Albert Pujols

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Albert Pujols

St. Louis Cardinals — No. 5
First Baseman
Born: January 16, 1980 (1980-01-16) (age 27)
Bats: Right Throws: Right 
Major League Baseball debut
April 2, 2001 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Selected MLB statistics
(through September 30, 2007)
Hits     1,344
AVG     .332 (3rd highest, active)
Doubles     298
HR     282
RBI     861
SLG     .620 (#1 in MLB, active)
Teams

José Alberto Pujols Alcántara he (IPA: /ˡpuˌhoʊlz/), (born January 16, 1980, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), (nicknamed Prince Albert, Phat Albert, The Machine, or El Hombre[1]) is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game today.[2][3]

During 2001 (his debut) through the 2006 seasons, Pujols led the major leagues in RBI (758), runs (748), total bases (2,193) and extra base hits (522). He was second in home runs (250) to Alex Rodriguez (275), second in hits (1,159) to Ichiro Suzuki, second in doubles (260) to Todd Helton and third in batting average (.3315) to Suzuki (.333) and Helton (.3316). In recent years, Pujols has become an excellent defensive player at first base, winning his first Gold Glove award in 2006. During the 2006 season, he became the first Major League player to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first six seasons, and the youngest to hit 250 home runs. He extended his 30-HR streak to seven consecutive years in 2007 on August 22 against the Florida Marlins, with a 2-run blast (#280 of his career) at Busch Stadium in the first inning. Pujols is also the first player since Ted Williams (8 yrs.; 1939-1942 and 1946-1949) to begin his career with seven straight 100-RBI seasons, after hitting his 32nd home run (#282 of his career) on September 26th, 2007 against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee.

Contents

Pujols was born in the Dominican Republic. His grandmother, America, assumed many of the responsibilities of raising him.

Pujols and his family immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s, first to New York City and then later to Independence, Missouri. In the U.S., Pujols gained his love for baseball, batting over .500 in his first season of baseball at Fort Osage High School. He quickly became the most feared hitter in the Kansas City area, leading to multiple intentional walks a game in some stretches. However, he still managed to hit .660 with 8 home runs his final year of high school, with limited official at bats. After starring for both Fort Osage and the Post 340 American Legion summer team out of Independence, Pujols graduated from high school in December of 1998. He went on to attend Maple Woods Community College in the Kansas City area during the spring of 1999. In his only season with the community college, Pujols showed off his talent, hitting a grand slam and turning an unassisted triple play in his first game. He batted .461 for the year.

Few big league teams were very interested in Pujols. A Colorado Rockies scout reported favorably about the young hitter, but the club took no action. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays arranged a tryout for Pujols, but it went poorly (after the team did not draft him, the scout who'd found Pujols resigned).[4] The St. Louis Cardinals drafted Pujols in the 13th round of the 1999 draft, the 402nd overall pick. However, Pujols initially turned down a USD $10,000 bonus and opted to play in the Jayhawk League in Kansas instead. By the end of the summer of 1999, the Cardinals increased their bonus offer to $70,000, and Pujols signed with the team. He was assigned to the developmental leagues.

In 1999, Pujols played for the Peoria Chiefs of the single-A Midwest League, where he was voted league MVP. Pujols quickly progressed through the ranks of the St. Louis farm clubs, first at the Potomac Cannons in the high-A Carolina League and then with the Memphis Redbirds in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. In just seven games with the Redbirds in 2000, Pujols batted .367 with two home runs.

During spring training in 2001, the Cardinals were preparing for Pujols to join the Major League ranks, but the Cardinals' roster was already full of talented players, including Mark McGwire, Fernando Viña, Edgar Rentería, Ray Lankford, Jim Edmonds and J. D. Drew. While it's widely believed that an injury to bench player Bobby Bonilla freed up a roster spot, Pujols actually played extremely well in spring and won a spot on the Opening Day roster before Bonilla went on the DL. Others will claim this is revisionist history from looking at the order of the player transactions with John Mabry being the last player added to the team. They note that Pujols was not added to the 40-man roster until after the injury to Bonilla and point to articles such as George Vass in Baseball Digest (December 2001), or George Wickers (Oct. 26, 2004) Orange County Register article explaining that the Cardinals were planning to send Albert to their AAA-club in Memphis (Redbirds), where he would get more experience than sitting on the bench in St Louis. Those potential at-bats increased with the injury to the right-hand hiting Bonilla and Pujols better filled the need of replacing Bonilla's right-handed bat than other left-handed player options. Cardinal coaches pointed out to manager Tony La Russa the need for his bat against the pitchers in the opening series against the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. The decision was made to put him on the roster. His first Major League game was against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

In the season's second series, playing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pujols hit a home run, three doubles and eight runs batted in, securing his spot on the team. In May, he was named National League Rookie of the Month. In June, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game by NL manager Bobby Valentine, the first Cardinal rookie selected since 1955. Pujols' phenomenal rookie season helped the Cardinals tie for the National League Central Division title. For the season, Pujols batted .329/.403/.610 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) with 37 home runs and 130 RBI, and was unanimously named the National League Rookie of the Year. His 37 home runs were one short of the National League rookie record of 38, held by Wally Berger of the 1930 Boston Braves and Frank Robinson of the 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs. His 130 RBIs set an NL rookie record.

