Shohei Ohtani may have set a new bar in 2024
No matter how much I marvel at Shohei Ohtani—such as recapping his breakout 2022 campaign or giving him some credit for baseball’s recent growth—there doesn’t seem enough verbiage in the English language to describe the Japanese superstar.
In 2024, Ohtani established the 50 home runs & 50 stolen bases club—a membership of one. This got me thinking about the best speed/power seasons in baseball history.
Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images
I initially thought to make this a Minnesota Twins list, but I quickly discovered that our best sluggers (Killebrew, Thome, Cruz) weren’t exactly swiping stations & our noted speedsters (Carew, Knoblauch, Tovar) weren’t providing too many fair territory souvenirs. Brian Dozier’s 2016 campaign—42 HR, 18 SB, 134 OPS+—is probably the MN high water mark.
Instead, here are my candidates—it’s a Twinkie Town vote on Election Day!—for greatest speed/power seasons in MLB history…
Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani (2024): 54 HR, 59 SB, 190 OPS+
- The best pure numbers—but of course SBs are a little easier to come by these days.
Jose Canseco (1988): 42 HR, 40 SB, 170 OPS+
- It certainly takes a lot of speed to race back to the warning track just far enough to allow a ball to bounce off your noggin for a home run!
Photo by: Ron Kuntz Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images
Ronald Acuna (2023): 41 HR, 73 SB, 171 OPS+
- Perhaps the first baserunner to truly take advantage of the bigger bases.
Rickey Henderson (1986): 28 HR, 87 SB, 125 OPS+
- A little light in the power department, but Run Rickey Run.
Alex Rodriguez (1998): 42 HR, 46 SB, 136 OPS+
- Presumably pre-PED A-Rod was a flexible force in Seattle.
Larry Walker (1997): 49 HR, 33 SB, 178 OPS+
- A surprising amount of speed from this Rocky Mountain masher.
Photo by SPX/Ron Vesely Photography via Getty Images
What say you on the matter (also, please make sure this isn’t the only vote you place today!):