Los Angeles Angels: Albert Pujols becomes foreign-born home run leader
With his home run on Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols became MLB’s all-time foreign-born home run leader.
In the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s Rangers and Angels game, Albert Pujols hit a three-run home run off Nick Gardewine. The homer was the 610th of Pujols’ career. With that home run, he passed Sammy Sosa for eighth on the all-time home run leaderboard. By passing Sosa, Pujols now holds the record for most homers by a foreign-born player.
Pujols was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Pujols moved to the United States and played both high school and college ball in Missouri. The Cardinals then drafted Pujols in the 13th round of the 1999 draft.
In 2001, his rookie season, Pujols won the NL Rookie of the Year award. He dominated in a Cardinals uniform. In 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Pujols hit .328/.420/.617 with 445 home runs, 1,329 RBI and 1,291 runs scored. He made the All-Star team nine times, won three MVP awards, six Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves. He also won two World Series in St. Louis.
In the 2011-12 offseason, Pujols signed a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Angels. He never reached his potential in Los Angeles like he did in St. Louis. In six seasons with the Angels, the 37-year-old has hit .261/.318/.460 with 165 home runs, 567 RBI and 421 runs. He made one All-Star Game with the Angels back in 2015.
Despite the up-and-down production from the powerful hitter, Pujols continues to supply the Angels with many milestone achievements.
On June 4, Pujols hit home run No. 600 with a grand slam off Minnesota Twins pitcher Ervin Santana. He became just the ninth player in MLB history to accomplish the feat.
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And with No. 610 on Tuesday, he now leads all foreign-born players in home runs hit in a career. Pujols remains just two home runs shy of tying Jim Thome for seventh on the all-time homer list. He should complete that task by the end of 2017 and begin his chase for No. 6 in that group, Ken Griffey Jr., with 630 home runs.
After that, Pujols aims to pass Willie Mays (660) and Alex Rodriguez (696) before reaching that elusive 700-home run club. Only three players sit in that club: Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762).
The Angels’ designated hitter also has 2,931 hits in his career so far. He looks to join the 3,000-hit club sometime next season. Only 31 other MLB players have reached that 3,000-hit mark. If Pujols can stay healthy, all of these accolades can happen with the Angels.
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With the Angels right in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, perhaps Pujols can turn it on toward the last month of the season and help carry Los Angeles into the postseason.