54 home runs and 59 steals.

Has anyone gone 50-50?

Yes. Shohei Ohtani became MLB’s first 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base player in 2024. [MLB]

Did Ronald Acuña Jr. go 40-40?

Yes. Acuña finished the 2023 season with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, becoming the first player in AL/NL history with a 40-70 season.

Does 40-40 mean 40 home runs and 40 doubles?

No. In modern baseball usage, the “40-40 club” refers to players with at least 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season.

Why is the 40-40 club important?

It provides a simple measure of an exceptionally rare combination of power and speed. A player must produce like one of baseball’s elite sluggers while simultaneously running the bases like one of its elite base stealers, which is why only six players have reached the milestone.