Pujols wearing the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals retro jersey.
Pujols wearing the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals retro jersey.

In 2002, Pujols struggled early on as pitchers learned to pitch to him, but he continued to bat extremely well throughout the season, hitting .314/.394/.561 with 34 homers and 127 RBIs. The Cardinals finished first in the NL Central during a difficult campaign that saw the death of team announcer Jack Buck and the sudden death of pitcher Darryl Kile. The Cardinals defeated the Diamondbacks in the first round of the playoffs, but lost to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship series. Albert would ultimately finish second in the MVP voting behind Barry Bonds.

In the 2003 season, Pujols had one of the best individual seasons in Cardinals history batting .359/.439/.667 with 43 home runs and 124 RBI, winning the National League batting title, while also leading the league in runs, hits, doubles, extra base hits and total bases. At 23, Albert became the youngest NL batting champion since 1962 and joined Rogers Hornsby as the only players in Cardinals history to record 40+ homers and 200+ hits in the same season. The Cardinals, however, failed to make the playoffs, faltering in the stretch to the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Pujols also finished second in the MVP voting to Barry Bonds and had a 30 game hitting streak.

Defensively, Pujols started his major league career primarily as a third baseman. It can also be noted that during Pujols' rookie season, he started at four different positions (1B, 3B, LF and RF), during the course of the season, and has also appeared at 2B (late in the 2001 All-Star game) and SS (late in one 2002 regular season game). When Scott Rolen joined the team in 2002, Pujols was moved to left field. Following an injury scare in 2003, Pujols was moved to his current position, first base.

Albert signed a 7 year, $100 million contract extension with the Cardinals before the 2004 season began. Throughout the year, Pujols was nagged by plantar fasciitis, but he was still a powerful hitter, hitting .331/.415/.657 with 46 home runs and 123 RBI. In addition, Pujols was chosen to appear on the cover of EA Sports' video game, MVP Baseball 2004. He was also the MVP of the 2004 National League Championship Series, helping his team reach the World Series, where they were swept by the Boston Red Sox.

The 2005 season saw Pujols establish career highs in walks and stolen bases, while leading his team in almost every offensive category. He finished batting .330/.430/.609, with 41 home runs (including his 200th career homer), a grand slam, 117 RBIs, 97 walks, and 16 stolen bases (leading all major league first basemen). However, due to continually nagging leg injuries, he finished with a career-low 38 doubles.

The Cardinals were eliminated by the Houston Astros 4 games to 2 in the National League Championship Series, but Pujols hit one of the most memorable home runs in modern day baseball history in game 5 of that series as the Cardinals were only one out from elimination. With the Astros leading 4-2 with two outs in the ninth inning, David Eckstein singled. The next batter, Jim Edmonds, was walked. Pujols then hit a home run off of Brad Lidge that landed on the landmark train tracks in the back of Minute Maid Park. Those three runs were the deciding factor in the game, as the Cardinals ended up winning the game 5-4, sending the series back to St. Louis.[5]

After the season, Pujols received his first National League MVP award, underscoring his critical role in keeping the injury-plagued Cardinals on track throughout the season.

In 2005, John Dewan noted in The Fielding Bible that no first baseman was better at digging balls out of the dirt than Pujols. Pujols saved 42 bad throws by his fielders in 2005. Derrek Lee was second with 23. At the same time, Pujols shared the major league lead in errors for a first baseman, with 14.

Pujols set the record for the most home runs hit in the first month of the season, at 14, on April 29, 2006 . The record was tied by Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees in 2007. On June 3, 2006, Pujols suffered an oblique strain chasing a foul pop fly off the bat of Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez. He was later placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career. Pujols, at the time of his injury, had 25 home runs and 65 RBI and was on pace to break the single-season records held by Barry Bonds (73 HRs) and Hack Wilson (191 RBI). Pujols returned in time to help the Cardinals win the NL Central. He started at first base for the 2006 National League All-Star team at the All-Star game in Pittsburgh. Pujols finished the season with a .331/.431/.671 line, establishing new career-highs in slugging percentage (in which he led the majors), home runs (49)(second) and RBIs (137)(second). In 2006 National League MVP voting he came in a close second to eventual winner Ryan Howard, garnering 12 of 32 first-place votes.

