StaTuesday: Brewers' Braun joins rare 300 HR, 200 SB club
When Ryan Braun stole second base against Philadelphia on June 16 he joined some very exclusive MLB company.
It marked the 200th steal of Braun's career, making him the 357th major leaguer to reach that milestone. And, no, that isn't exclusive company.
But Braun also had 310 home runs -- reaching the 300 plateau last season. And of all the players who have appeared in MLB -- over 19,000 -- just 25 have hit 300 home runs and stolen 200 bases.
PLAYER | YEARS | GAMES | HR | SB |
Barry Bonds | 1986-2007 | 2986 | 762 | 514 |
Hank Aaron | 1954-76 | 3298 | 755 | 240 |
Alex Rodriguez | 1994-2016 | 2784 | 696 | 329 |
Willie Mays | 1951-73 | 2992 | 660 | 338 |
Sammy Sosa | 1989-2007 | 2354 | 609 | 234 |
Frank Robinson | 1956-76 | 2808 | 586 | 204 |
Reggie Jackson | 1967-87 | 2820 | 563 | 228 |
Gary Sheffield | 1988-2009 | 2576 | 509 | 253 |
Dave Winfield | 1973-95 | 2973 | 465 | 223 |
Jose Canseco | 1985-2001 | 1887 | 462 | 200 |
Jeff Bagwell | 1991-2005 | 2150 | 449 | 202 |
Andre Dawson | 1976-1996 | 2627 | 438 | 314 |
Carlos Beltran | 1998-2017 | 2586 | 435 | 312 |
Alfonso Soriano | 1999-2014 | 1975 | 412 | 389 |
Joe Carter | 1983-98 | 2189 | 396 | 231 |
Larry Walker | 1989-2005 | 1988 | 383 | 230 |
Don Baylor | 1970-88 | 2292 | 338 | 285 |
Darryl Strawberry | 1983-99 | 1583 | 335 | 221 |
Bobby Bonds | 1968-81 | 1849 | 332 | 461 |
Ron Gant | 1987-2003 | 1832 | 321 | 243 |
George Brett | 1973-93 | 2707 | 317 | 201 |
Ryan Braun | 2007-active | 1514 | 310 | 200 |
Reggie Sanders | 1991-2007 | 1777 | 305 | 304 |
Steve Finley | 1989-2007 | 2583 | 304 | 320 |
Braun has been pretty consistent in his career. In any season in which he played at least 100 games he's had double-digit home runs and stolen bases 10 times.
He's just two homers and three steals this season from making it 11. With more than half the season remaining, hitting those targets is hardly a stretch. If Braun does reach 10+ homers and 10+ steals once again in 2018, he'll join 20 other players who have accomplished that in 11 MLB seasons.
PLAYER | YEARS |
Barry Bonds | 16 |
Derek Jeter | 15 |
Alex Rodriguez | 14 |
Reggie Sanders | 14 |
Bobby Abreu | 13 |
Andre Dawson | 13 |
Paul Molitor | 13 |
Joe Morgan | 13 |
Garry Sheffield | 13 |
Devon White | 13 |
Johnny Damon | 12 |
Rickey Henderson | 12 |
Jimmy Rollins | 12 |
Carlos Beltran | 11 |
Bobby Bonds | 11 |
Mike Cameron | 11 |
Willie Davis | 11 |
Ian Kinsler | 11 |
Willie Mays | 11 |
Larry Walker | 11 |
Taking it one step further, in each of those 10 seasons Braun has hit at least 17 home runs. He's one of 13 players to have 10 or more seasons of 17+ homers and 10+ steals.
If Braun can hit nine more home runs in 2018 plus get his three steals, he'd be just one of five players in MLB history to have at least 11 seasons of 17 HR and 10 SB.
PLAYER | YEARS |
Barry Bonds | 15 |
Alex Rodriguez | 14 |
Andre Dawson | 13 |
Willie Mays | 11 |
Gary Sheffield | 11 |
Bobby Abreu | 10 |
Jeff Bagwell | 10 |
Bobby Bonds | 10 |
Ryan Braun | 10 |
Reggie Jackson | 10 |
Reggie Sanders | 10 |
Larry Walker | 10 |
Jimmy Wynn | 10 |
Including one year when the franchise was the Seattle Pilots, there have been 99 times in Brewers history a player had 10 homers and 10 steals in a season and 54 with 17 HR and 10 SB. Besides Braun, Lorenzo Cain (8 HR, 15 SB), Jonathan Villar (6 HR, 10 SB) and Christian Yelich (9 HR, 8 SB) are 2018 Brewers who could join one or both of those clubs.
Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns