Albert Pujols
Encyclopedia
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (born January 16, 1980), better known as Albert Pujols (ˈalβert puˈxols), is a Dominican-American
professional baseball
player, who is currently a free agent
. A first baseman
, Pujols is considered one of the top players in Major League Baseball, and was the most feared hitter in baseball in 2008, according to a poll of all 30 MLB managers
.
He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2001, and has since been selected as an All-Star nine times, and won the National League
Most Valuable Player Award three times. He has also twice won the National League
Hank Aaron Award
, and has two World Series
rings from the Cardinals' 2006
and 2011
titles.
At the end of the 2011 season, he led all active players in batting average
(.328), slugging percentage (.617), and OPS
(1.037), and ranked 37th in number of home runs in Major League Baseball history. He was selected by ESPN.com as the greatest player of the decade from 2000–09. He stands tall, weighs 230 lbs, and bats and throws right-handed.
In the U.S., Pujols displayed his hitting skill by batting over .500 in his first season at Fort Osage High School
in Independence, Missouri
, twice earning all-state honors. Pujols graduated from high school in December 1998. He attended Maple Woods Community College in the Kansas City
area in spring of 1999. In his only college season, Pujols hit a grand slam
and turned an unassisted triple play
in his first game. He batted .461 for the year.
in Hays, Kansas
in Jayhawk League
of the National Baseball Congress
instead. The Cardinals increased their bonus offer to $60,000; Pujols signed, and was assigned to the minor leagues.
In 2000, Pujols played for the Peoria Chiefs
of the single-A Midwest League
, where he was voted league MVP
. Pujols quickly progressed through the ranks of the St. Louis farm clubs, first at the Potomac Cannons
in the high-A Carolina League
, and then with the Memphis Redbirds
in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League
.
season, the team was preparing to send Pujols to Memphis-AAA. However, Pujols' outstanding play, combined with injuries on the big league roster, allowed Pujols the opportunity to begin the season in the majors. During spring training
Mark McGwire
reportedly told Tony La Russa
"If you don't put this guy on the roster for the 2001 season, it might be one of the worst moves you make in your career." Pujols started his major league career playing third base
. During his rookie season, he started at 4 different positions (1B, 3B, LF, and RF).
In May, he was named National League
Rookie of the Month, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game
. In the second half of the season, Pujols had a on-base streak of 48 consecutive games from July 28 to September 22. Pujols' successful rookie season helped the Cardinals tie for the National League Central Division title. In 2001, Pujols batted .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs, and was unanimously named the National League
Rookie of the Year
. His 37 home runs were one short of the National League rookie record of 38, and his 130 RBIs set an NL rookie record.
In 2002, Pujols was moved to left field to accommodate Scott Rolen
, and hit .314 with 34 homers and 127 RBIs.
Following an injury scare in 2003, Pujols was moved to first base and had one of the best offensive seasons in Cardinals history, batting .359 with 43 home runs, and 124 RBIs. He won the NL batting title while also leading the league in runs, hits, doubles, extra base hits, and total bases. Pujols joined Rogers Hornsby
as the only players in Cardinals' history to record 40+ homers and 200+ hits in the same season, and had a 30-game hitting streak in 2003.
In 2004, Pujols signed a seven-year, $100 million contract extension with a $16 million club option for 2011 with no-trade provisions.
Throughout the year
, Pujols was plagued by plantar fasciitis
, but still hit .331 with 46 home runs and 123 RBIs. Pujols, along with teammates Jim Edmonds
and Scott Rolen
, earned the nickname 'MV3' for their phenomenal season
. He was named the MVP of the 2004 NLCS
, helping his team reach the World Series
, where they were swept by the Boston Red Sox
in four games.
Pujols established career highs in walks
and stolen bases, while leading his team in almost every offensive category. He finished batting .330 with 41 home runs (including his 200th career homer), 117 RBIs, 97 walks, and 16 stolen bases and won the 2005 National League MVP
award. He became the only major leaguer to have had a 30-homer, 100-RBI season in each of his first five years. On defense, he tied for the lead among all major league first basemen in errors, with 14.
In the NLCS
the Cardinals
were eliminated in six games by the Houston Astros
. With the Cardinals trailing by 2 runs and only one out from elimination Pujols hit a game-winning three-run home run that landed on the train tracks in the back of Minute Maid Park
.
Early in the 2006 season, Pujols became the 35th player to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats, and the 20th batter to hit four home runs in four consecutive plate appearances. He set the record for the most home runs hit in April of the season
, at 14—and became the fastest player in major league history to reach 19 home runs in a season. On April 16 of that year, he hit three home runs in a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium
, the last one a walk-off home run
that gave the Cardinals an 8–7 victory. In June he was placed on the disabled list
for the first time in his career, missing 15 games. He started at first base for the NL All-Star
team and finished the season with a .331 batting average
, establishing new career-highs in slugging percentage (in which he led the majors), 49 home runs (second) and 137 RBIs (second). Of his 49 home runs, 20 accounted for a game-winning RBI, breaking Willie Mays
' single-season record set in 1962.
On April 10, 2006, Pujols hit the first Cardinals home run at new Busch Stadium, a solo shot in the third inning off Tomo Ohka
.
After appearing in the playoffs with the Cardinals in four out of five years, Pujols won his first World Series when the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers
in the 2006 World Series
.
After having shared the lead for errors at his position in 2005, Pujols' defensive improvements earned him his first Gold Glove award in 2006. He had the highest range factor
among first basemen in his two full seasons at the position, and led the National League
in that category; emblematic was a sprawling, flip-from-his-back play to save a hit in Game 5 of the World Series.
than in previous years due to several injuries in his right elbow
. Following the All-Star break, he hit four home runs in his first three games back.
He hit his 25th home run on August 15, making him the fifth player to hit 25 home runs in his first seven seasons in the major leagues, and the first since Darryl Strawberry
. On August 22, he hit his 30th home run of the season, becoming the first major league player to hit at least 30 home runs in each of his first 7 seasons. It was his fifth consecutive game with a home run, tying the Cardinals' single-season record.
Pujols notched his 100th RBI for the seventh consecutive year, to be only the third player to accomplish that from the start of his career.
Pujols won the Fielding Bible Award
for defensive excellence at first base in 2007.
In June Pujols went on the 15-day disabled list
for only the second time in his career. Pujols won his seventh career NL Player of the Week award for Aug. 18–24. He got his 1,500th career hit
on August 30, against the Houston Astros
. His 30th home run on September 1, and his 100th RBI on September 11, made him the first player in MLB history to start his career with eight seasons of at least 30 HR, 100 RBIs, a .300 BA, and 99 runs
.
In 2008
, he also led the NL in three lesser-known sabermetric categories: VORP
(98.6), runs created
(160), and OPS+ (190).
On October 13, Pujols elected to have surgery on his troubled right elbow
, "a procedure that included decompression and transposition of the ulnar nerve
" but not the more invasive Tommy John surgery
to relieve persistent pain.
Pujols won a number of awards for 2008, including the Players Choice
National League Outstanding Player of the Year, and Players Choice
Player of the Year (his second Player of the Year Award, having also won in 2003; he joined Alex Rodriguez
and Barry Bonds
as two-time winners). Pujols was also named The Sporting News
Player of the Year for the second time in his career. On October 25, Pujols was named the 2008 winner of the Roberto Clemente Award
for the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement, and the individual's contribution to his team.
Pujols won the Fielding Bible Award for defensive excellence at first base for the third consecutive year. For the third time in four years, Pujols was named NL Most Valuable Player in the annual Internet Baseball Awards, a poll conducted by Baseball Prospectus
. Pujols also won his fourth Silver Slugger
award, having previously won one at 3B in 2001, OF in 2003, and 1B in 2004.
