Everything about Albert Pujols totally explained
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (IPA: /ˡpuˌhoʊlz/), (born
January 16,
1980 in
Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic), (nicknamed Prince Albert, Phat Albert, The Machine, Todd or El Hombre) 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. With
Barry Bonds unsigned as of the beginning of the 2008 season, Pujols was voted the runaway winner as the most feared hitter in baseball in a poll of all 30 big league managers.
He already ranks 120th on the
list of the Top 500 home run hitters in the history of the game.
With the sudden decline of
Ichiro Suzuki hitting only .252 for the month of April 2008, Pujols (.365; 35-for-96) has now wrested the active career
batting average leader from Suzuki by a point at .332 (.3323), with Suzuki at .331 (.33149), and
Todd Helton (.278 in April 2008) a close third at .331 (.3306).
From (his debut) through the seasons, Pujols has led the major leagues in total bases (2,514) and extra-base hits (593). He was second in
home runs (282) to
Alex Rodriguez (329); second in
RBI (861) to Rodriguez's 908; second in
runs (847) to A-Rod's 874; second in
doubles (298) to
Todd Helton's 318; fourth in
hits (1,344) to
Ichiro Suzuki's (1,592),
Juan Pierre (1,378),
Derek Jeter (1,348); and second in
batting average (.3315) to Suzuki (.3335). He also won the
rookie of the year award in 2001.
In recent years, Pujols has become an excellent defensive player at first base, winning his first
Gold Glove award in .
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.; - and -) to begin his career with seven straight 100-
RBI seasons, after hitting his 32nd home run (#282 of his career) on
September 26, 2007, against the
Milwaukee Brewers in
Milwaukee.
Early life and career
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 displayed 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 . 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 didn't draft him, the scout who'd found Pujols resigned). 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 minor 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.
Major leagues
2001: Rookie of the Year
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. (
John Mabry was the last player added to the team.) A more reasonable interpretation of events would note that LH hitting bench player John Mabry and rookie needing at bats Alber Pujols don't fill the same roll and the order of making a team isn't reflective of who replaces whom. Primarily the manager was concerned about making sure Albert Pujols would get plenty of playing time. It doesn't appear that Pujols was added to the 40 man roster until after Bonilla's injury so how can one claim he'd already made the team? The Orange County Register article of 26 October 2004 specifically reports of a coaches discussion with the manager after the Bonilla injury where they pointed out to the manager the need for Pujols right hand bat in the opening series in Colorado. Obviously a meeting that wouldn't be necessary if Pujols were already slated to make the team. A cnnsi article on 10 April 2001 specifically mentions that Pujols was a strong possibility to be sent down based on quotes by GM Walt Jocketty and hitting coach Mike Easler but Albert played so well he stayed on the roster. Again, if he truly made the roster, he wouldn't have been a guy they were leaning to send down.
In the season's second series, playing against the
Arizona Diamondbacks, Pujols hit a home run, three doubles and eight RBI, 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 . 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
Boston Braves and
Frank Robinson of the
Cincinnati Redlegs. His 130 RBI set an NL rookie record.
2002: No Sophomore Slump
In, Pujols struggled early on as pitchers learned how to pitch to him, but he continued to bat extremely well throughout the season, hitting .314/.394/.561 with 34 homers and 127 RBI. 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.
2003: Batting Champion
In the 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.
2004: Full-time First Base
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 as well as a regular season game in April 2008) 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.
Pujols signed a seven-year, $100 million contract extension with the Cardinals before the 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. Pujols, along with Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen earned the nickname
MV3 for their phenomenal 2004 seasons. 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.
2005: Most Valuable Player
The 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 RBI, 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. His performance in 2005 earned him the National League Most Valuable Player award.
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.
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.
2006: World Series Champion Cardinals
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 the 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 play
Pujols made to rob
Plácido Polanco of a hit in the 7th inning of
Game 5 of the World Series.
2007: Slow Start, Great Finish
Pujols had a slower start in the spring than in previous years due to several injuries all in his right elbow. In 2006, he'd set a Major League record with 14 home runs in April, though in 2007 he only accumulated 6 home runs and 15 RBI. His batting average was a mere .250 while slugging only .489.
May was better, zooming to .340 for the month, but with only 3 home runs and 13 RBI 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 batting average and a .492 slugging percentage.
He hit 7 home runs with 20 RBI in June. He raised his batting average to a composite .306 with a .534 slugging percentage and 48 RBI after the month was over.
