Albert Joins Elite Company

I've said this for a long time now, being able to hit a baseball is the hardest single skill in all of sports. over the course of a brilliant seventeen year career, Albert Pujols has pretty well mastered the art of hitting a baseball. Not only can he hit them, but he can hit them pretty far. Heading into this weekend, Albert had done that 599 times. Then, on Saturday, it finally happened. In grand style, in the 4th inning against the Minnesota Twins, Albert took an Ervin Santana slider and deposited it in the left field seats to give the Angels a 7-1 lead. It was the 600th career homer run for Pujols.

Just in case you missed it somehow, the milestone home run looked a little something like this:


After yesterday, there have been only nine guys in the history of the game of baseball who have ever slugged 600 or more home runs. Albert joins Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Alex Rodriguez (696), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630), Jim Thome (612) and Sammy Sosa (609). At 37 years and 138 days old, he is the fourth-youngest member of the club, trailing only A-Rod, Ruth and Aaron. Pujols was the first player to hit Nos. 499 and 500 on the same night, and now he's the first player to reach 600 with a grand slam. Pujols is 141 RBIs away from 2,000 and 125 hits away from 3,000. Only Aaron and A-Rod finished with 2,000 RBIs, 3,000 hits and 600 homers.

This is more of a cherry on top of the sundae for Albert, who's already had one hell of a career. In 17 years of Major League service, Pujols has won three MVP awards and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting in each of his 11 years with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has been part of two World Series teams in 2006 and 2011 and won six Silver Slugger awards. As of now, Albert is a .308 lifetime hitter, with those 600 home runs and 1,859 RBI. He hits with the same consistency in his swing every single time

Just by looking at those numbers, they scream Cooperstown. Only a few guys have ever played as well as Pujols has over the last 17 years in the biggs. Its not just the offensive numbers, he's been solid in the field at first base as well. He has two gold glove awards, one in 2006 and the other in 2010, so the guy has played pretty solid defense as well. He can almost do it all. 600 Home Runs is an impressive number and for a guy who has played the game with such class and respect, its a major acomplishment.

Congratulations Albert on 600 home runs. A major deal that will only help your cause for Cooperstown.