Albert Pujols was named the 2022 recipient of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award as part of ESPYS on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
Albert Pujols : Retirement | Home runs | Hall of Fame
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara is a Dominican–American professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).
| Born: January 16, 1980 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
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Bats: Right
Throws: Right
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| MLB debut | |
|---|---|
| April 2, 2001, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics (through August 14, 2022) |
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| Batting average | .296 |
| Hits | 3,347 |
| Home runs | 689 |
| Runs batted in | 2,180 |
Nicknamed “The Machine”, he played his first 11 seasons in MLB for the Cardinals, then played with the Los Angeles Angels for more than nine seasons before joining the Los Angeles Dodgers for half a season.
With St. Louis, Pujols was a three-time National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) (2005, 2008, 2009) and nine-time All-Star (2001, 2003–2010). After joining the Angels in 2012, he made one All-Star appearance, in 2015.
After returning to the St Louis Cardinals in 2022, he was chosen for the All-Star game as a legacy selection by the MLB Commissioner in honor of his career achievements.
Albert Pujols Retirement
Albert Pujols has signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, one that will bookend his 22-year MLB career with stints in St. Louis.
He spent the first 11 years with the Cardinals and now he’s back for 2022, which will be his final MLB season before retirement.
“This is my last round,” Pujols said Monday, confirming he will retire after the 2022 season.
News of the two sides finalizing an agreement broke overnight.
And before the deal was even announced as being official, Pujols was back in a Cardinals uniform and given a standing ovation by the fans on hand for Monday’s spring training action.
After the game, Pujols and high-ranking members of the Cardinals organization held a press conference to officially welcome him back into the fold.
Albert pujols Home Runs
Albert Pujols’ is already in rare company for dozens of achievements from his MLB career. There’s still one big club he’s hoping to join before his retirement though.
| MLB statistics (through August 14, 2022) |
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|---|---|
| Batting average | .296 |
| Hits | 3,347 |
| Home runs | 689 |
| Runs batted in | 2,180 |
Just three baseball players in history have surpassed 700 home runs in their career: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.
He now has 689 career HRs with 11 to go for 700.
Pujols came into the season sitting on 679 home runs. Getting to 700 was no given, considering he hadn’t hit 20 homers since 2019 with the Angels.
It looked even less likely with just four homers in the first three months of the season.
He’s come on since July, hitting six in his last 59 at-bats. He had just four in 126 at-bats before those.
Hall of Fame
Albert Pujols’ 21-year MLB career may have come to an end. He will certainly be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2027, or in 2028 .
Earlier in the season, Pujols drove in his 2,087th run, putting him in 3rd place on the all-time RBI list, passing Alex Rodriguez. He currently has 2,150 RBI, behind only Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.
Pujols appeared in only 24 games with the Angels in 2021, hitting .198 (74 OPS+) with 5 HR and 12 RBI.
As previously noted, he fared a bit better with the Dodgers, hitting .254 (with a .460 SLG and 101 OPS+). He’s hit 12 home runs with 38 RBI in a Dodger uniform.
Albert Pujols did reach some significant milestones in 2019. On April 26th in Kansas City, Pujols hit his 637th career home run, a two-run blast that raised his career runs batted in total to 1,995.
That homer moved Pujols into a tie for 6th on the RBI list with Lou Gehrig. Two days later, Prince Albert drove in two more runs, giving him 1,997, which moved him ahead of both Gehrig and Barry Bonds.
Nearly two weeks later, Pujols launched his 639th career longball, a solo blast that more significantly represented his 2,000th career RBI.