Historic Rewind: 40/40 Seasons

40/40 seasons are fairly well documented. The first 40/40 season was accomplished by Jose Canseco in 1988, Barry Bonds followed in 1996, Alex Rodriguez in 1998, and Alfonso Soriano in 2006. Following is a comparison of each of these seasons, and a list of those who just missed the feat.

Canseco: 42 HR, 40 SB, 120 R, 187 H, 34 2B, 0 3B, 124 RBI, 78 BB, .307/.391/.569, MVP, AL Ch

Bonds: 42 HR, 40 SB, 122 R, 159 H, 27 2B, 3 3B, 129 RBI, 151 BB, .308/.461/.615

Rodriguez: 42 HR, 46 SB, 123 R, 213 H, 35 2B, 5 3B, 124 RBI, 45 BB, .310/.360/.560

Soriano: 46 HR, 41 SB, 119 R, 179 H, 41 2B, 2 3B, 95 RBI, 67 BB, .277/.351/.560

Here are some near misses that still rank among the most extraordinary seasons of all-time:

Bobby Bonds (1973): 39 HR, 43 SB, 131 R, 182 H, 34 2B, 4 3B, 96 RBI, 87 BB, .283/.370/.530

Alfonso Soriano (2002): 39 HR, 41 SB, 128 R, 209 H, 51 2B, 2 3B, 102 RBI, 23 BB, .300/.332/.547

Vladimir Guerrero (2002): 39 HR, 40 SB, 106 R, 206 H, 37 2B, 2 3B, 111 RBI, 84 BB, .336/.417/.593

Carlos Beltran (2004): 38 HR, 42 SB, 121 R, 160 H, 36 2B, 9 3B, 104 RBI, 92 BB, .267/.367/.548

As you can see, these four near misses rank among the elite individual seasons of all-time as well. Remarkably, among the eight seasons listed, only Jose Canseco garnered an MVP award. Barry Bonds season stands out as the greatest all-around feat with a breath-taking 1.076 OPS. Both of Soriano's seasons include remarkable amounts of doubles along with the home run counts, picking up 41 doubles in his 40/40 season and 51 (!) doubles in his near miss. Some oddities among these seasons include Rodriguez and Soriano's low walk totals. In 1998 A-Rod only walked 45 times, and in 2002, in his near miss season, Soriano walked a meager 23 times.

In the three playoff appearances among these seasons, Jose Canseco performed extremely well in the ALCS, but struggled in the Fall Classic. Canseco put up 3 homers in 4 games against the Red Sox, batting .313/.353/.938 with 1 steal in 2 attempts. In the World Series he hit only 1 home run, completed his only steal attempt and batted .053/.182/.211. Alfonso Soriano in his near miss season, didn't have many playoff games to utilize his skills. He hit 1 home run and converted his only steal attempt in 4 games against the Angels, while batting .118/.211/.353. Carlos Beltran had an extra round of playoffs to work with and took full advantage. Beltran hit 4 homers in 5 games against the Braves, converted both of his steal attempts, and batted .455/.500/1.091. In the NLCS, Beltran's bat was still hot. He hit 4 home runs in 7 games against the Cardinals, converted all 4 of his steal attempts, and batted .417/.563/.958.