Sometimes, baseball fans are lucky enough to watch the truly elite players join baseball’s elite clubs. Like last season, when Albert Pujols joined the 700-home run club. Or in 2012, when Miguel Cabrera entered the fraternity of Triple Crown winners.
But sometimes, when we’re really lucky, we get to watch an elite player create his own club, and that’s what Ronald Acuña Jr. has done this season. He’s done it a couple of times, actually. He became the first member of the 30/60 club (30 homers, 60 stolen bases) but he wasn’t done there. He has now invented the 40/70 club.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. became the first player since Jacoby Ellsbury in 2009 to swipe 70 bases in a season after stealing second base in the 10th inning of Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
Acuña is now the only player in major league history to hit 40 homers and steal 70 bases in a single campaign. He’s also the lone member of the 40-50 club and 40-60 club.
Moments after his historic steal, Acuña raced home to score the winning run on Ozzie Albies’ walk-off single, giving the Braves a 6-5 comeback victory. It clinched the NL’s No. 1 seed for Atlanta, giving the team home-field advantage through the NLCS.
This is what it looks like when a truly elite talent is driven, focused and stays healthy for an entire season. It’s not solely that Acuña is the first member of the 40/70 club that is so impressive. It’s how much better his season has been than any other power/speed combo season in baseball history.
And, yes, MLB’s new rules designed to increase stolen bases haven’t hurt Acuña. But let’s not just off-hand discount his accomplishments. It’s not suddenly easier to hit home runs. Catchers are still as good as ever.
Here’s what Acuña is: Exactly the type of player baseball wants. Exactly the type of player baseball needs. He’s must-watch at the plate, and he’s must-watch on the bases. He makes the game exciting, and he’s doing so in a way nobody ever has in baseball history, when it comes to two of the most exciting plays in the sport, home runs and stolen bases.