After appearing in the playoffs with the Cardinals in four of his first five years in the big leagues but falling short each time, Pujols won his first championship ring when the Cardinals won the 2006 World Series, defeating the Detroit Tigers four games to one.

Pujols' fielding percentage was close to the bottom amongst qualified National League first basemen in his first two full seasons at the position, but in 2006 it was impressive. After the season Pujols' improvements were recognized as he was given his first Gold Glove award. He has had the highest range factor amongst first basemen in his two full seasons, and led the National League in that category in 2006; emblematic was the sprawling, flip-from-his-back playPujols made to rob Placido Polanco of a hit in the 7th inning of Game 5 of the World Series.

Pujols had a slower start this spring than in previous years. In 2006 he had set a Major League record with 14 home runs in April,[6] though in 2007 he only accumulated 6 home runs and 15 RBIs. His batting average was a mere .250 while slugging only .489.[7]

May was better, zooming to .340 for the month, but with only 3 home runs and 13 RBIs while his slugging average was only marginally better at .495. His batting average started to climb back to normal career levels, and he ended the month with a .296 average and a .492 slugging percentage.

He hit 7 home runs with 20 RBIs in June. He raised his batting average to a composite .306 with a .534 slugging percentage and 48 RBIs after the month was over.[8]

Following the All-Star Break, he hit 4 home runs in his first 3 games back against the Philadelphia Phillies. Pujols was also awarded the Player of the Week honors from July 9 to the 15th after going 9-for-15 with a 1.357 slugging percentage and 19 total bases, all while batting .429.

He also hit his 25th home run on August 15th, making him just the fifth player all-time to hit 25 home runs in his first 7 seasons in the major leagues, and the first since Darryl Strawberry. On Wednesday, August 22, Pujols his 30th home run of the season, becoming the first major-league player to hit 30 home runs in his first 7 seasons. He then had hit home runs in five consecutive games, tying a Cardinals' single-season record. His next game on August 23 ended his 5-game home run streak, his 7-game RBI streak, and his 9-game hitting streak. He finished August batting a composite .317, slugging .558 with 30 home runs and 84 runs batted in, while still sporting an excellent .416 on-base percentage despite his slower-than-usual start in April.

In a pre-game warmup on the field before a September 18 game at home, he suffered a strained calf muscle in his left leg and was not able to start or appear later in the game. For September, he hit two home runs for a total of 32, the last one giving him 16 RBIs for the month, and 100 RBIs for the seventh consecutive year to become only the third player to accomplish that level of consistency at the start of his career.

He is the only player in baseball history to start his career with seven consecutive seasons with a .300 batting average, 30 HRs, 100 RBIs. (Ted Williams 23 HRs in 1940, Joe DiMaggio 29 HRs in 1936)

He won (as did fellow Cardinal, catcher Yadier Molina) the prestigious Fielding Bible Award for his defensive excellence at first base, which is given to only one player per position in the major leagues.[9]

Pujols moved to Kansas City, Missouri from the Dominican Republic at age 16 with his father. He graduated from Fort Osage High School in Independence, Missouri in 1998, and attended Maple Woods Community College on a baseball scholarship. He later graduated and entered the MLB, joining the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols married his wife, Deidre, on January 1, 2000. They have three children, Isabella (Deidre's daughter, adopted by Albert), Albert Jr., and Sophia. Albert and his wife are active in the cause of people with Down syndrome, as Isabella was born with this condition. In 2005 (appropriately on May 5, which is written as 5/5/05, '5' being Albert's uniform number), they launched the Pujols Family Foundation, which is dedicated to "the love, care and development of people with Down syndrome and their families", as well as helping the poor in the Dominican Republic.[10] Pujols and his wife are very active Christians; as the foundation's website says, "In the Pujols family, God is first. Everything else is a distant second."[11] More information on the foundation can be found at its website: www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org. He has taken part ownership in Patrick's restaurant at Westport Plaza in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The remodeled restaurant was reopened as Pujols 5 on August 30, 2006.[12]

Pujols is close friends with second baseman Placido Polanco, a former teammate with the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols is godfather to Polanco's 3-year-old son, Ismael.[13] Placido was a second baseman on the 2006 Detroit Tigers team which lost to the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series.

On February 7, 2007, Pujols became a U.S. citizen,[14] scoring a perfect 100 on his citizenship test.[15]

On April 24, 2007, Upper Deck Authenticated announced it had signed Pujols to an exclusive autographed memorabilia agreement.

