MLB history: The eclectic 300-300 club

NEW YORK - CIRCA 1967: Outfielder Willie Mays #24 of the San Francisco Giants bats against the New York Mets during an Major League Baseball game circa 1967 at Shea Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City. Mays played for the Giants from 1951-72. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - CIRCA 1967: Outfielder Willie Mays #24 of the San Francisco Giants bats against the New York Mets during an Major League Baseball game circa 1967 at Shea Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City. Mays played for the Giants from 1951-72. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Over the course of MLB history, only eight players have hit at least 300 homers while stealing at least 300 bases. Let’s look at this exclusive club.

There have been close to 20,000 players in Major League Baseball since the first professional game took place in 1871. Out of those players, only eight times in MLB history has a player ended his career with at least 300 home runs and 300 steals. Just eight.

It is an eclectic list as well. There are players who are either in the Hall of Fame, or put together careers that warrant plenty of discussion regarding their enshrinement. Then there are those players who barely received any support for the Hall of Fame; in one case, not receiving a single vote despite his presence as one of the few players to be in the 300-300 club.

This is also a group that includes some notable exceptions. Rickey Henderson just missed joining, finishing his career three homers shy of the required 300 mark. Some of the greatest five tool players in MLB history missed out, slowing down later in their careers. Being a part of this group is a testament of not only the longevity required, but how special these careers were. Amazingly, of the eight players to join this club, three did so at Kauffman Stadium, only one of those doing so as a member of the Royals.

Let us take a look at the eight members of the 300-300 club, one of the most exclusive fraternities in MLB history.