WASHINGTON -- There's a new member of the 40-40 club: Alfonso Soriano. Soriano became the fourth player in major league history to record 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season when he swiped second Saturday night for Washington in the first inning against Milwaukee.
That gave Soriano 40 steals to go along with 45 home runs.
Jose Canseco (Oakland 1988), Barry Bonds (San Francisco 1996) and Alex Rodriguez (Seattle 1998) are the only other players who have topped 40 in each of those categories in a single season.
Soriano came close in 2002, when he stole 41 bases and hit 39 home runs.
Soriano led off the bottom of the first with a single to left field. On a 2-0 count to the next batter, Felipe Lopez, Soriano raced for second base. Brewers catcher Mike Rivera double-clutched but did not attempt a throw.
After the steal, Soriano called time, removed the base and handed it to a groundskeeper. The game was held for a moment while the RFK Stadium crowd rose for a standing ovation, and Soriano tipped his helmet to the crowd.
Soriano stole his 39th base on Sept. 10 at Colorado but had stalled in his pursuit of 40-40. In the next four games, Soriano had reached base five times but was caught stealing three times.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 8:04 pm Posts: 5300 Location: upstate NY Gender: Male
I offer my congratulations. Most people during the whole "I won't play OF" thing said that Soriano on the Nationals was going to suck. Congrats to Soriano and the Nationals for getting past that whole thing and giving Soriano his best season yet.
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