Albert Pujols: What 3,000 hits would have meant with the St. Louis Cardinals

Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols notched the 3,000 hits milestone tonight, but what would have that looked like if he did so in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform?

Albert Pujols is now the 32nd member of the 3,000 hits club, after hitting an opposite-field single off Mike Leake of the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field in the fifth inning just moments ago. Nothing flashy for the “Machine,” as Derek Jeter‘s homer was when he recorded 3,000 hits, but he just takes care of business in workmanlike fashion — much like his 10-pitch walk preceding it.

It’s unfortunate that his opposite-field fly ball found the glove of Danny Valencia to end the 8th inning last night — robbing Big Al an opportunity of achieving this milestone in front of the hometown fans of the Los Angeles Angels, in Anaheim, but I’m sure they’re just fine living in sunny Southern California.

What’s even more unfortunate is that Albert Pujols wasn’t in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, donning the Birds on the Bat while achieving this Hall of Fame-caliber achievement. After the 2011 magical World Series title-run for the St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols entered the 2012 free agency period looking for big-time money — and boy, did he get it!

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Cardinals offered Albert Pujols $210 million guaranteed for 10 seasons, but the offer of 10 years, $254 million guaranteed of the Los Angeles Angeles was too much for him to pass up.

The St. Louis Cardinals did everything in their power to lock up the future Hall of Famer for life, but Albert Pujols and his agent declined their generous offer — according to John Mozeliak.

“We feel good about the effort made toward retaining Albert. We tried to make it work a couple different ways. Ultimately, he chose a different direction. But I’m comfortable with how we went about it.”

The St. Louis Cardinals went about it the right way, and Albert Pujols did what he had to do in taking care of he and his family for life by signing that life-changing deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

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Also, to be fair to Albert Pujols, he’s very generous with his money, and who can blame a guy for taking that kind of money. There’s no hatred coming from me towards the former St. Louis Cardinals great.

However, if Albert Pujols would have stated in the Arch City, his statue outside of Busch Stadium off of Clark Ave would’ve been larger than any of the St. Louis Cardinals legends — even more prominent than that of Stan Musial.

Albert Pujols would’ve gone down as the most celebrated St. Louis Cardinals player of all-time, and who knows, maybe his numbers don’t decline as rapidly if he would’ve stayed in that familiar environment of Busch Stadium.

Ironically, Albert Pujols and the Los Angeles Angels have not returned to Busch Stadium since his departure — where the best fans of baseball would undoubtedly give him the standing ovation of the century. That bitter taste from 2012 is (mostly) out of the mouths of St. Louis Cardinals fans by now.

He might have taken a run at the elite 700 home run club and maybe would’ve eventually passed Derek Jeter within the top-five of the 3,000 hits clubs. We’ll never know.

The 11 seasons for Albert Pujols with the St Louis Cardinals are among the best during an 11-year stretch, with only three players in MLB history averaging at least a .320 batting average, 40 plus HRs, and 100 RBI during an 11-year span — Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, and Albert Pujols.

Also, Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki ironically came up to the majors during the same 2001 season, so it’s the end of an era, of sorts.

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Now, he’s just “another” (future) Hall of Famer, which is impressive. But, if Albert Pujols stays with the St. Louis Cardinals, he becomes a legend. Oh, what a shame and what could have been.

The 3,000 hits milestone for Albert Pujols is one of pride and sadness for St. Louis Cardinals, a double-edged sword that left a wound that the fanbase still feels deeply.