LOS ANGELES – Albert Pujols crossed the home field and rushed to the finish line to defeat Adrian Beltre, his longtime rival, countryman and devoted friend. He put his arm around Yadier Molinabe hugged Adam Wainwrighthello the rest of him St. Louis Cardinals teammates, put his helmet on for the Dodger Stadium crowd – and then he needs to be alone.
He dashed down the wooden stairs and into an empty corridor, and in that moment, the man known as “The Machine” became vulnerable.
“My emotions came out,” Pujols said in Spanish.
The whopping 700 home runs, which Pujols hit in a suspenseful two-homer performance on Friday night, finally worked for him. But it was more than that. That it happened in Los Angeles, which means all five of his children could be there to witness it. It happened in this place, Dodger Stadium, the ballpark that he said “gave me life” and pushed him to keep moving forward.
“What a special night,” Pujols said from the interview room, with his children standing behind him.
Pujols makes a quick shot with two shots into the middle from Los Angeles Dodgers lefthander Andrew Heaney in the third round and place a 434-foot rocket in the center left area for the number 699.
In the fourth part, he has a slider hanging from the right Phil Bickford and raised it 389 feet to become the fourth member of the 700 home running club to be divine, joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth while leading his team to a Route 11-0.
Pujols, 42, was the only one out of four to hit numbers 699 and 700 on the same night. He has 2,208 RBI for his career, second all time behind Aaron’s 2,297. He also passed 1,400 off-base hits, a benchmark achieved only by Aaron and the Bonds.
“It’s pretty special,” Pujols said. “When that really happens to me is when I’m done, at the end of the season, when I retire, and maybe a second or two after that I can look at the numbers.
“Listen, don’t get me wrong, I know my place in this game. But since Day One, when I came out, it’s never been about numbers, it’s never been about chasing follow the numbers That’s how I’ve given my all in 22 years of being in the big leagues, that’s why I don’t really focus on numbers. Someday I will, but not right now. “
Pujols joined the Dodgers last May, shortly after being released by Angel of Los Angeles, and was revived while serving as a part-time starter and late-game pinch-hitter player. He is very effective against lefties and is a major influence in an all-veteran club that is affectionately known as “Tio Albert.”
But the Dodgers may have given him more than he gave them in return. Playing with such a talented team in a playoff atmosphere provided him with a constant source of energy that kept him dodging while on the middle Angels teams for most of the decade.
During Friday’s batting practice, hours before the Dodgers showed a video in his honor, Pujols told the Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman that, if they don’t sign contracted him last year, he may not have returned in 2022.
“It’s humbling,” Roberts said. “I know that, when I spoke to him at the time last year, he was alluding to the fact that we brought the joy back, he was a Dodger.”
Pujols’ final season saw him play some of his best baseball games in a long time. His second half OPS, 1,076, is second only to Aaron Judgeand his rise happened to coincide with the fact that the Cardinals were in fact fleeing from the rest of the National League Center.
Pujols are batting .265 / .338 / .530 for the season. His 21 home runs give him 18 20-hour seasons in his career, the third most in history behind only Aaron (20) and the Bonds (19). Only he and Ted Williams hit at least 20 home runs in both their first and final seasons. Friday marks his fourth multi-match after turning 42, the most in major league history.
Fans who have caught the historic baseball aren’t willing to give it up in exchange for memorabilia – at least not initially – but the Pujols don’t seem to mind.
Pujols said: “Souvenirs for fans. “If they want to keep it, they can. At the end of the day, I don’t focus on material things. I think I have a cane, a uniform, a helmet, things that are special to me. At the end of the day, I do. I think that’s why the fans come here – to have a special moment in history. So if they want to keep that baseball, I have no problem with that.”
Pujols had a knack for hitting home milestones in emphatic style. The number 500 appeared on the same night as 499. The number 600 was a big hit. The number 700 appears after 699.
The night ended in a celebration at the club after the game that saw Pujols crammed into a laundry cart for beer.
“Imagine I’m jumping in there,” Pujols said. “I struggled to get out.”
Pujols then thanked his teammates and told them how special it was that he was able to achieve this important milestone in his Cardinals uniform, in the presence of his children and the Dodgers. over there.
“It’s amazing how God works,” said Pujols. “This could have happened last week in St. Louis, that would have been wonderful. But for it to happen tonight, there are family, friends and people who truly care and love you. I meet me – it’s so special to me.”
