30–30 club

For information on the rifle round, see .30-30 Winchester.

The 30–30 club is a grouping of Major League Baseball players who have reached the 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases plateaus in the same season.

The term "club" is used rather loosely, as it is generally used by sports writers and fans to group players together under a common heading. The word "club" was likely coined based on the original exclusiveness and rarity of a 30–30 season. Statistically, the 30–30 club is of note due to the pairing of power and speed—two nominal measurements usually isolated from one another. Power, in this case, is measured through the number of home runs hit during a season. Speed is measured through the number of bases stolen in that same season. For example, a slugging first baseman, such as Prince Fielder, would not usually accumulate many stolen bases. Likewise, a speedy center fielder, such as Juan Pierre, may be more adept at stealing bases, but may not supply much power. Thus, while a number of players may be able to either steal 30 bases or hit 30 home runs, doing both is a rarity.

Trends and breakdown

Club membership has steadily increased since the 1970s. Ken Williams was the first player to reach the mark in 1922, with 39 home runs and 37 stolen bases. He was the sole member of the club for 34 years until Willie Mays had back-to-back 30–30 seasons in 1956 and 1957.

Occurrences then began to increase thereafter, as there were two in the 1960s; five in the 1970s, four of them by Bobby Bonds; seven in the 1980s, then 20 in the 1990s, five by Barry Bonds. So far there have been 16 instances since 2000, and there has been at least one 30–30 player every year since 1987, except for 2010 and the strike-shortened season of 1994, when the feat would have been much more difficult due to the cancellation of a quarter of the season.

Ian Kinsler

Most 30–30 seasons come from players who play the outfield, particularly left and right field. However, several center fielders have enjoyed 30–30 seasons, including Willie Mays, Dale Murphy, Grady Sizemore, Preston Wilson, Carlos Beltrán, Matt Kemp, and Jacoby Ellsbury. The remaining breakdown is as follows: first basemen (2) Joe Carter and Jeff Bagwell; second basemen (3) Alfonso Soriano, Brandon Phillips, and Ian Kinsler; shortstops (4) (Barry Larkin, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, and Hanley Ramírez; third basemen (3) David Wright, Tommy Harper, and Howard Johnson. Soriano did it before he moved to his current position of left field. Meanwhile, outfielders Tommy Harper (once) and Ron Gant (twice) had previously played second base earlier in their careers. The only infielders in major league history who had had multiple 30–30 seasons as of 2011 were Soriano, Howard Johnson, Bagwell, and Kinsler.

There has not been a 30–30 season recorded by a player who predominately plays catcher or pitcher, with the closest being Iván Rodríguez, a catcher who hit 35 home runs and stole 25 bases in 1999, when he was named the American League Most Valuable Player.

There have been fifty-eight 30–30 seasons by 37 different players through the 2011 season. Barry and Bobby Bonds account for 10 of those seasons.

There have been four seasons in which four separate players recorded 30–30 seasons: In 1987 Joe Carter, Eric Davis, Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry; in 1996 Dante Bichette, Barry Bonds, Ellis Burks and Barry Larkin); in 1997, by Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Raúl Mondesí and Larry Walker. The last occurrences were in 2011, by Ryan Braun, Jacoby Ellsbury, Matt Kemp, and Ian Kinsler.

The players with the most 30–30 seasons are Bobby Bonds and his son Barry, with five each. The only other players with more than two are Alfonso Soriano (4) and Howard Johnson (3). There are eight other players with two 30–30 seasons: Willie Mays, Ron Gant, Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell, Raúl Mondesí, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, and Ian Kinsler.

The rarer 30–40 season has been repeated only by Bobby Bonds (4), Barry Bonds (2), Alfonso Soriano (2), and Matt Kemp; the 40–30 season only by Barry Bonds (2) and Jeff Bagwell (2), and only Barry Bonds and Soriano have had at least one 40–30 and one 30–40 season. There have been only two 30–50 seasons, by Eric Davis and Barry Bonds, and no 50–30 seasons. However, the 30–30 season has only been accomplished by two players on the same team during the same season twice: by Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry for the 1987 New York Mets, and by Ellis Burks and Dante Bichette for the 1996 Colorado Rockies.

For more elite seasons, see the 40-40 club.

30–30 seasons

Willie Mays

Shawn Green

40-40 club seasons in bold.

