Matt Kemp drilled his 30th home run of the season last night off of Rockies reliever Matt Reynolds making him the 35th player in Major League history to hit at least 30 homers and steal at least 30 bases in a single season. In total the feat has been accomplished 55 times, but all but 11 of those have occurred in the past 25 years. Since 1987, at least one player has accomplished the feat every year with two exceptions: the strike shortened season of 1994 and 2010.
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| Photo Credit: hardballtalk.nbcsports.com |
It's an interesting cast of names when you get down to it. Some of them are expected, true speed/power guys like Carlos Beltran, Barry Bonds, Alfonso Soriano, Bobby Bonds... But there's also some surprises: Dante Bichette, Joe Carter, Jeff Bagwell (twice) and Jose Cruz Jr.
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| Photo Credit: baseball.wikia.com |
Kemp's reaching this accomplishment is certainly not one of those surprises. In each of his 6 Major League Seasons, he's seen his home run numbers increase. Additionally, this is the third time he's eclipsed the 30-steal plateau. Now he finds himself in a position to achieve an even rarer milestone: the 40/40 season. Until Jose Canseco accomplished the feat in 1988 for the A's, it had never been done. Since then only three other players have eclipsed it: Barry Bonds in 1996, Alex Rodriguez in 1998 and Alfonso Soriano in 2006. With 32 games remaining for the Dodgers, Kemp now has an outside shot to become the 5th member of the 40/40 club. To do so he'll need to hit 10 more home runs and steal 7 more bases. However, he hit only 4 home runs apiece in July and August so unless he reacquires his power stroke he'll likely come up just a little short. Still, his chase will keep the Dodgers watchable for the next month even though they're out of contention. The Dodgers continue their series at home against the Rockies tonight.
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