The Machine Crushes His 700th Home Run

On September 23, 2022 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodger Stadium Albert Pujols crushed two home runs. He became the fourth person in MLB history to have hit 700 home runs. Albert Pujols has been playing in the MLB since 2001. He has been playing for the St Louis Cardinals for ten years (2001-2011). Then he went to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and played nine and a half seasons (2012 -2020). He played half a season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, and lastly in 2021 he went back to the Cardinals for his final season. In his career he has had 3384 hits, 703 home runs, and 2218 RBI (Runs Batted In). He has the tenth most hits of all time, fourth most home runs, and second most RBI. He has had a lot of success winning 2 World Series titles with the Cardinals in 2006, and 2011. Pujols said in his post game press conference after the game when he hit his 700th home run “I owe a lot of my success to my family. They have been with me through my ups and downs, with injury and sadness in my career.”

Seven-hundred home runs have only been achieved by three other people: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds. The last time this happened was in 2004 or eighteen years ago. This is a huge accomplishment since there have been so many renowned MLB players and only three have hit 700. The importance of this accomplishment was emphasized by the millions of ecstatic baseball fans who celebrated the accomplishment. John Fisher, a lifelong Cardinals fan, said “Seeing someone hit 700 home runs is amazing and seeing it from my team is amazing, especially being a Cardinals fan for my whole life.” Even people who aren’t fan of the team think this is a great accomplishment. Brian McKay, a cubs fan said “ I am really impressed with this accomplishment even being a Cubs fan.”

The fan who caught Albert Pujols 700th home run ball is not giving it back to him. (In major league baseball, if you catch a ball, you are allowed to keep it.) The Cardinals and Pujols have offered him multiple items and payments for the legendary ball, but he still wanted to keep it. Per CBS Sports, Pujols said, "If they want to give it back, that's great. But at the end of the day, I don't focus on material stuff."

Will there be another person to hit seven hundred home runs? There are lots of young talented players in the league. Players such as Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Rafael Devers, and Ronald Acuna Jr. There are some older players who have a chance if they continue to play for a few, such as Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, and Paul Goldschmidt. McKay, said “I don’t think anyone will hit more homeruns than Pujols.” “There have been a lot of great players who will play long enough and have hit enough to surpass him.”

Pujols has had a hall of fame career. Including winning two world series; receiving two Golden and three National League MVP awards; hitting seven hundred home runs, and many more. Sadly, the Cardinals could not make it very far in the postseason for his final season. They lost two games in a best-of-three series against the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Wild Card. Ending their season and therefore finishing Pujols MLB career.