On Friday night, September 23, 2022, Albert Pujols made history by hitting his 700th home run making him the fourth player in MLB history to achieve that milestone. The other three players are: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds.
That night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pujols hit home run #699 in the third inning on a pitch from Andrew Heaney. In the fourth inning on a pitch from Phil Bickford, Pujols connected for home run #700.1 The St. Louis Cardinals achieved an 11-0 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Talk about a valuable baseball. The fan who caught the ball left the stadium immediately after it was authenticated by officials. This little fact didn’t bother Pujols at all. He considered it a souvenir.2
Pujols began his professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001 where he spent the majority of his productive years until 2012 when he was acquired by the Anaheim Angels on a 10-year contract for $254 million.3 While his decade with Anaheim wasn’t as productive, he is still considered by many to be a guaranteed Hall of Famer. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021 and ended up back in St. Louis in 2022.4
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References:
- St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols joins 700 club with two-homer day. www.espn.com ↩︎
- Albert Pujols isn’t mad at fan for keeping his 700th home run ball. sports.yahoo.com ↩︎
- Albert Pujols Contract Heavily Backloaded, Los Angeles Angels 2012 Payroll At Roughly $150 Million. losangeles.sbnation.com ↩︎
- Albert Pujols. www.baseball-reference.com ↩︎