After the season Pujols won his second NL MVP Award. The MVP award continues his streak of finishing in the top nine in the BBWAA voting every year of the first 8 years of his career. He ended the year by winning TYIB's 'Hitter of the Year' Award.
for his native Dominican Republic
, because of insurance issues relating to his off-season right elbow surgery in October 2008.
In May he hit an upper-deck HR off the "Big Mac Land" sign in left field, causing the "I" in "Big" to be knocked out.
Pujols was the leading vote-getter for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game, receiving the highest number of votes in NL
history thus far. For the All-Star Game, which took place at his home ballpark of Busch Stadium
in St. Louis, Pujols participated in the Home Run Derby and caught President Barack Obama
's ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game.
The 2009 season marked the ninth consecutive season since the start of his career that he has reached 100 or more RBI and 30 or more doubles, and the fifth time he has hit 40+ home runs and won his first home run title. In 2009 Pujols also played his 1,000th game at first base
and also hit his 40th double of the season, making him the second player in major league history to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in three separate seasons (2003, 2004, 2009), joining Lou Gehrig
and was a league leader in a variety of offensive categories.
Later that year he was awarded the Sporting News "MLB Player of the Decade". Following the season, Pujols won the Sporting News "MLB Player of the Year" award for the second consecutive year, and his third (2003) overall. He is just the third player in the history of the award to win in consecutive seasons. Boston Red Sox
outfielder Ted Williams
won the award in 1941–1942, and Cincinnati Reds
second baseman Joe Morgan
did so in 1975–76. In December, Sports Illustrated selected him as Player of the Decade and also as one of the Top 20 Male Athletes of the Decade.
Pujols was also named the NL MVP for the third time, tying Stan Musial
as the St. Louis Cardinals
' leader in that category. He won the Babe Ruth Home Run Award
after leading MLB with 47 home runs.
He had surgery
to remove five bone spurs from his right elbow
.
(April 5) and later surpassed Eddie Mathews
' old record (370 in 1952–1961) for most home runs in his first 10 years.
He became the 161st player to hit 400 doubles
in his career on May 20, 2010. On May 30, he had his 36th career multihomer game at Wrigley Field
hitting 3 home runs. Later in June he had his 37th career multihomer game at Busch Stadium
tying Stan Musial
's franchise record by a Cardinals' player.
On August 15, Pujols hit his 30th home run
of the season extending his own major league record of most consecutive 30 home run seasons (10) to begin a career starting with his rookie year. On August 26, he became the 47th player to hit his 400th career home run, and the first in major league history to do it in his first 10 seasons. It was against the Washington Nationals
in the fourth inning at their ballpark against Jordan Zimmermann
. In the same game later, he hit his 30th double (#417 career) of the season, extending his consecutive years of 30+ doubles in a season to all 10 of his playing years. Pujols is the third-youngest player in Major League history to reach the milestone, at 30 years, seven months and 10 days. Only Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez
hit 400 at an earlier age. Only four players in the history of the game reached their 400th homer in fewer at-bats than Pujols, who got there in career at-bat No. 5,617: Mark McGwire
(4,726), Babe Ruth
(4,853), Harmon Killebrew
(5,300), and Jim Thome
(5,416).
He won the NL Player of the Month
Award in August for the sixth time, more than any active NL player, hitting .379 (2nd) with 11 home runs (1st), 23 RBIs (T5th), .777 slugging (1st), and .453 on-base percentage (2nd).
On September 11, Pujols reached 100 RBIs for the 10th consecutive year and drove in all three runs in the game, giving him 102 for the season. Only Al Simmons
has a longer streak at the beginning of a career, 11 years (1924–1934). Pujols joins Jimmie Foxx
, Lou Gehrig
, and Alex Rodriguez
in having 10 consecutive seasons of 100+ RBIs at any time in their career. Only two players besides Pujols have 10 consecutive years of 30 HRs and 100 RBIs at any time in their careers: Foxx and Rodriguez.
On September 12, he passed Stan Musial
to be the all-time Cardinals' leader in multi-HR games when he hit two home runs (38 and 39) for the 38th time in a game. It was the fifth time this year he has hit two home runs in a game.
On September 23, he reached 40 home runs for the sixth time in his career at Pittsburgh
, hitting two at PNC Park
giving him an NL-leading 41 for the season, 112 RBIs, and extending his own record there to 26 home runs, which is also the most for him at any road ballpark. Only six other players have more than six 40-HR seasons. He also added to his Cardinals' franchise record of 39 career multi-HR games. At season's end, Pujols became the second player in the last sixty years (the first was Hank Aaron), to lead the National League in runs, home runs, and runs batted in, and not be named Most Valuable Player.
He won his second Gold Glove Award
, his first since 2006
. He won the NL First Base Silver Slugger
Award and finished second in the NL MVP race to Joey Votto
.
He began the season hitting .245 with a .305 OBP, and .453 SLG through April. He did hit 7 home runs and 18 RBIs, but also had a league-leading 9 grounded into double plays
.
On June 4, he recorded his 41st career multi-HR game. On June 4 and 5, he had consecutive walk-off home runs in extra-innings, becoming only the third player to do that since 1950. They also were his 6th and 7th extra-inning walk-off home runs [9th and 10th total] in his career, ranking #2 behind Frank Robinson
and Jim Thome
who have eight, since 1950, tying Mickey Mantle
. After the game on June 5, manager Tony La Russa
reported his autographing a picture of himself with Pujols after the 2001 playoff season ended (Pujols' first season in the majors), inscribing it, "To Albert, The best player I've ever managed."
For the week of May 30 – June 5, he was named NL Player of the Week
for the first time since June 15–21, 2009, hitting .444 (12-for-27), with five HRs, ten RBIs, and a 1.620 OPS. His 12 hits and five walks led the NL, while his 1.074 slugging percentage, 29 total bases, and 11 runs scored led the major leagues.
On June 19, against the Royals
, both Wilson Betemit
and Pete Kozma collided with Pujols, causing a small fracture in the left wrist-forearm. He was activated from the disabled list on July 5, after the minimum 15-days.
On July 30, at Busch Stadium in the eighth inning against the Cubs, he got his 2,000th career hit, a double down the left-field line. It was in his 1,650th game, becoming the fifth Cardinal player to get 2,000 hits, joining Stan Musial
(3,630), Lou Brock
(2,713), Rogers Hornsby
(2,110), and Enos Slaughter
(2,064). He is the 12th quickest player by games to get to 2,000.
On August 14, facing the Rockies, he hit the longest home run at Busch Stadium, estimated to be about 465 feet.
He missed extending his record to 11 consecutive seasons from the start of his career on hitting .300 with 30+ home runs and 100 RBIs, when he hit 37 home runs but batted .299 and had 99 RBIs in 147 games played in missing 13 games due to injury. Despite the career lows in batting average and RBIs and a home run total that was five from his career worst, Pujols was matched by only three other players in the majors in those categories—Jose Bautista
, Prince Fielder
and Matt Kemp
. The New York Times
wrote, "Even when Pujols struggles, he excels." He won his fifth Fielding Bible Award as the best defensive first baseman in MLB.
On October 22, in Game 3 of the World Series
, Pujols joined Babe Ruth
(1926, 1928) and Reggie Jackson
(1977) as the only players in baseball history to hit three home runs in a World Series game. Pujols was 5-for-6 with two singles, four runs scored, and six RBIs. Pujols became the first player in World Series history to get hits in four consecutive innings: fourth (a single), fifth (a single), sixth (a home run and three RBIs), and seventh (home run and two RBIs). He tied records for most home runs (three), most hits (five), and most RBIs (six) in a World Series game, and established a new record with 14 total bases
.
Game 3 was his 70th post-season game. In those 70 games, he has 254 at-bats with 87 hits and is hitting .343 with a .444 on-base percentage, and a .630 slugging percentage, with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs.
A 10-foot, 1,100-lb. statue of Pujols was dedicated on November 2, at Westport Plaza
outside his Pujols 5 restaurant. An anonymous donor commissioned sculptor Harry Weber to create the statue, which now belongs to the Pujols Family Foundation based at the Plaza.
He became a free agent
(along with 165 others) for the first time in his career at 12:01am on Nov. 3, 2011, and thereby able to sign with any team for the first time since drafted by the Cardinals in 1999.
He came in fifth in the voting for the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player Award, behind winner Ryan Braun
, Matt Kemp
, Prince Fielder
, and Justin Upton
.
, as Isabella was born with this condition. He has taken part-ownership in Patrick's Restaurant in Maryland Heights, Missouri
. The remodeled restaurant was re-opened as Pujols 5 in 2006.
Pujols is close friends with third baseman Plácido Polanco
, a former teammate with the St. Louis Cardinals
. Pujols is godfather to Polanco's 3-year-old son, Ismael.
In 2007 Pujols became a U.S. citizen, scoring a perfect 100 on his citizenship test. Later that year Upper Deck Authenticated
announced it had signed Pujols to an exclusive autographed memorabilia agreement.
In 2008, Pujols agreed to help bring a MLS
franchise to St. Louis by using his reputation and a large financial investment.
Pujols and his wife are devout and active Christians
; one of his writings on his family's foundation's website states, "In the Pujols family, God is first. Everything else is a distant second". He writes, "My life's goal is to bring glory to Jesus. My life is not mostly dedicated to the Lord, it is 100% committed to Jesus Christ and His will. God has given me the ability to succeed in the game of baseball. But baseball is not the end; baseball is the means by which my wife, Dee Dee, and I glorify God. Baseball is simply my platform to elevate Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior." Pujols attends a Baptist
church.
Pujols and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa attended Glenn Beck
's Restoring Honor rally in Washington, D.C., after being assured by Beck that the rally was not political. During the rally, Pujols was presented with a "Badge of Merit" for "Hope."
bears Pujols' name ("Albert Pujols Wellness Center for Adults with Down Syndrome") opened in 2009 in Chesterfield, Missouri
; he was present at the opening on November 18.
Pujols has taken several trips to the Dominican Republic, by taking supplies as well as a team of doctors and dentists to the poor who need medical care. The Pujols Family Foundation also holds an annual golf
tournament to raise money to send dentists to the Dominican Republic.
(OPS; fourth), and adjusted OPS (tied for sixth). He also ranks in the top 500 players in major league history in a variety of statistical categories (see below), and is a three-time MVP.
From 2001 to 2005, Pujols hit 201 home runs, second all-time for the most hit in a player's first five seasons. By 2009, he had reached the 350-homer plateau at the age of 29—the third-youngest to do so—and surpassed Ralph Kiner
's record for most home runs in his first nine seasons. In doing so, Pujols became the first player to hit 30 or more home runs in the first nine seasons of his career (a streak he extended to 10 in 2010, and subsequently to 11 in 2011), as well the second player to have 100 or more RBIs in the same timespan.
Pujols holds the Cardinals' franchise record for most career grand slam
s with 12; he broke the record of nine previously held by Stan Musial
. Musial and Pujols are also two of only four players in history to have a career batting average above .330 and less than 500 strikeouts at the time of their 300th home runs (the other two being Musial's contemporaries Ted Williams
and Joe DiMaggio
).
In his first 5,000 career at bats, Pujols hit 372 doubles, 358 home runs, and 14 triples for a total of 744 extra-base hits, the most in NL history, and is the second player in Major League Baseball to post nine consecutive seasons with 30 doubles, a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, and 100 runs batted in or better (Lou Gehrig
; Pujols then extended the streak to 10 seasons before falling short in 2011 by one RBI and .001 percentage). He has scored 100 or more runs in 10 of his 11 seasons (and scored 99 runs in the only season when he did not score 100 runs). He currently has eight career walk-off home run
s. His 1,230 RBI is second all-time among Cardinal players, only Stan Musial
(1,951) has more.
In the field, Pujols has set the Cardinals' franchise record for the most assists by a first baseman in a single game (seven). In 2009, he also set the National League
record for assists
by a first baseman in a season (182), and in the last game of the 2009 season, he broke Bill Buckner
's 1985 major league mark of 184 with his 185th assist. Keith Hernandez
held the previous Cardinals' record with 146 assists in 1979, and Mark Grace held the previous NL record with 181 in 1990.
Pujols said he does not play solely for the numbers. "I don't play for numbers. I play first of all to glorify God and to accomplish in this game what everybody wants to accomplish, which is getting to the World Series and coming up with a win at the end. Those are the things that I really try to focus on and try to make sure that I do every day for the rest of my career."
Dominican American
A Dominican American is any American who has origins in the Dominican Republic.Immigration records of Dominicans in the United States date from the late 19th century, and New York City has had a Dominican community since the 1930s...
professional baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, who is currently a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
. A first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
, Pujols is considered one of the top players in Major League Baseball, and was the most feared hitter in baseball in 2008, according to a poll of all 30 MLB managers
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
.
He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2001, and has since been selected as an All-Star nine times, and won the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Most Valuable Player Award three times. He has also twice won the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Hank Aaron Award
Hank Aaron Award
The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball players selected as the top hitter in each league, as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It was introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron's surpassing of Babe Ruth's career home run mark...
, and has two World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
rings from the Cardinals' 2006
2006 World Series
The 2006 World Series, the 102nd edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 27, and matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the Series in five games, taking...
and 2011
2011 World Series
The 2011 World Series was the 107th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion St...
titles.
At the end of the 2011 season, he led all active players in batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
(.328), slugging percentage (.617), and OPS
On-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
(1.037), and ranked 37th in number of home runs in Major League Baseball history. He was selected by ESPN.com as the greatest player of the decade from 2000–09. He stands tall, weighs 230 lbs, and bats and throws right-handed.
Early life and career
Born on January 16, 1980, Pujols was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by his grandmother. Pujols and his family immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1996, first to New York City then (after Albert witnessed a shooting) to Independence, Missouri.In the U.S., Pujols displayed his hitting skill by batting over .500 in his first season at Fort Osage High School
Fort Osage High School
Fort Osage Senior High School is a high school located at 2101 N. Twyman Rd. in Independence, Missouri, belonging to the Fort Osage R-1 School District. It currently serves approximately 1,500 students from grades 9-12...
in Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, twice earning all-state honors. Pujols graduated from high school in December 1998. He attended Maple Woods Community College in the Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
area in spring of 1999. In his only college season, Pujols hit a grand slam
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...
and turned an unassisted triple play
Unassisted triple play
In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three putouts by himself in one continuous play, without any teammates touching the ball . In Major League Baseball , it is one of the rarest of individual feats, along with hitting four home runs in one game and the...
in his first game. He batted .461 for the year.
Minor leagues
Few major league teams were very interested in Pujols out of high school, but he was finally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, with the 402nd overall pick. However, Pujols initially turned down a $10,000 bonus and opted to play for the Hays LarksHays Larks
The Hays Larks are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Hays, Kansas. The Larks evolved from Hays during the 1946 season. From 1869 to 1945, the team went by the name of The Hays Town Team and was sponsored by various organizations and businesses in Hays. The Larks are part of the Jayhawk...
in Hays, Kansas
Hays, Kansas
Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. It is also a college town, home to Fort Hays State University...
in Jayhawk League
Jayhawk Collegiate League
The Jayhawk Collegiate League is a collegiate summer baseball league consisting of five teams from five Kansas towns. The league was formed in 1976 and is a "Premier League" within the National Baseball Congress.-Teams:...
of the National Baseball Congress
National Baseball Congress
The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 15 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada...
instead. The Cardinals increased their bonus offer to $60,000; Pujols signed, and was assigned to the minor leagues.
In 2000, Pujols played for the Peoria Chiefs
Peoria Chiefs
The Peoria Chiefs are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, from Peoria, Illinois. They play in the Midwest League....
of the single-A Midwest League
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...
, where he was voted league MVP
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
. Pujols quickly progressed through the ranks of the St. Louis farm clubs, first at the Potomac Cannons
Potomac Nationals
The Potomac Nationals are a Minor League Baseball team located in Woodbridge, Virginia. The Nationals play in the Class A Advanced Carolina League, and are an affiliate of the Washington Nationals.-History:...
in the high-A Carolina League
Carolina League
The Carolina League is a minor league baseball affiliation which operates in the South Atlantic Coast of the United States. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...
, and then with the Memphis Redbirds
Memphis Redbirds
The Memphis Redbirds are the Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They play their home games at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The stadium's capacity is 14,320. They entered the Pacific Coast League as an expansion team in 1998, and were owned as a...
in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
.
2001–2004
During the 20012001 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 2001 season was the team's 120th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 110th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 93-69 during the season and finished tied for first in the National League Central division with the Houston Astros...
season, the team was preparing to send Pujols to Memphis-AAA. However, Pujols' outstanding play, combined with injuries on the big league roster, allowed Pujols the opportunity to begin the season in the majors. During spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...
reportedly told Tony La Russa
Tony La Russa
Anthony "Tony" La Russa, Jr. is a former Major League Baseball manager and infielder, best known for his tenures as manager of the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals...
"If you don't put this guy on the roster for the 2001 season, it might be one of the worst moves you make in your career." Pujols started his major league career playing third base
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
. During his rookie season, he started at 4 different positions (1B, 3B, LF, and RF).
In May, he was named National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Rookie of the Month, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game
2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 72nd playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10, 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington, home of the...
. In the second half of the season, Pujols had a on-base streak of 48 consecutive games from July 28 to September 22. Pujols' successful rookie season helped the Cardinals tie for the National League Central Division title. In 2001, Pujols batted .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs, and was unanimously named the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Rookie of the Year
MLB Rookie of the Year Award
In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is annually given to one player from each league as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America . The award was established in 1940 by the Chicago chapter of the BBWAA, which selected an annual winner from 1940 through 1946...
. His 37 home runs were one short of the National League rookie record of 38, and his 130 RBIs set an NL rookie record.
In 2002, Pujols was moved to left field to accommodate Scott Rolen
Scott Rolen
Scott Bruce Rolen is a Major League Baseball third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. He is an eight-time Gold Glove winner and seven-time All-Star.-Philadelphia Phillies:...
, and hit .314 with 34 homers and 127 RBIs.
Following an injury scare in 2003, Pujols was moved to first base and had one of the best offensive seasons in Cardinals history, batting .359 with 43 home runs, and 124 RBIs. He won the NL batting title while also leading the league in runs, hits, doubles, extra base hits, and total bases. Pujols joined Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...
as the only players in Cardinals' history to record 40+ homers and 200+ hits in the same season, and had a 30-game hitting streak in 2003.
In 2004, Pujols signed a seven-year, $100 million contract extension with a $16 million club option for 2011 with no-trade provisions.
Throughout the year
2004 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since , ending the Curse of the Bambino.*With 262 hits, Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners breaks George Sisler's record of 257. Suzuki also sets the record for most singles in a season, with 225.*2004 also marked the final...
, Pujols was plagued by plantar fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is a painful inflammatory process of the plantar fascia, the connective tissue on the sole of the foot.Longstanding cases of plantar fasciitis often demonstrate more degenerative changes than inflammatory changes, in which case they are termed plantar fasciosis. The suffix...
, but still hit .331 with 46 home runs and 123 RBIs. Pujols, along with teammates Jim Edmonds
Jim Edmonds
James Patrick "Jim" Edmonds is a former American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played for the California/Anaheim Angels, the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Diego Padres, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs, and the Cincinnati Reds...
and Scott Rolen
Scott Rolen
Scott Bruce Rolen is a Major League Baseball third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. He is an eight-time Gold Glove winner and seven-time All-Star.-Philadelphia Phillies:...
, earned the nickname 'MV3' for their phenomenal season
2004 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 2004 season was the team's 123rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 113th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 105-57 during the season and won the National League Central division by 13 games over the NL Wild-Card Champion Houston Astros...
. He was named the MVP of the 2004 NLCS
2004 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 13, 2004 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MissouriThe series opener at St. Louis' Busch Stadium was a slugfest involving four homers, 17 runs, and 22 hits, eventually won by St. Louis, 10–7. Houston struck the first blow of the series when Carlos Beltrán hit a two-run home...
, helping his team reach the World Series
2004 World Series
The 2004 World Series was the Major League Baseball championship series for the 2004 season. It was the 100th World Series and featured the American League champions, the Boston Red Sox, against the National League champions, the St. Louis Cardinals...
, where they were swept by the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
in four games.
2005–2006
In 2005 season2005 Major League Baseball season
Click on any series score to link to that series' page.Higher seed had home field advantage during Division Series and League Championship Series.The American League champion had home field advantage during the World Series as a result of the AL victory in the 2005 All-Star...
Pujols established career highs in walks
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
and stolen bases, while leading his team in almost every offensive category. He finished batting .330 with 41 home runs (including his 200th career homer), 117 RBIs, 97 walks, and 16 stolen bases and won the 2005 National League MVP
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
award. He became the only major leaguer to have had a 30-homer, 100-RBI season in each of his first five years. On defense, he tied for the lead among all major league first basemen in errors, with 14.
In the NLCS
2005 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MissouriIn the series opener, the Cardinals won 5–3 behind a strong pitching performance by Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter and a two-run home run by Reggie Sanders in the first inning...
the Cardinals
2005 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 2005 season was the team's 124th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 114th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 100-62 during the season and won the National League Central division by 11 games over the NL Wild-Card Champion and eventual NL Champion Houston...
were eliminated in six games by the Houston Astros
2005 Houston Astros season
The Houston Astros' 2005 season was a season in which the Houston Astros qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive season. The Astros overcame a sluggish 15-30 start to claim the wild card playoff spot, and would go on to win the National League pennant to advance to the World Series...
. With the Cardinals trailing by 2 runs and only one out from elimination Pujols hit a game-winning three-run home run that landed on the train tracks in the back of Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a ballpark in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States that opened in 2000 to house the Major League Baseball Houston Astros....
.
Early in the 2006 season, Pujols became the 35th player to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats, and the 20th batter to hit four home runs in four consecutive plate appearances. He set the record for the most home runs hit in April of the season
2006 Major League Baseball season
In , the Major League Baseball season ended with the National League's St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series with the lowest regular season victory total in history. The American League continued its domination at the All-Star Game by winning its fourth straight game; the A.L. has won nine...
, at 14—and became the fastest player in major league history to reach 19 home runs in a season. On April 16 of that year, he hit three home runs in a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, of MLB...
, the last one a walk-off home run
Walk-off home run
In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a home run that gives the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game—either the ninth inning, or any extra inning, or any other regularly scheduled final inning...
that gave the Cardinals an 8–7 victory. In June he was placed on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
for the first time in his career, missing 15 games. He started at first base for the NL All-Star
2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 77th playing of the midseason exhibition baseball game between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 11, 2006 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh,...
team and finished the season with a .331 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
, establishing new career-highs in slugging percentage (in which he led the majors), 49 home runs (second) and 137 RBIs (second). Of his 49 home runs, 20 accounted for a game-winning RBI, breaking Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
' single-season record set in 1962.
On April 10, 2006, Pujols hit the first Cardinals home run at new Busch Stadium, a solo shot in the third inning off Tomo Ohka
Tomo Ohka
is a Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher who is currently playing for the Yokohama BayStars. Previously, Ohka played with the Boston Red Sox , Montreal Expos , Washington Nationals , Milwaukee Brewers , Toronto Blue Jays , and Cleveland Indians...
.
After appearing in the playoffs with the Cardinals in four out of five years, Pujols won his first World Series when the Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
in the 2006 World Series
2006 World Series
The 2006 World Series, the 102nd edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 27, and matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the Series in five games, taking...
.
After having shared the lead for errors at his position in 2005, Pujols' defensive improvements earned him his first Gold Glove award in 2006. He had the highest range factor
Range Factor
Range Factor is a baseball statistic developed by Bill James. It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by number of innings or games played at a given defense position...
among first basemen in his two full seasons at the position, and led the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
in that category; emblematic was a sprawling, flip-from-his-back play to save a hit in Game 5 of the World Series.
2007–2008
Pujols had a slower start in the spring of 20072007 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 2007 season was the team's 126th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 116th season in the National League. The season started with the team trying to defend their 2006 World Series championship. During the offseason, the Cardinals were faced with the challenge of handling...
than in previous years due to several injuries in his right elbow
Elbow
The human elbow is the region surrounding the elbow-joint—the ginglymus or hinge joint in the middle of the arm. Three bones form the elbow joint: the humerus of the upper arm, and the paired radius and ulna of the forearm....
. Following the All-Star break, he hit four home runs in his first three games back.
He hit his 25th home run on August 15, making him the fifth player to hit 25 home runs in his first seven seasons in the major leagues, and the first since Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Eugene Strawberry is a former American Major League Baseball outfielder who is well-known both for his play on the field and for his controversial behavior off it...
. On August 22, he hit his 30th home run of the season, becoming the first major league player to hit at least 30 home runs in each of his first 7 seasons. It was his fifth consecutive game with a home run, tying the Cardinals' single-season record.
Pujols notched his 100th RBI for the seventh consecutive year, to be only the third player to accomplish that from the start of his career.
Pujols won the Fielding Bible Award
Fielding Bible Award
A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball based on statistical analysis. John Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions conduct the annual selection process...
for defensive excellence at first base in 2007.
In June Pujols went on the 15-day disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
for only the second time in his career. Pujols won his seventh career NL Player of the Week award for Aug. 18–24. He got his 1,500th career hit
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
on August 30, against the Houston Astros
2008 Houston Astros season
The Houston Astros' 2008 season is the 47th season for the Houston Astros. The Astros are attempting to return to the postseason, after missing the past two postseasons. They must do it without second baseman Craig Biggio, who became a member of the coveted 3,000 hit club last year.-Off Season:On...
. His 30th home run on September 1, and his 100th RBI on September 11, made him the first player in MLB history to start his career with eight seasons of at least 30 HR, 100 RBIs, a .300 BA, and 99 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
.
In 2008
2008 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals' 2008 season was the 127th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 117th season in the National League. The Cardinals, coming off a 78-84 season that was their worst since 1999, improved by eight games, going 86-76 in 2008...
, he also led the NL in three lesser-known sabermetric categories: VORP
Value over replacement player
In baseball, value over replacement player is a statistic popularized by Keith Woolner that demonstrates how much a hitter contributes offensively or how much a pitcher contributes to his team in comparison to a fictitious "replacement player," who is an average fielder at his position and a below...
(98.6), runs created
Runs created
Runs created is a baseball statistic invented by Bill James to estimate the number of runs a hitter contributes to his team.-Purpose:James explains in his book, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, why he believes runs created is an essential thing to measure:With regard to an offensive...
(160), and OPS+ (190).
On October 13, Pujols elected to have surgery on his troubled right elbow
Elbow
The human elbow is the region surrounding the elbow-joint—the ginglymus or hinge joint in the middle of the arm. Three bones form the elbow joint: the humerus of the upper arm, and the paired radius and ulna of the forearm....
, "a procedure that included decompression and transposition of the ulnar nerve
Ulnar nerve
In human anatomy, the ulnar nerve is a nerve which runs near the ulna bone. The ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint is in relation with the ulnar nerve. The nerve is the largest unprotected nerve in the human body , so injury is common...
" but not the more invasive Tommy John surgery
Tommy John surgery
Tommy John surgery, known in medical practice as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, is a surgical procedure in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body...
to relieve persistent pain.
Pujols won a number of awards for 2008, including the Players Choice
Players Choice Award
The Players Choice Awards are annual Major League Baseball awards, given by the Major League Baseball Players Association .The Players Choice Awards are given following a secret ballot by players. Four awards go to a player in each league, while two awards each go to one player in all of Major...
National League Outstanding Player of the Year, and Players Choice
Players Choice Award
The Players Choice Awards are annual Major League Baseball awards, given by the Major League Baseball Players Association .The Players Choice Awards are given following a secret ballot by players. Four awards go to a player in each league, while two awards each go to one player in all of Major...
Player of the Year (his second Player of the Year Award, having also won in 2003; he joined Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...
and Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
as two-time winners). Pujols was also named The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
Player of the Year for the second time in his career. On October 25, Pujols was named the 2008 winner of the Roberto Clemente Award
Roberto Clemente Award
The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team", as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It is named for Hall of Fame...
for the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement, and the individual's contribution to his team.
Pujols won the Fielding Bible Award for defensive excellence at first base for the third consecutive year. For the third time in four years, Pujols was named NL Most Valuable Player in the annual Internet Baseball Awards, a poll conducted by Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Prospectus is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well player and team performance projections on the site...
. Pujols also won his fourth Silver Slugger
Silver Slugger
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball...
award, having previously won one at 3B in 2001, OF in 2003, and 1B in 2004.
After the season Pujols won his second NL MVP Award. The MVP award continues his streak of finishing in the top nine in the BBWAA voting every year of the first 8 years of his career. He ended the year by winning TYIB's 'Hitter of the Year' Award.
2009
Pujols declined to play in the World Baseball Classic2009 World Baseball Classic
The 2009 World Baseball Classic was an international baseball competition. It is the only international baseball tournament to feature a large number of players from the major leagues of North America and Asia. It began on March 5, 2009, and finished March 23, 2009.Japan emerged victorious for the...
for his native Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, because of insurance issues relating to his off-season right elbow surgery in October 2008.
In May he hit an upper-deck HR off the "Big Mac Land" sign in left field, causing the "I" in "Big" to be knocked out.
Pujols was the leading vote-getter for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game, receiving the highest number of votes in NL
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
history thus far. For the All-Star Game, which took place at his home ballpark of Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, of MLB...
in St. Louis, Pujols participated in the Home Run Derby and caught President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game.
The 2009 season marked the ninth consecutive season since the start of his career that he has reached 100 or more RBI and 30 or more doubles, and the fifth time he has hit 40+ home runs and won his first home run title. In 2009 Pujols also played his 1,000th game at first base
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
and also hit his 40th double of the season, making him the second player in major league history to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in three separate seasons (2003, 2004, 2009), joining Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
and was a league leader in a variety of offensive categories.
Later that year he was awarded the Sporting News "MLB Player of the Decade". Following the season, Pujols won the Sporting News "MLB Player of the Year" award for the second consecutive year, and his third (2003) overall. He is just the third player in the history of the award to win in consecutive seasons. Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
outfielder Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
won the award in 1941–1942, and Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
second baseman Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...
did so in 1975–76. In December, Sports Illustrated selected him as Player of the Decade and also as one of the Top 20 Male Athletes of the Decade.
