Albert Pujols 700 homers: Cardinals legend reaches rare milestone in night of two-hour matchup Dodgers

stone. St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols became the fourth player in MLB history to hit 700 home runs in Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pujols joins different companies in the form of some of the most prolific sluggers in the game: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.

Puyols hit his first career homer 699 in the third inning:

Then, in the fourth quarter, Pujols connected with No. 700.

It was the night of the first five RBIs in the fifth inning.

Pujols entered the season with the Cardinals knowing it was his last before retiring. He never strayed from his proclamation that he would play in 2022, and not for another year, and while he has the potential to get so close to 700, it still falls short. It’s a bit surprising that he can come this far. There was a sharp uptick in the second half.

Puyols had just six home runs in the first half. He now has 15 games since the All-Star break. In the process, he passed Alex Rodriguez, who has 696 career home runs, for fourth all-time. Reaching 700 does not move Pujols on the career leaderboard. It’s just a nice integer. We celebrate things like 500 home runs, 3,000 hits, 3,000 strikeouts, so being the fourth man to hit 700 is a pretty big achievement.

Pujols, like Aaron, never had a 50-home run season. He hit at least 40 seven times. Only Aaron, Ruth, A-Rod, Bonds, Harmon and Killebrew do this more often. He ranks 30th in 14 of his 22 years behind Aaron and A-Rod. At 20+ this season, that leaves 18 of his 22 with at least 20 long balls. He’s ahead of Frank Robinson and Willie Mays, who each had 17-20-run seasons, trailing only Aaron and Bonds.

Obviously, it’s not just home runs. Pujols is 10th in hits (over 3,000, apparently), 5th in doubles, 3rd in RBI (behind Aaron and Ruth), 12th in runs and 2nd in total bases (Aaron).

Still, the home run is the most watched statistic in baseball because it’s the most impactful outcome that can happen in a baseball game. Pujols is one of the best people in history to play the biggest role in this.



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