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SteemSports Editor:
Baseball history was made at Safeco Field in Seattle on Friday night. Rather than letting the 3,000 hit watch drag on for several days, Albert Pujols stepped to the plate in the fifth inning against Mike Leake and lining a broken bat single into right field to etch his name in baseball immortality.
The game was stopped for several minutes as his teammates congratulated him and the 41,705 visiting fans in Seattle honored him with a standing ovation.
He became just the 32nd player in MLB history to tally 3000 hits. That’s quite an accomplishment. Even more astonishing, is that he became just the fourth player in MLB history to reach both 3,000 hits and 600 home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez. That’s some rather impressive company.
Pujols became the second player to achieve his 3,000th hit as a member of the Angels, joining Hall of Famer Rod Carew who did so in 1985. He became the sixth foreign-born player to reach the milestone and just the second player on the list to have been born in the Dominican Republic, joining Rangers’ third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Of all the remarkable numbers that Pujols has already reached in his career, he says that the 3,000 hit milestone is one that he’s especially proud of. The other that he wants to attain, is 2,000 RBI. When asked about it this week, Pujols admitted, “Two things, I won’t lie to you. That 3,000 and 2,000 RBIs, those two numbers are something that are really, really going to be pretty special. I’m a long ways to the 2,000. Hopefully I can get those this year”
Pujols didn’t come into the big leagues as a long-heralded top prospect. He was a 13th round draft pick by the Cardinals in 1999 out of Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City. He broke into the big leagues as a 21-year-old in 2001 and he hasn’t stopped hitting since. In that unbelievable rookie campaign, Pujols slashed .329/.403/.610 with 37 homers and 130 RBI. Those massive numbers earned him the National League Rookie of the Year Award, as well as a Silver Slugger and his first All-Star Game appearance. He finished fourth in the National League MVP voting.
He spent the first 11 seasons of his big league career with the Cardinals and put up absolutely jaw-dropping numbers as the most feared right-handed hitter in the game. Over those 11 seasons, Pujols hit a remarkable.328/.420/.617 with 445 homers, 1329 RBI, 84 stolen bases and an astounding 704/975 K/BB ratio. In each of his final 10 seasons with the Cardinals, Pujols walked more than he struck out.
During his 11 years in St. Louis he finished in the top-five of the National League MVP voting in 10 seasons and ninth in the other year. He won three NL MVP Awards in 2005, 2008 and 2009. He won six Silver Slugger Awards and a pair of Gold Gloves. He was named to nine National League All-Star teams. He also led the Cardinals to a pair of World Series titles. Regardless of where he went or what he did afterwards, he had already built a Hall of Fame resume.
He hasn’t been quite the same player since signing a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Angels prior to the 2012 season, though injuries have played a part in that. Even so, he has still been a prolific run-producer during his time with the Angels. He has driven in 95 or more runs in six of his seven seasons in Anaheim, the only exception coming in 2013 where he was limited to just 99 games.
Pujols remains under contract with the Angels for another three seasons following 2018. As long as he remains healthy, he’s going to continue to climb over Hall of Famers as he ascends the all-time lists for a plethora of offensive categories. He already ranks seventh all-time with 620 career home runs, ninth all-time with 1935 RBI and tenth all-time in total bases with 5518 among many other accomplishments.
Personally, I can say unabashedly that Albert Pujols is one of the greatest hitters that I have ever seen in my life. It was truly a pleasure to watch him achieve this milestone on Friday night.
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