Pujols was also named the NL MVP for the third time, tying Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
as the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
' leader in that category. He won the Babe Ruth Home Run Award
Babe Ruth Home Run Award
The Babe Ruth Home Run Award is an annual award presented to the previous season's leading home run hitter in Major League Baseball .. The award is named after the legendary Babe Ruth, who led the American League in homers 12 times. It was first awarded to Mark McGwire after his record-setting...
after leading MLB with 47 home runs.
He had surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
to remove five bone spurs from his right elbow
Elbow
The human elbow is the region surrounding the elbow-joint—the ginglymus or hinge joint in the middle of the arm. Three bones form the elbow joint: the humerus of the upper arm, and the paired radius and ulna of the forearm....
.
2010
Pujols homered twice on Opening DayOpening Day
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...
(April 5) and later surpassed Eddie Mathews
Eddie Mathews
Edwin Lee "Eddie" Mathews was an American Major League Baseball third baseman. He is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen ever to play the game.-Early life:...
' old record (370 in 1952–1961) for most home runs in his first 10 years.
He became the 161st player to hit 400 doubles
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
in his career on May 20, 2010. On May 30, he had his 36th career multihomer game at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
hitting 3 home runs. Later in June he had his 37th career multihomer game at Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, of MLB...
tying Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
's franchise record by a Cardinals' player.
On August 15, Pujols hit his 30th home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
of the season extending his own major league record of most consecutive 30 home run seasons (10) to begin a career starting with his rookie year. On August 26, he became the 47th player to hit his 400th career home run, and the first in major league history to do it in his first 10 seasons. It was against the Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
in the fourth inning at their ballpark against Jordan Zimmermann
Jordan Zimmermann
Jordan Zimmermann is a pitcher for the Washington Nationals. He was the Nationals' best prospect going into the 2009 MLB season, according to Baseball America.-Professional career:...
. In the same game later, he hit his 30th double (#417 career) of the season, extending his consecutive years of 30+ doubles in a season to all 10 of his playing years. Pujols is the third-youngest player in Major League history to reach the milestone, at 30 years, seven months and 10 days. Only Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...
hit 400 at an earlier age. Only four players in the history of the game reached their 400th homer in fewer at-bats than Pujols, who got there in career at-bat No. 5,617: Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...
(4,726), Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
(4,853), Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Clayton Killebrew , nicknamed "Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. During his 22-year career in Major League Baseball , he played for the Washington Senators, a team which later became the Minnesota Twins, and...
(5,300), and Jim Thome
Jim Thome
James Howard "Jim" Thome is a Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is the eighth player to hit 600 home runs in the major leagues. He is widely considered a future Hall of Famer.-Cleveland Indians :...
(5,416).
He won the NL Player of the Month
Player of the Month
The Player of the Month Award is a Major League Baseball award named by each league every month of the regular season. The National League started recognizing the award on June 4, 1958. National League president Warren Giles conducted a poll of baseball writers in each Major League city and...
Award in August for the sixth time, more than any active NL player, hitting .379 (2nd) with 11 home runs (1st), 23 RBIs (T5th), .777 slugging (1st), and .453 on-base percentage (2nd).
On September 11, Pujols reached 100 RBIs for the 10th consecutive year and drove in all three runs in the game, giving him 102 for the season. Only Al Simmons
Al Simmons
Aloysius Harry Simmons , born Aloisius Szymanski in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was an American baseball player. He played for two decades in the major leagues as an outfielder, and had his best years as a member of Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics during the 1930's...
has a longer streak at the beginning of a career, 11 years (1924–1934). Pujols joins Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
, Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
, and Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...
in having 10 consecutive seasons of 100+ RBIs at any time in their career. Only two players besides Pujols have 10 consecutive years of 30 HRs and 100 RBIs at any time in their careers: Foxx and Rodriguez.
On September 12, he passed Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
to be the all-time Cardinals' leader in multi-HR games when he hit two home runs (38 and 39) for the 38th time in a game. It was the fifth time this year he has hit two home runs in a game.
On September 23, he reached 40 home runs for the sixth time in his career at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
, hitting two at PNC Park
PNC Park
PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...
giving him an NL-leading 41 for the season, 112 RBIs, and extending his own record there to 26 home runs, which is also the most for him at any road ballpark. Only six other players have more than six 40-HR seasons. He also added to his Cardinals' franchise record of 39 career multi-HR games. At season's end, Pujols became the second player in the last sixty years (the first was Hank Aaron), to lead the National League in runs, home runs, and runs batted in, and not be named Most Valuable Player.
He won his second Gold Glove Award
Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the...
, his first since 2006
2006 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 2006 season was the team's 125th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 115th season in the National League. The season started out with a bang, as the team raced out to a 31-16 record by late May...
. He won the NL First Base Silver Slugger
Silver Slugger
The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball...
Award and finished second in the NL MVP race to Joey Votto
Joey Votto
Joseph Daniel "Joey" Votto, is a Canadian Major League Baseball first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. He is the 2010 NL MVP, the recipient of the National League Hank Aaron Award for 2010, and won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's athlete of the year in 2010.-Early life:Votto was born on...
.
2011
Pujols and the Cardinals set a deadline for the start of spring training for contract extension negotiations. Negotiations were suspended without an agreement.He began the season hitting .245 with a .305 OBP, and .453 SLG through April. He did hit 7 home runs and 18 RBIs, but also had a league-leading 9 grounded into double plays
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
.
On June 4, he recorded his 41st career multi-HR game. On June 4 and 5, he had consecutive walk-off home runs in extra-innings, becoming only the third player to do that since 1950. They also were his 6th and 7th extra-inning walk-off home runs [9th and 10th total] in his career, ranking #2 behind Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson , is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He played from 1956–1976, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. He is the only player to win league MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues...
and Jim Thome
Jim Thome
James Howard "Jim" Thome is a Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is the eighth player to hit 600 home runs in the major leagues. He is widely considered a future Hall of Famer.-Cleveland Indians :...
who have eight, since 1950, tying Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
. After the game on June 5, manager Tony La Russa
Tony La Russa
Anthony "Tony" La Russa, Jr. is a former Major League Baseball manager and infielder, best known for his tenures as manager of the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals...
reported his autographing a picture of himself with Pujols after the 2001 playoff season ended (Pujols' first season in the majors), inscribing it, "To Albert, The best player I've ever managed."
For the week of May 30 – June 5, he was named NL Player of the Week
Player of the Week
The Player of the Week award is a Major League Baseball award named by each of the American and National Leagues each week of the regular season...
for the first time since June 15–21, 2009, hitting .444 (12-for-27), with five HRs, ten RBIs, and a 1.620 OPS. His 12 hits and five walks led the NL, while his 1.074 slugging percentage, 29 total bases, and 11 runs scored led the major leagues.
On June 19, against the Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
, both Wilson Betemit
Wilson Betemit
Wilson Betemit is a Dominican professional baseball infielder. He is 6'2" and weighs 220 pounds...
and Pete Kozma collided with Pujols, causing a small fracture in the left wrist-forearm. He was activated from the disabled list on July 5, after the minimum 15-days.
On July 30, at Busch Stadium in the eighth inning against the Cubs, he got his 2,000th career hit, a double down the left-field line. It was in his 1,650th game, becoming the fifth Cardinal player to get 2,000 hits, joining Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
(3,630), Lou Brock
Lou Brock
Louis Clark "Lou" Brock is an American former professional baseball player. He began his Major League Baseball career with the Chicago Cubs but, spent the majority of his career as the left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock was best known for breaking Ty Cobb's all-time major league...
