Chasing 40-40: Braves superstar Acuna marching toward esteemed mark

A thunderous crack of Ronald Acuna Jr.'s Pro Prime B415 maple bat echoed throughout SunTrust Park on Thursday. The charismatic outfielder soon rounded first base, emphatically pointing at his Atlanta Braves teammates in the dugout, having just hit his 37th home run of the season. Acuna had moved one step closer to joining an illustrious club and making history in the process.

With his fifth-inning blast off Washington Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, accompanied by a first-inning steal earlier in the game (his 34th), the 21-year-old moved within three home runs and six steals of becoming just the fifth player, and possibly the youngest, in MLB history to record a 40-40 season. He has 19 games left to try and do so.

Here's a look at the four players Acuna has a chance of joining in MLB's 40-40 club, as well as all of the near misses.

Jose Canseco

On Sept. 23, 1988, Canseco became the first player in major-league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season.

The Oakland Athletics outfielder entered September with 34 homers and 34 stolen bases and delivered a stellar final month - one of his most productive of the season - to reach the milestone.

He'd appear in seven more games that year to push his final tally to 42 homers and 40 stolen bases en route to the first - and only - MVP of his career.

Canseco would never accomplish the feat again, with his closest attempt coming in 1998 when he hit 46 home runs and stole 29 bases for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Barry Bonds

Before Bonds famously hit 73 home runs with the San Francisco Giants in 2001, he became the second player in major-league history to record a 40-40 season.

The milestone seemed out of reach for Bonds when he entered the final month of the 1996 regular season with 25 steals. But, on Sept. 27, the Giants great swiped a bag against the Colorado Rockies to do something both he and his father, Bobby, narrowly missed on multiple occasions throughout their careers.

Bonds nearly reached 40-40 again the following season, missing the mark by three steals.

Alex Rodriguez

In just his third full season in the majors, the 22-year-old Rodriguez joined Bonds and Canseco in the 40-40 club.

The Seattle Mariners shortstop reached the milestone just two years after Bonds by smacking a Jack McDowell offering into right-center field against the Anaheim Angels for his 40th blast of the season.

Rodriguez wasn't done there. He added two more homers and six more steals to finish the year at 42 and 46, respectively.

A-Rod would hit 40-plus homers seven other times in his career, but would never steal more than 28 bases in a single campaign again.

Alfonso Soriano

It's been 13 years since a player went 40-40.

The last one to do it was Soriano, who reached the mark with the Washington Nationals in 2006.

On Sept. 16, Soriano stole his 40th bag on the way to a 46-homer, 41-steal campaign, and an eventual lucrative offseason contract from the Chicago Cubs.

What might be most impressive about Soriano's 40-40 was that he manged to pull it off despite two terrible stretches.

Soriano combined to hit just eight home runs and steal 13 bases in June, September, and October, but was so good the rest of the year that it didn't matter.

Reaching 40-40 must've been an incredible relief for Soriano, who fell one homer short of doing so in 2002.

Near misses

Aside from the aforementioned players, as well as Acuna, there have been 13 other times in MLB history where a 40-40 was nearly accomplished.

Bobby Bonds, Vladimir Guerrero, and Matt Kemp stand out as players who fell one homer short of reaching the illustrious mark, while Willie Mays nearly did it twice in consecutive seasons.

(Videos courtesy: MLB.com)