WASHINGTON -- Nationals left fielder Alfonso Soriano became the fourth player in Major League history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season with his steal against the Brewers at RFK Stadium on Saturday night.

Soriano joined Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996) and Alex Rodriguez (1998) as the only players to accomplish the feat. Soriano fell just one home run short of 40-40 in 2002, when he swiped 41 bases and hit 39 long balls as a member of the New York Yankees.

"That's very amazing for me, because there's a lot of players that can play this game," Soriano said after the Nationals defeated the Brewers, 8-5. "That's an amazing number. I'm proud of myself that I did 40-40 this year."

Soriano had 45 home runs and 39 stolen bases entering Saturday's game. In the first inning off right-hander Dave Bush, he singled on an 0-2 pitch. Then, on a 2-0 pitch to Felipe Lopez, Soriano stole second base without a throw from Brewers catcher Mike Rivera. Soriano picked up the base and gave it to one of the Nationals bat boys during a standing ovation that lasted about 30 seconds.

"What are you going to do?" Bush said. "I tried to be quick to the plate. I'm not sure what happened on the throw. ... I was pretty sure he was going to go there, so I tried to be quick to the plate. I just wasn't good enough."

It was Soriano's fourth attempt to steal the base. The Diamondbacks threw him out three times in three days in Arizona, and he didn't make an attempt on Friday against the Brewers.

"When I slid, I saw the fans screaming," Soriano said. "When I was safe, I said, 'I did it.' I'm so happy. I was thinking about my family. I'm glad they could see me do 40-40. I knew [Bush] threw a fastball up. At the last moment, I said, 'What happened?' I didn't see anyone catch the ball."

The base was in Soriano's locker after the game, and he plans to give his cleats, batting gloves, bat and the base to his daughters Alisis and Angeline and his son, Alfonso Jr. The jersey and the bat that Soriano used to hit his 40th home run on Aug. 19 against the Phillies will go to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

To have my name in the Hall of Fame, that very important," Soriano said.

Soriano's accomplishment is a bright spot on a Nationals team that is 64-84.

It's good for the team for the individual accomplishment," said manager Frank Robinson. "He is a super individual. The guys like him. He carries himself the same way all the time. He is upbeat. They were happy for him."

Nationals general manager Jim Bowden pulled off a steal last December when he brought Soriano to Washington from Texas for outfielders Brad Wilkerson and Terrmel Sledge and right-hander Armando Galarraga. Bowden was in his GM box when Soriano made history on Saturday.

"Tremendous accomplishment by an extremely talented player," he said. "It is always a pleasure to watch him perform on a daily basis at the highest level of our game," Bowden said.

Robinson had his share of milestones during his playing career, and he admired the fact that Soriano accomplished something that is not done often in baseball.

"It's a very nice accomplishment," Robinson said. "There's no doubt about it. The people that hit 40 home runs or more don't steal that many bases, even today. It's quite an accomplishment."

A second baseman before this season, Soriano is having the best year of his career, but a 40-40 campaign seemed almost impossible back on March 20, when he declined to take the field against the Dodgers because he didn't want to play a new position, left field. The Nationals threatened to put Soriano on the disqualified list without pay.

Soriano changed his mind two days later and, in the time since, has become the Nationals' best player. He never thought he would reach 40-40 because of the spacious dimensions of RFK Stadium and the distraction of having to learn a new position.

"I never thought I would hit 40 home runs in this ballpark," Soriano said. "[I'm in a] new league, new position. I worked hard. Every year, something very good happens to me."

Even Brewers manager Ned Yost was impressed by what Soriano has accomplished this season.

"You don't see 40-40 every day, and that's a huge accomplishment," Yost said. "He's a guy that shows you something, because he made a position change. It was one that he probably didn't want to make, and that was obvious early, but he put the team ahead of himself and did it, and had a great year in spite of it."