(2,713), Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...
(2,110), and Enos Slaughter
Enos Slaughter
Enos Bradsher Slaughter , nicknamed "Country", was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 19-year baseball career, he played from 1938–1942 and 1946-1959 for four different teams, but is noted primarily for his time with the St...
(2,064). He is the 12th quickest player by games to get to 2,000.
On August 14, facing the Rockies, he hit the longest home run at Busch Stadium, estimated to be about 465 feet.
He missed extending his record to 11 consecutive seasons from the start of his career on hitting .300 with 30+ home runs and 100 RBIs, when he hit 37 home runs but batted .299 and had 99 RBIs in 147 games played in missing 13 games due to injury. Despite the career lows in batting average and RBIs and a home run total that was five from his career worst, Pujols was matched by only three other players in the majors in those categories—Jose Bautista
José Bautista
José Antonio Bautista is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. Though now primarily a right fielder, having been a utility player in the past, he has major league experience at six different positions...
, Prince Fielder
Prince Fielder
Prince Semien Fielder is a Major League Baseball free agent who plays first base. He is currently listed at 5' 11" and . He was selected by the Brewers in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida.He is the son of former Detroit...
and Matt Kemp
Matt Kemp
Matthew Ryan "Matt" Kemp is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.Kemp was drafted by the Dodgers in the 6th round of the 2003 draft and made his major league debut in 2006...
. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote, "Even when Pujols struggles, he excels." He won his fifth Fielding Bible Award as the best defensive first baseman in MLB.
On October 22, in Game 3 of the World Series
2011 World Series
The 2011 World Series was the 107th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion St...
, Pujols joined Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
(1926, 1928) and Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
(1977) as the only players in baseball history to hit three home runs in a World Series game. Pujols was 5-for-6 with two singles, four runs scored, and six RBIs. Pujols became the first player in World Series history to get hits in four consecutive innings: fourth (a single), fifth (a single), sixth (a home run and three RBIs), and seventh (home run and two RBIs). He tied records for most home runs (three), most hits (five), and most RBIs (six) in a World Series game, and established a new record with 14 total bases
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....
.
Game 3 was his 70th post-season game. In those 70 games, he has 254 at-bats with 87 hits and is hitting .343 with a .444 on-base percentage, and a .630 slugging percentage, with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs.
A 10-foot, 1,100-lb. statue of Pujols was dedicated on November 2, at Westport Plaza
Westport Plaza
Westport Plaza is a , commercial development, resort, and entertainment center located in Maryland Heights. Westport opened in 1973 and since has grown to over of offices buildings, restaurants and entertainment venues, and hotels. The property is owned jointly by Chicago-based real estate company...
outside his Pujols 5 restaurant. An anonymous donor commissioned sculptor Harry Weber to create the statue, which now belongs to the Pujols Family Foundation based at the Plaza.
He became a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
(along with 165 others) for the first time in his career at 12:01am on Nov. 3, 2011, and thereby able to sign with any team for the first time since drafted by the Cardinals in 1999.
He came in fifth in the voting for the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player Award, behind winner Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun
Ryan Joseph Braun is an American right-handed Major League Baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. A perennial standout, he was ranked No...
, Matt Kemp
Matt Kemp
Matthew Ryan "Matt" Kemp is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.Kemp was drafted by the Dodgers in the 6th round of the 2003 draft and made his major league debut in 2006...
, Prince Fielder
Prince Fielder
Prince Semien Fielder is a Major League Baseball free agent who plays first base. He is currently listed at 5' 11" and . He was selected by the Brewers in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida.He is the son of former Detroit...
, and Justin Upton
Justin Upton
Justin Irvin Upton is a National Major League Baseball right fielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks....
.
Personal life
Pujols married his wife, Deidre, on January 1, 2000. They have four children, Isabella (Deidre's daughter, from a previous relationship), Albert Jr., Sophia, and Ezra. Albert and his wife are active in the cause of people with Down syndromeDown syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, as Isabella was born with this condition. He has taken part-ownership in Patrick's Restaurant in Maryland Heights, Missouri
Maryland Heights, Missouri
Maryland Heights is a second-ring west-central suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated in 1985. Edwin L. Dirck was elected the city's first mayor. Mark M. Levin has been City Administrator...
. The remodeled restaurant was re-opened as Pujols 5 in 2006.
Pujols is close friends with third baseman Plácido Polanco
Plácido Polanco
Plácido Enrique Polanco is a Major League Baseball player who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies and has also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. He is a third baseman, but in the past has played second base and shortstop...
, a former teammate with the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
. Pujols is godfather to Polanco's 3-year-old son, Ismael.
In 2007 Pujols became a U.S. citizen, scoring a perfect 100 on his citizenship test. Later that year Upper Deck Authenticated
Upper Deck Company
The Upper Deck Company, LLC , founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards...
announced it had signed Pujols to an exclusive autographed memorabilia agreement.
In 2008, Pujols agreed to help bring a MLS
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
franchise to St. Louis by using his reputation and a large financial investment.
Pujols and his wife are devout and active Christians
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
; one of his writings on his family's foundation's website states, "In the Pujols family, God is first. Everything else is a distant second". He writes, "My life's goal is to bring glory to Jesus. My life is not mostly dedicated to the Lord, it is 100% committed to Jesus Christ and His will. God has given me the ability to succeed in the game of baseball. But baseball is not the end; baseball is the means by which my wife, Dee Dee, and I glorify God. Baseball is simply my platform to elevate Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior." Pujols attends a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church.
Pujols and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa attended Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
's Restoring Honor rally in Washington, D.C., after being assured by Beck that the rally was not political. During the rally, Pujols was presented with a "Badge of Merit" for "Hope."
Pujols Family Foundation
In 2005, Albert and Deidre Pujols launched the Pujols Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit which is dedicated to their "commitment to faith, family and others." The organization promotes awareness of Down syndrome and works to support those who have it and their families, aids the poor in the Dominican Republic, and supports people with disabilities and/or life threatening illnesses. Among other activities, the foundation hosts events for people with Down syndrome. The foundation gave the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis the resources to open and office and hire staff. A center for adults with Down syndromeDown syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
bears Pujols' name ("Albert Pujols Wellness Center for Adults with Down Syndrome") opened in 2009 in Chesterfield, Missouri
Chesterfield, Missouri
Chesterfield is a second-ring western suburb of St. Louis and is the largest city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census the population is 47,484. Chesterfield also celebrated its 20th birthday in 2008.- Geography :...
; he was present at the opening on November 18.
Pujols has taken several trips to the Dominican Republic, by taking supplies as well as a team of doctors and dentists to the poor who need medical care. The Pujols Family Foundation also holds an annual golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournament to raise money to send dentists to the Dominican Republic.
Accomplishments
By the end of the 2009 season, Pujols ranked in the top 15 players in major league history in four statistical categories: on-base percentage (twelfth), slugging percentage (fourth), on-base plus sluggingOn-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
(OPS; fourth), and adjusted OPS (tied for sixth). He also ranks in the top 500 players in major league history in a variety of statistical categories (see below), and is a three-time MVP.
From 2001 to 2005, Pujols hit 201 home runs, second all-time for the most hit in a player's first five seasons. By 2009, he had reached the 350-homer plateau at the age of 29—the third-youngest to do so—and surpassed Ralph Kiner
Ralph Kiner
Ralph McPherran Kiner is an American former Major League Baseball player and has been an announcer for the New York Mets since the team's inception. Though injuries forced his retirement from active play after 10 seasons, Kiner's tremendous slugging outpaced nearly all of his National League...
