Shohei Ohtani is eyeing the record books again.
This time in a new way none have ever eyed it before. Ohtani slugged and sped his way to the 40-40 club on August 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays. The club is in reference to players who have stolen 40 bases and hit 40 home runs in the same season. It is a marker of the unique combination of power and speed few players have at elite levels at the same time in their career. To some extent these are the games greatest athletes.
Ohtani is the 6th MLB player to do it joining Jose Canseco(1988), Ronald Acuna Jr.(2023), Alex Rodriguez(1998), and Barry Bonds (1996). With over a month left of play Ohtani could become the first ever 50-50 player.
There are some interesting caveats to the 40/40 club, however. Rodriguez, Bonds, and Canseco are all confirmed steroids users. The fact that the club only existed once the PED era began with Canseco is noteworthy.
Acuna Jr and Ohtani also join after base size was increased in 2023. Which makes their achievements more logical in the history of the game’s evolution. One wonders how many of the 47 players in the 30-30 club would have been close.
Ken Williams was the first player to reach 30-30 in 1922. It would be 34 years before another player did it and it would be Willie Mays who did it in 1956 and 1957.
The New York Mets are the only team to have four players achieve the feat. Hank Aaron and Willie Mays are the only players to do it and also surpass the 3,000 hit marker and the 500 homer marker. The only time teammates have done it are Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry of the 1987 New York Mets, and Ellis Burks and Dante Bichette of the 1996 Colorado Rockies.
