Albert Pujols turned back the hands of time Friday night as he slugged his way into the record books.
The St. Louis Cardinals slugger crushed home runs in the third and fourth innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving him 700 career home runs.
Home run No. 700, a three-run shot, came off Dodgers reliever Phil Bickford.
That blast came just came just one inning after Pujols went deep with a two-run homer off Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney.
In his final season, the 42-year-old Pujols’ 700th home run puts him in very elite company. Only Babe Ruth, with 714 home runs, Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) have eclipsed the 700 mark.
The 11-time all-star also now has 21 home runs on the season. He’s hit 20 or more 18 times, a feat achieved only by Aaron (20) and Bonds (19).
Hardly anyone could have predicted such an offensive explosion from Pujols as he nears the end of his career.
He had not hit 20 homers in a season since he posted 23 in 2019, and his OPS+ had been below average in the past five seasons. But he’s rebounded in a big way this year, and has come on especially strong lately, as evidenced by Friday night.
The baseball world turned to Twitter to congratulate Pujols on reaching the historic milestone.
The Machine. El Hombre. 700.
Albert Pujols is the greatest hitter I've seen in person. I was fortunate enough to see him dozens of times in his prime in STL. Absolutely terrifying at the plate.
Super happy for him to end his career on such a high note.#Pujols700 https://t.co/BOeuB3Z73z
— Micah Rumsey (@MicahRumsey) September 24, 2022
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.