Albert Pujols at 41 is likely in the final year of his career and is trying for one more championship as a part of the LA Dodgers before hanging it up at the end of the year. If this is true he is currently playing in his final games in St. Louis, the place where he became a star.

Pujols was drafted by the Cardinals in 1999, he was the 402nd pick in the draft. In his lone season in the minors he absolutely destroyed class A ball, where he was named the league MVP and an All-Star. Before the season ended he was promoted to AAA and led the Memphis Redbirds to their first PCL title while being named the postseason MVP. Pujols made the opening day roster the following season and played all over the diamond including first base, third base and right and left field. As a rookie he had a batting average of .329 to go along with 37 home runs and an NL rookie record 130 runs batted in. He was the unanimous NL rookie of the year, he won the NL Silver Slugger award at the third base position, and finished fourth in NL MVP voting.

A rookie Albert Pujols had a very impressive rookie season, leading his team in doubles, home runs, RBIs, and batting average on his way to winning Rookie of the Year.

In his 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Albert Pujols put up stats like no other. He finished his Cardinals tenure with 2073 hits, 445 home runs, 1329 RBIs, over 250 more walks than strikeouts, and final batting numbers of a .328 average, a .420 on base percentage, a .617 slugging percentage, and an OPS of 1.037. He was a 9 time All-Star, he finished every season as a top 10 MVP finalist, including 8 times in the top 3, and winning the award 3 times. He led all major leaguers in runs scored 5 times, including three straight from 2003-2005. He led the NL in hits in 2003, and the majors in doubles, batting average, and total bases that year as well. He led the NL in home runs in 2009 and 2010, and led the NL in RBIs in 2010 as well. He led the league in slugging and OPS three times, he led the entire league in OPS+ twice and had the highest OPS+ in the NL two other times. He led the NL in On Base Percentage in 2009, and led all players in the majors in total bases 4 times. He had ten straight seasons with over 100 RBIs from his rookie season in 2001 through his 2010 season, his lone season with under under 100 RBIs came in his final season in 2011, when he had 99. He won a Gold Glove in 2006 and in 2010, as well as six Sliver Slugger awards, and was the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award in 2008. To top it off, he won two World Series Championships with the Cardinals, one in 2006, and the other in his last year with the team in 2011.

Pujols left the Cardinals after winning a World Series in 2011 to sign a 10 year $254 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Pujols’ numbers dipped heavily after leaving St. Louis to join the Angels, but the Slugger had several solid years and joined the 3,000 hit club and hit his 600th home run as a member of the Angels. Due to him switching leagues in his first 9 seasons with the Angels he returned to Busch Stadium just one time. This season however he was released from the Angels and signed by the Dodgers and is currently playing a series in St. Louis. He did not play in the first game which prompted the St. Louis crowd to chant “WE WANT ALBERT” hoping to get him into the game. He got the start in the second game of the series and launched a home run in his first at bat, it is rare to see an away player get cheered for homering, but for Albert they cheered.

Pujols took lefty J.A. Happ deep in what was likely his last start in Busch Stadium for his career.

With Albert being a platoon player now for the Dodgers he only starts against left handed pitching, the current pitching probables for the Cardinals in their next two games against the Dodgers are both right handed pitchers. With the Dodgers in the middle of a tight division race it is unlikely that Dave Roberts starts Pujols in either game, he should get a pinch hit at bat in at least one game but hitting a home run in his final start in St. Louis is quite the storybook ending for an MLB Legend and an all time great St. Louis Cardinal.

Reference Page

• Baseball Reference

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