Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols (born January 16, 1980, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican-born American professional baseball player who was one of the most prolific hitters of the early 21st century.
Pujols was introduced to baseball early in life by his father, who was a popular pitcher in the Dominican Republic. The Pujols family immigrated to the United States when Albert was 16, and they eventually settled in Independence, Missouri. Pujols impressed major league scouts with his play at both the high school and collegiate level, and he was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 draft. He held out for a better signing bonus, however, and did not enter the minor leagues until the 2000 season. That was his only season in the minors, as an impressive performance in spring training earned him a spot on the Cardinals’ 2001 opening-day roster.
Presumed to be a reserve as he entered his first season, Pujols instead played his way into the starting lineup. He appeared in 161 games, posted a .329 batting average with 37 home runs and 130 runs batted in (RBIs), and was the unanimous choice for 2001 National League (NL) Rookie of the Year. Pujols continued to put up impressive offensive numbers in the following seasons and was twice (2002 and 2003) the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) runner-up to Barry Bonds. Pujols collected a number of other awards, including the 2004 NL Championship Series MVP and Silver Slugger awards in 2001, 2003, and 2004. In 2005 he hit .330 with 41 home runs and 117 RBIs and was named NL MVP.
In 2006 Pujols bettered the batting statistics of his previous season, hitting .331 with 49 home runs and 137 RBIs, and finished as MVP runner-up for the third time in his short career. That year he also experienced his greatest postseason success, as he helped lead St. Louis to a commanding four-games-to-one win over the heavily favoured Detroit Tigers in the World Series, giving the Cardinals their first title since 1982.
In 2008 Pujols was named NL MVP after finishing the season with a .357 batting average and 116 RBIs. The following year he hit .327 with 47 home runs and 135 RBIs and won his third NL MVP award. Pujols had a moderate setback in 2011, as he batted under .300 for the first time in his career (.299), with 37 home runs and 99 RBIs. However, his lowered production did not prevent the Cardinals from staging one of the biggest comebacks of all time to qualify for the postseason (after trailing in the Wild Card standings by 81/2 games with a month remaining in the season) and ultimately defeat the Texas Rangers in the World Series.
Pujols’s contract situation was an oft-discussed topic during the 2011 season after he failed to agree to a contract extension with the Cardinals during spring training. After the team won the World Series, he became one of the most sought-after free agents in baseball history and signed a 10-year $254 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. However, his first seasons with the Angels, while still better than those of the average major leaguer, did not live up to expectations. Pujols posted career lows in home runs (30) and batting average (.285) in 2012, and he was on pace to post even worse numbers in 2013 when a partially torn foot ligament sidelined him for the rest of the year with 61 games remaining in the season. He rebounded to a degree in 2014 by batting .272 and driving in 105 runs. Despite finishing 2015 with a new career-low .244 average, Pujols was selected to his first All-Star team as a member of the Angels that year and hit 40 home runs. In 2016 he led the Angels with 116 RBIs while batting .268. On June 3, 2017, Pujols became the ninth player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 career home runs. He finished the 2017 season with a career-low .241 batting average. Pujols had a similarly pedestrian 2018 season that ended in August when he had season-ending knee surgery. In 2019 he batted .244 and hit 23 home runs as the Angels went 72–90, their worst record during Pujol’s time with the club. The 2020 season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his batting average that year was .224.
Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2021 season. The following year he rejoined the Cardinals for what he announced would be his final season in baseball. Later in 2022 he hit his 700th career home run, becoming just the fourth player to reach that milestone.