Jacoby Ellsbury Becomes Boston’s First Ever Member Of The ’30/30 Club’
By Evan Drellich / MLB.com
NEW YORK — He’s one of the only Boston players performing well this month, and on Sunday, Jacoby Ellsbury made Red Sox history.
The center fielder homered twice off the Yankees’ AJ Burnett, both solo shots to right field, making him the first player in team history to hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 30 bases in a season.
The first long ball came in the top of the fourth in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, cutting New York’s lead to 4-1, while the second came in the sixth to cut make it 5-2.
The latter homer also gave Ellsbury 100 RBIs on the season. Through six innings, he had three hits.
Ellsbury has 38 steals, putting him well within reach of a 30-40 season, which has happened 19 times in MLB history. Only one player in history has hit at least 30 homers, driven in 100 runs, collected 200 hits, stolen at least 40 bases and hit for an average of .320 or better: Vlad Guerrero, with the Expos in 2002.
As Boston continues to stumble as a team, the 28-year-old Ellsbury has done his part. He entered the day with a .358 average, .404 on-base percentage and a .611 slugging percentage in September, and including Sunday, he’s reached base in 58 of 62 games since July 18. He has hits in 33 of his last 36.
An All-Star for the first time this season, Ellsbury started the day with a Major League-best 342 total bases, and in the top 10 of several other American League offensive categories.