Name	Team	Year	HR	SB
Williams, KenKen Williams	St. Louis Browns	1922	39	37
Mays, WillieWillie Mays (1)	New York Giants	1956	36	40
Mays, WillieWillie Mays (2)	New York Giants	1957	35	38
Aaron, HankHank Aaron	Milwaukee Braves	1963	44	31
Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds (1)	San Francisco Giants	1969	32	45
Harper, TommyTommy Harper	Milwaukee Brewers	1970	31	38
Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds (2)	San Francisco Giants	1973	39	43
Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds (3)	New York Yankees	1975	32	30
Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds (4)	California Angels	1977	37	41
Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds (5)	Chicago White Sox/Texas Rangers	1978	31	43
Murphy, DaleDale Murphy	Atlanta Braves	1983	36	30
Carter, JoeJoe Carter	Cleveland Indians	1987	32	31
Davis, EricEric Davis	Cincinnati Reds	1987	37	50
Johnson, HowardHoward Johnson (1)	New York Mets	1987	36	32
Strawberry, DarrylDarryl Strawberry	New York Mets	1987	39	36
Canseco, JoséJosé Canseco	Oakland Athletics	1988	42	40
Johnson, HowardHoward Johnson (2)	New York Mets	1989	36	41
Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (1)	Pittsburgh Pirates	1990	33	52
Gant, RonRon Gant (1)	Atlanta Braves	1990	32	33
Gant, RonRon Gant (2)	Atlanta Braves	1991	32	34
Johnson, HowardHoward Johnson (3)	New York Mets	1991	38	30
Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (2)	Pittsburgh Pirates	1992	34	39
Sosa, SammySammy Sosa (1)	Chicago Cubs	1993	33	36
Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (3)	San Francisco Giants	1995	33	31
Sosa, SammySammy Sosa (2)	Chicago Cubs	1995	36	34
Bichette, DanteDante Bichette	Colorado Rockies	1996	31	31
Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (4)	San Francisco Giants	1996	42	40
Burks, EllisEllis Burks	Colorado Rockies	1996	40	32
Larkin, BarryBarry Larkin	Cincinnati Reds	1996	33	36
Bagwell, JeffJeff Bagwell (1)	Houston Astros	1997	43	31
Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (5)	San Francisco Giants	1997	40	37
Mondesí, RaúlRaúl Mondesí (1)	Los Angeles Dodgers	1997	30	32
Walker, LarryLarry Walker	Colorado Rockies	1997	49	33
Green, ShawnShawn Green	Toronto Blue Jays	1998	35	35
Rodriguez, AlexAlex Rodriguez	Seattle Mariners	1998	42	46
Bagwell, JeffJeff Bagwell (2)	Houston Astros	1999	42	30
Mondesí, RaúlRaúl Mondesí (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers	1999	33	36
Wilson, PrestonPreston Wilson	Florida Marlins	2000	31	36
Abreu, BobbyBobby Abreu (1)	Philadelphia Phillies	2001	31	36
Cruz, Jr., JoseJose Cruz, Jr.	Toronto Blue Jays	2001	34	32
Guerrero, VladimirVladimir Guerrero (1)	Montreal Expos	2001	34	37
Guerrero, VladimirVladimir Guerrero (2)	Montreal Expos	2002	39	40
Soriano, AlfonsoAlfonso Soriano (1)	New York Yankees	2002	39	41
Soriano, AlfonsoAlfonso Soriano (2)	New York Yankees	2003	38	35
Abreu, BobbyBobby Abreu (2)	Philadelphia Phillies	2004	30	40
Beltran, CarlosCarlos Beltran	Kansas City Royals/Houston Astros	2004	38	42
Soriano, AlfonsoAlfonso Soriano (3)	Texas Rangers	2005	36	30
Soriano, AlfonsoAlfonso Soriano (4)	Washington Nationals	2006	46	41
Wright, DavidDavid Wright	New York Mets	2007	30	34
Rollins, JimmyJimmy Rollins	Philadelphia Phillies	2007	30	41
Phillips, BrandonBrandon Phillips	Cincinnati Reds	2007	30	32
Sizemore, GradyGrady Sizemore	Cleveland Indians	2008	33	38
Ramírez, HanleyHanley Ramírez	Florida Marlins	2008	33	35
Kinsler, IanIan Kinsler (1)	Texas Rangers	2009	31	30
Kemp, MattMatt Kemp	Los Angeles Dodgers	2011	39	40
Braun, RyanRyan Braun	Milwaukee Brewers	2011	33	33
Ellsbury, JacobyJacoby Ellsbury	Boston Red Sox	2011	32	39
Kinsler, IanIan Kinsler (2)	Texas Rangers	2011	32	30

20–20 season

A 20–20 season (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) is also of note; however, it is much more common. A 20–20 season is usually noticed on a local level by sports writers or team officials, especially if the player is a second baseman or catcher. The only 20–20 season by a catcher was achieved by Iván Rodríguez in 1999 with 35 home runs and 25 stolen bases; Russell Martin has been discussed as a potential 20–20 catcher, with 19 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 2007. The oldest 20–20 player when he accomplished the feat, at 38-years-224-days, was Paul O'Neill in 2001, with 21 home runs and 22 stolen bases. Gary Sheffield, who turned 39 in November 2007, broke this record with 25 home runs and 22 stolen bases for the 2007 season.

See also

• 40-40 club
• 20–20–20 club
• Baseball statistics
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base records

External links

• 30–30 club at Baseball-Almanac
• The 30–30 club at Baseball Evolution
• MSNBC.com – Soriano Joins 30–30 Club for Fourth Time
• Ian Kinsler becomes 3rd second baseman to go 30/30