Albert Pujols Reaches 700 Homers But May Write More Baseball History

In New York, Los Angeles, and other cities in the major leagues, fans rarely root for visitors.

It happened in New York in 1985, when Tom Seaver beat the Yankees for the White Sox to notch his 300th win. It happened in St. Louis in 2019, when erstwhile Cardinals star Albert Pujols homered for the Angels in his first Busch Stadium series since he left for Anaheim. And it happened in Dodger Stadium Friday, when Pujols – in his return season to St. Louis — hit his 699th and 700th home runs in the same game.

The oldest man in the National League at age 42, Pujols almost went unemployed this season.

He finished last year with the Dodgers as a bench player, hitting 12 home runs in 85 games to bring his 21-year career total to 679. But he wanted more.

He found salvation in St. Louis, where the Cardinals already were counting on 40-something regulars Yadier Molina, now in his 19th year as the team’s top catcher, and Adam Wainwright, a right-handed pitcher whose curve hasn’t lost its crackle.

Pujols wasn’t about to bump Triple Crown contender Paul Goldschmidt off first base but he proved a perfect candidate for the designated hitter job, made permanent in the National League when the new Basic Agreement was ratified in March.

On March 28, he returned to the Cards after agreeing to a one-year pact worth $2,500,000. It was a far cry from the $30 million he earned the year before but it gave his old fans a chance to say goodbye in person.

Pujols had been gone for a decade while playing out a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels. He wore the same color he had with the Cardinals but it was never the same.

The 6-3, 235 pound right-handed hitter had earned all three of his MVP awards and played in his only three World Series before leaving St. Louis. He had also won both of his home run crowns and his only batting title with the Cards.

His .265 average this season is his best since 2016 while his 21 homers are the best since 2019. And the season’s not over yet – though Pujols, Molina, and Wainwright all are talking retirement.

As the third man with 3,000 hits and 700 homers, Pujols is virtually certain to join Hank Aaron and Willie Mays in Cooperstown. Before that, he has unfinished business, including doing whatever he can to keep the Cardinals alive as long as possible in the newly-expanded post-season tournament.

He’s also likely to get some support in the voting for Most Valuable Player, since he has kept the team afloat in the wake of a September cool-down by Goldschmidt.

The list of Pujols accomplishments is lengthy. On Oct. 22, 2011, for example, he went 5-for-6 with four runs scored, four runs batted in, and three home runs in Arlington, Tex. as the Cards clobbered the Texas Rangers, 16-7. The only other players with three-homer games during the Fall Classic were Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, and Pablo Sandoval.

Six years later, Pujols became the first man to reach 600 home runs by connecting with the bases loaded.

Then there was the night of Sept. 23, 2022. He homered against Andrew Heaney in the third inning, then belted another, against Phil Bickford, in the fourth.

He’s sitting on a total of 19 post-season homers – a figure he’s like to improve this fall.

The Cardinals started play Saturday with an 89-63 record, seven-and-a-half games ahead of the second-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and likely to be the third seed – behind the Dodgers and Mets – in the playoffs.

Since the two division winners with the best records get a first-round “bye,” St. Louis would start its 2022 post-season journey with a best-of-three Wild Card Series.

Should Pujols stay hot, he could be writing more baseball history in the weeks ahead.