  • Six-time All-Star (2001, 2003-07)
  • Pujols has finished in the top four in the voting for MVP of the National League every year of his career, winning once (2005) and coming in second three times (2002, 2003 & 2006).
  • National League Batting Champion, 2003
  • Only Ralph Kiner hit more home runs (215) in his first five seasons (2001-05) than Albert (201).
  • Named to Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team in 2005 as the starting first baseman.
  • First Cardinal home run in new Busch Stadium[16]
  • Became the 35th player to hit home runs in four consecutive at-bats, and the 20th batter to hit four home runs in four consecutive plate appearances, on April 16 and 17, 2006.
  • Holds the record for most home runs in the month of April with 14 in 2006, tied with Alex Rodriguez, 2007.
  • Became the fastest player in Major League history to reach 19 home runs in a season, doing so on May 13, 2006.
  • Became the third-fastest, after Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, to reach 25 home runs in a season, doing so on May 29, 2006.
  • Became first player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs in each of his first seven seasons (2001-07).
  • Became the 16th batter to hit three home runs in a game twice in the same season in 2006 (04.16 & 09.03).
  • 20 of his 49 home runs accounted for the game-winning RBI in 2006, breaking Willie Mays' single-season record set in 1962.[17][18]
  • Became only the third player in baseball history to start his career with seven consecutive seasons of 100+ RBIs, on September 26, 2007. Joe DiMaggio (1936-1942), and Ted Williams (1939-1942, 1946-1949) were the only other players to accomplish that great feat.
  • Became the only player in baseball history to start his career with seven consecutive seasons with a .300 batting average, 30 HRs, 100 RBIs.


(through September 30, 2007)

SEASON AGE TM LG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB SF SH HBP IW GIDP AVG OBP SLG OPS
2001 21 StL NL 161 590 112 194 47 4 37 130 360 69 93 1 7 1 9 6 21 .359 .403 .610 1.013
2002 22 StL NL 157 590 118 185 40 2 34 127 331 72 69 2 4 0 9 13 20 .314 .394 .561 .955
2003 23 StL NL 157 591 137 212 51 1 43 124 394 79 65 5 5 0 10 12 13 .359 .439 .667 1.106
2004 24 StL NL 154 592 133 196 51 2 46 123 389 84 52 5 9 0 7 12 21 .331 .415 .657 1.072
2005 25 StL NL 161 591 129 195 38 2 41 117 360 97 65 16 3 0 9 27 19 .330 .430 .609 1.039
2006 26 StL NL 143 535 119 177 33 1 49 137 359 92 50 7 3 0 4 28 20 .331 .431 .671 1.102
2007 27 StL NL 158 565 99 185 38 1 32 103 321 99 58 2 8 0 7 22 27 .327 .429 .568 .997
TOTALS 27 StL NL 1,091 4,054 847 1,344 298 13 282 861 2,514 592 452 38 39 1 55 120 141 .332 .420 .620 1.040

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
579 121 192 43 2 40 123 85 65

Abbrev Explanation
SEASON Year Season was played
AGE Player's Age during season
TM Team played for
LG League team played in
G Games
AB At Bats
R Runs
H Hits
2B Doubles
3B Triples
HR Home Runs
RBI Runs Batted In
TB Total Bases
BB Walks
SO Strikeouts
SB Stolen Bases
SF Sacrifice Flies
SH Sacrifice Hits
HBP Hit By Pitch
IW Intentional Walks
GIDP Grounded Into Double Play
AVG Batting Average
OBP On-Base Percentage
SLG Slugging Percentage
OPS On-base plus Slugging Percentage

  1. ^ Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ Nate Silver (2006). Baseball's most valuable players. ESPN.com.
  3. ^ Hal Bodley (2006-10-31). Cardinals slugger Pujols earns perfect score in annual Elias player rankings. USA Today.
  4. ^ http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/sullivan/20041026-9999-1s26sullivan.html
  5. ^ Leach, Matthew (October 15, 2005). Pujols keeps Cards' season alive. MLB. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  6. ^ http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/baseball/20060429-1346-bbn-pujols-hrrecord.html
  7. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_player_gamebygamelog.jsp?playerID=405395&statType=1
  8. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6619/gamelog;_ylt=AtyTd9.Kw5hxr0HNWqvQiRaFCLcF
  9. ^ http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071102&content_id=2291100&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl
  10. ^ Mission Statement. Pujols Family Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  11. ^ About Our Faith. Pujols Family Foundation. Retrieved on 2006-08-10.
  12. ^ Pujols Swings, and it's a grand...opening. St. Louis Post Dispatch. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
  13. ^ Enrique Rojas (2006-10-23). Pujols is godfather to Polanco's son. ESPN.com.
  14. ^ Leach, Matthew (February 8, 2007). Pujols officially becomes U.S. citizen. MLB.com.
  15. ^ A.P. (2007). Pujols officially becomes U.S. citizen. Daily Vidette online.
  16. ^ Recap of first game at New Busch.
  17. ^ AP (2006-9-27). Three-run Pujols blast helps Cards snap 7-game skid. ESPN.com.
  18. ^ AP (2006-9-29). Cards power past Brewers, extend narrow division lead. ESPN.com.

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