's record for most home runs in his first nine seasons. In doing so, Pujols became the first player to hit 30 or more home runs in the first nine seasons of his career (a streak he extended to 10 in 2010, and subsequently to 11 in 2011), as well the second player to have 100 or more RBIs in the same timespan.
Pujols holds the Cardinals' franchise record for most career grand slam
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...
s with 12; he broke the record of nine previously held by Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
. Musial and Pujols are also two of only four players in history to have a career batting average above .330 and less than 500 strikeouts at the time of their 300th home runs (the other two being Musial's contemporaries Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
and Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
).
In his first 5,000 career at bats, Pujols hit 372 doubles, 358 home runs, and 14 triples for a total of 744 extra-base hits, the most in NL history, and is the second player in Major League Baseball to post nine consecutive seasons with 30 doubles, a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, and 100 runs batted in or better (Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
; Pujols then extended the streak to 10 seasons before falling short in 2011 by one RBI and .001 percentage). He has scored 100 or more runs in 10 of his 11 seasons (and scored 99 runs in the only season when he did not score 100 runs). He currently has eight career walk-off home run
Walk-off home run
In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a home run that gives the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game—either the ninth inning, or any extra inning, or any other regularly scheduled final inning...
s. His 1,230 RBI is second all-time among Cardinal players, only Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
(1,951) has more.
In the field, Pujols has set the Cardinals' franchise record for the most assists by a first baseman in a single game (seven). In 2009, he also set the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
record for assists
Assist (baseball)
In baseball, an assist is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is awarded to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional...
by a first baseman in a season (182), and in the last game of the 2009 season, he broke Bill Buckner
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. Despite winning a batting crown in , representing the Chicago Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season and accumulating over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, he is best remembered for a fielding error during Game 6...
's 1985 major league mark of 184 with his 185th assist. Keith Hernandez
Keith Hernandez
Keith Barlow Hernandez is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He is currently a baseball analyst working for the New York Mets, for whom he played from –, on SportsNet New York and WPIX television broadcasts...
held the previous Cardinals' record with 146 assists in 1979, and Mark Grace held the previous NL record with 181 in 1990.
Pujols said he does not play solely for the numbers. "I don't play for numbers. I play first of all to glorify God and to accomplish in this game what everybody wants to accomplish, which is getting to the World Series and coming up with a win at the end. Those are the things that I really try to focus on and try to make sure that I do every day for the rest of my career."
Awards and honors
| Award / Honor | Time(s) | Date(s) |
|---|---|---|
| NL All-Star | 9 | 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
| NL Player of the Month Player of the Month The Player of the Month Award is a Major League Baseball award named by each league every month of the regular season. The National League started recognizing the award on June 4, 1958. National League president Warren Giles conducted a poll of baseball writers in each Major League city and... |
6 | May 2003, June 2003, April 2006, April 2009, June 2009, August 2010 |
| NL Silver Slugger Silver Slugger The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball... |
6 | 2001 , 2003 , 2004 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010 |
| Fielding Bible Award Fielding Bible Award A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball based on statistical analysis. John Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions conduct the annual selection process... |
5 | 2006 , 2007 , 2008 , 2009 , 2011 |
| TSN Player of the Year The Sporting News Player of the Year Award This is a list of the Major League Baseball players chosen by The Sporting News since 1936 as recipients of the TSN Player of the Year Award. Until 1969, it was the only major award given to a single player from MLB, rather than to a player in each league. In 1969, Baseball Digest began its Player... |
3 | 2003, 2008, 2009 |
| MLB Player of the Year Award (Players Choice Award Players Choice Award The Players Choice Awards are annual Major League Baseball awards, given by the Major League Baseball Players Association .The Players Choice Awards are given following a secret ballot by players. Four awards go to a player in each league, while two awards each go to one player in all of Major... ) |
3 | 2003, 2008, 2009 |
| NL Outstanding Player (Players Choice Award Players Choice Award The Players Choice Awards are annual Major League Baseball awards, given by the Major League Baseball Players Association .The Players Choice Awards are given following a secret ballot by players. Four awards go to a player in each league, while two awards each go to one player in all of Major... ) |
3 | 2003, 2008, 2009 |
| ESPY Awards ESPY Awards An ESPY Award is an accolade presented by the American cable television network ESPN to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993... Best MLB Player Best Major League Baseball Player ESPY Award The Best Major League Baseball Player ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Best Baseball Player ESPY Award, has been presented annually since 1993 to the Major League Baseball player adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year, typically most significantly in the MLB season in progress... |
4 | 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 |
| NL Most Valuable Player MLB Most Valuable Player Award The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America... |
3 | 2005, 2008, 2009 |
| NL Home run champion | 2 | 2009, 2010 |
| Baseball Digest Player of the Year Baseball Digest Baseball Digest is a baseball magazine resource, published in Evanston, Illinois by Lakeside Publishing Company. It is the oldest and longest-running baseball magazine in the United States.... |
2 | 2005, 2008 |
| NL Gold Glove Award Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League and the American League , as voted by the... |
2 | 2006, 2010 |
| Hank Aaron Award Hank Aaron Award The Hank Aaron Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball players selected as the top hitter in each league, as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It was introduced in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron's surpassing of Babe Ruth's career home run mark... |
2 | 2003, 2009 |
| World Series champion | 2 | 2006 2006 World Series The 2006 World Series, the 102nd edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, began on October 21 and ended on October 27, and matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals won the Series in five games, taking... , 2011 2011 World Series The 2011 World Series was the 107th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion St... |
| TSN Player of the Decade | 1 | 2009 |
| Sports Illustrated Player of the Decade | 1 | 2009 |
| Rookie of the Year MLB Rookie of the Year Award In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is annually given to one player from each league as voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America . The award was established in 1940 by the Chicago chapter of the BBWAA, which selected an annual winner from 1940 through 1946... |
1 | 2001 |
| Hitter of the Year (This Year in Baseball Awards This Year in Baseball Awards This Year in Baseball Awards, initiated by Major League Baseball in , are honors given annually to the most extraordinary baseball performances, players, and managers. Baseball fans select the nominees for and winners of the awards, via the online voting system on MLB.com, the official website of... ) |
2 | 2003, 2008 |
| NL Batting champion | 1 | 2003 |
| NL RBI champion | 1 | 2010 |
| NLCS MVP National League Championship Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning... |
1 | 2004 |
| Clutch Performer of the Month | 1 | April 2010 |
| Roberto Clemente Award Roberto Clemente Award The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team", as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It is named for Hall of Fame... |
1 | 2008 |
| Babe Ruth Home Run Award Babe Ruth Home Run Award The Babe Ruth Home Run Award is an annual award presented to the previous season's leading home run hitter in Major League Baseball .. The award is named after the legendary Babe Ruth, who led the American League in homers 12 times. It was first awarded to Mark McGwire after his record-setting... |
1 | 2009 |
| Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award (Players Choice Award Players Choice Award The Players Choice Awards are annual Major League Baseball awards, given by the Major League Baseball Players Association .The Players Choice Awards are given following a secret ballot by players. Four awards go to a player in each league, while two awards each go to one player in all of Major... ) |
1 | 2006 |
| NL Player of the Week Award | 11 | 2001–2007 (6), 2008 (2), 2009 (2), 2011 [wk. ending June 5] |
See also
- List of Major League Baseball players with 2000 hits
- List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBIs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- List of Major League Baseball runs batted in champions
- List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
- List of Major League Baseball doubles records
- List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
- List of National League slugging percentage leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players with a .400 on-base percentage
- List of Major League Baseball players with a .500 slugging percentage
- List of Major League Baseball players with a .900 on-base plus slugging
- Leaders in OPS and OPS+
External links
- Albert Pujols at Retrosheet