House That Hank Built
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Ronald Acuna’s Summer for the Atlanta Braves is truly special

By Alan Carpenter

MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 11: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves runs towards first base after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on August 11, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 11: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves runs towards first base after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on August 11, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /
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28 Apr 1996: Bobby Bonds and son Barry of the San Francisco Giants look on during a game against the Florida Marlins at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California. The Giants won the game, 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule/Allsport
28 Apr 1996: Bobby Bonds and son Barry of the San Francisco Giants look on during a game against the Florida Marlins at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California. The Giants won the game, 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule/Allsport /

The 40-40 Club

40 homers and 40 stolen bases in a single season.

The Atlanta Braves have now finished 121 games of their 162-game season:  41 games – 25.3% – of the season remains.

Acuna currently (the way things are going as this is being written, we may have to update the numbers again before the night is done) has smoked 34 home runs and swiped 28 bases.

In terms of the homers, he’s easily on pace… the numbers project to 42 or 43.  It’s the steals where he might fall a bit short (pace of 35, but we’ll get to that in a bit).

A Lesser Goal

Still… even a membership in the 35/35 club would be impressive enough:  there have only been 19 such seasons in baseball history.

Hank Aaron didn’t do it:  his only 30/30 season (1963) was the only year he exceeded 30 steals (31).  Babe Ruth?  Not much of a base-stealing threat, often getting caught more than being successful.

Willie Mays is on the list… twice.  Alfonso Soriano did it 3 times.  Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonds split 4 such seasons.

Carlos Beltran, Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, Howard Johnson(!), Jose Canseco, Ken Williams, Matt Kemp, Shawn Green, and Vladimir Guerrero the elder round out the list.

Not only would Acuna join this elite fraternity of 14 different players to accomplish this feat, he’d easily be the youngest.  The Braves’ outfielder won’t turn 22 until mid-December.

The current youngest – also the youngest 40/40 member – is Alex Rodriguez, who had already turned 23 years old in the midst of his 1998 campaign with Seattle when he banged out 42 homers while stealing 46 bases.  Most of the 35/35 memberships came at or after age 25.

Matt Kemp was the most recent, getting the task done in 2011.  Before then, Soriano’s last such season came in 2006… so yes:  it’s rare and it’s been a while.

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