On September 2nd, a Brewers fan named Owen emailed the Baseball Today podcast about Ryan Braun. The first part of his email talked about how Braun would rank among baseball players in terms of their value to the franchise on and off the field ^[1]. However, it was the second part of his email that intrigued me. He pointed out that Ryan Braun was on pace for a 30-30 season with 100 RBIs and 100 runs^[2]. He then asked how many times this has happened before in MLB history.

Overall, this feat has been accomplished by 21 different players and the feat itself has been accomplished 30 times.  Here are the 21 players:

Hank Aaron, Bobby Abreu (2x), Jeff Bagwell (2x), Carlos Beltran, Dante Bichette, Barry Bonds (5x with a 40-40), Bobby Bonds, Ellis Burks, Jose Canseco (40-40), Eric Davis, Ron Gant, Shawn Greene, Vladamir Guerrero (2x), Howard Johnson (2x), Dale Murphy, Alex Rodriguez (40-40), Alfonso Soriano (2x), Daryl Strawberry, Larry Walker, Ken Williams, and David Wright.

Going in the games of September 11, Braun has a WAR of 6.7^[3]. That projects to a 7.4 WAR if he continues this level of play and appears in games at his current rate. With that in consideration, the list of players who go 30/30/100/100 and posted a WAR of 7.4 or more is as follows:

Hank Aaron, Jeff Bagwell (2x), Barry Bonds (4x with a 40-40), Burks, Canseco, Eric Davis, Howard Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Larry Walker, and David Wright.

Now it’s been discussed that baseball lacks a superstar face of the game who is playing at a superstar level especially with Derek Jeter on the backside of his career. But just look at those numbers. Ryan Braun is putting up numbers that guys like Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds^[4], and Alex Rodriguez once put up. He should be someone who the MLB goes out of their way to market. He’s handsome guy; he puts up great numbers; there is not a hint a steroid suspicion;  he plays on a contender in the National League. If he has a great postseason and/or leads the Brewers to the World Series, then there is no excuse for Major League Baseball to not go out of their way to showcase one of their best American stars on the national stage.

Looking at this postseason, the MLB has plenty of stars who should become household names^[5], along with those on their way to superstardom^[6]. Though the MLB was not lucky enough for the NFL lockout to extend beyond the World Series, this postseason gives them a golden opportunity to increase their stake in the public consciousness.

(Stats and Years of the Players Who Accomplished 30/30/100/100)

Hank Aaron ’63: 44 HR, 31 SB, 130 RBI, 121 R, 10.0 WAR

Bobby Abreu ’04: 30 HR, 40 SB, 105 RBI, 118 R, 4.8 WAR

Bobby Abreu ’01: 31 HR, 36 SB, 110 RBI, 118 R, 4.9 WAR

Jeff Bagwell ’99: 42 HR, 30 SB, 126 RBI, 143 R, 7.7 WAR

Jeff Bagwell ’97: 43 HR, 31 SB, 135 RBI, 109 R, 8.1 WAR

Carlos Beltran ’04: 38 HR, 42 SB, 104 RBI, 121 R, 5.5 WAR

Dante Bichette ’96: 31 HR, 31 SB, 141 RBI, 114 R, 0.7 WAR

Barry Bonds ’97: 40 HR, 37 SB, 101 RBI, 123 R, 8.8 WAR

Barry Bonds ’96: 42 HR, 40 SB, 129 RBI, 122 R, 10.8 WAR

Barry Bonds ’95: 33 HR, 31 SB, 104 RBI, 109 R, 7.3 WAR

Barry Bonds ’92: 34 HR, 39 SB, 103 RBI, 109 R, 10.0 WAR

Barry Bonds ’90: 33 HR, 52 SB, 114 RBI, 104 R, 9.7 WAR

Bobby Bonds ’77: 37 HR, 41 SB, 115 RBI, 103 R, 4.7 WAR

Ellis Burks ’96: 40 HR, 32 SB, 128 RBI, 142 R, 7.6 WAR

Jose Canseco ’88: 42 HR, 40 SB, 124 RBI, 120 R, 7.6 WAR

Eric Davis ’87: 37 HR, 50 SB, 100 RBI, 120 R, 8.0 WAR

Ron Gant ’91: 32 HR, 34 SB, 105 RBI, 101 R, 2.3 WAR

Shawn Green ’98: 35 HR, 35 SB, 100 RBI, 106 R, 3.1 WAR

Vladimir Guerrero ’02: 39 HR, 40 SB, 111 RBI, 106 R, 6.5 WAR

Vladimir Guerrero ’01: 34 HR, 37 SB, 108 RBI, 107 R, 4.8 WAR

Howard Johnson ’91: 38 HR, 30 SB, 117 RBI, 108 R, 4.1 WAR

Howard Johnson ’89: 36 HR, 41 SB, 101 RBI, 104 R, 7.7 WAR

Dale Murphy ’83: 36 HR, 30 SB, 121 RBI, 131 R, 7.2 WAR

Alex Rodriguez ’98: 42 HR, 46 SB, 124 RBI, 123 R, 7.9 WAR

Alfonso Soriano ’05: 36 HR, 30 SB, 104 RBI, 102 R, 1.7 WAR

Alfonso Soriano ’02: 39 HR, 41 SB, 102 RBI, 128 R, 4.7 WAR

Daryl Strawberry ’87: 39 HR, 36 SB, 104 RBI, 108 R, 6.7 WAR

Larry Walker ’97: 49 HR, 33 SB, 130 RBI, 143 R, 9.0 WAR

Ken Williams ’22: 39 HR, 37 SB, 155 RBI, 128 R, 7.3 WAR

David Wright ’07: 30 HR, 34 SB, 107 RBI, 113 RBI, 7.8 WAR

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