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 15, 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
August 22, Pujols slugged his 30th home run of the season, becoming the first major-league player to hit at least 30 home runs in each of 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 wasn't 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 RBI for the month, and 100 RBI 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 RBI, and 99 runs. (Ted Williams 23 HRs in,
Joe DiMaggio 29 HRs in )
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.
2008: 42-game on-base streak
He reached another milestone early in the season when he hit his 300th career
double in only his 4,066th official at-bat in his 1,095th game (4,755th plate appearance), against
Odalis Perez of the
Washington Nationals on
April 4.
For the month of April, he reached base safely (via hit, walk, or hit-by-pitch) in all 29 team games played starting on
April 1. His best consecutive games start in reaching base was 33 games in
2005. That was the best start by any Cardinal player in reaching base since 1956.
In early May, his .518
on-base percentage is the best in the major leagues, as is his 33
walks and his 9
intentional walks. He is third in
batting average with his .358 (38-for-106).
On May 5, Pujols scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning at Colorado in memorable fashion. After lining a double to the opposite field in right with the score tied at 5, Pujols took off for third with Rick Ankiel batting. As Ankiel grounded to second, Pujols didn't hesitate around third, scoring from second on the groundout to give the Cardinals an eventual 6-5 win. Earlier in the game he extended his on-base games streak to 33, tying his best start in 2005.
On May 6, Pujols doubled--extending his beginning-of-season on-base game streak to 34, and passing his previous 2005 high of 33-games at the start of a season; second-longest of his career to the 48-game streak since his rookie year (2001) from July 28 - September 22.
On May 11, Pujols walked, extending his on-base streak to 39 consecutive games.
On May 12, he got a rest--his streak remains active at 39.
He continued his streak with this 40th game with a walk, and later his 8th home run of the year (#290 career) on May 13.
His single in the first inning extended his streak to 41 consecutive games on May 14.
His two singles on May 15 extended his streak to 42 consecutive games.
His 42-game streak ended on May 16 when he failed to reach base in four at-bats.
Ted Williams had a 65-game on-base streak starting out the
1948 season, and Pujols' streak is the best in Cardinals' history at the beginning of a season in research since
1956, and the longest in baseball since
Derek Jeter had a 53-game streak in
1999.
On May 21, Pujols was batting against the
San Diego Padres pitcher
Chris Young. Young threw an ouside pitch and Pujols hit a line drive right back at Young. The ball smashed into Young's nose breaking it instantly. After Pujols touched first he jogged to the pitchers mound while trainers tended to Young. Young later went to the hospital. Later that inning,
Troy Glaus, the Cardinals third basemen, hit a single to center. Pujols on second, ran for home. The catcher,
Josh Bard, tried to block Pujols from scoring. Pujols laid down a hard clean slide into the plate. He slid into Bard's ankle, later diagnosed as a high ankle sprain. Bard laid there in pain for a few moments. Pujols later said he couldn't concentrate for the rest of the game. The Cardinals manager,
Tony LaRussa, noticed that it was bothering him, and took Pujols out in the eighth inning.
Personal
At age 16, Pujols immigrated to the
United States with his family which lived briefly in
New York City before settling in
Independence, Missouri. 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, getting drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round draft, 402nd overal.
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. 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." 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.
Pujols is close friends with second baseman
Plácido Polanco, a former teammate with the
St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols is godfather to Polanco's 3-year-old son, Ismael. 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, scoring a perfect 100 on his
citizenship test.He was quoted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as saying, "This is a dream come true. I was born in an igloo hoping one day to live in an American townhouse as a citizen. Today is that day."
On
April 24, 2007,
Upper Deck Authenticated announced it had signed Pujols to an exclusive autographed memorabilia agreement.
Accomplishments
Six-time All-Star (2001, 2003-07)
48-game consecutive on-base streak in 2001, from July 28 - September 22.
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 than Albert (201 home runs from 2001 through 2005).
Named to Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team in 2005 as the starting first baseman.
Hit the first Cardinal home run in new Busch Stadium (Apr. 10, 2006)
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 (April 16 & September 3).
20 of his 49 home runs accounted for the game-winning RBI in 2006, breaking Willie Mays' single-season record set in 1962.
In the 2005 post-season Albert Pujols hit a monster game-winning home run against Brad Lidge that would have been out of the park if the stadium's roof would have been open, the Cardinals still lost the series.
2006 World Series Championship.
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.
42-game consecutive on-base streak in 2008, from April 1 - May 15, the longest in baseball since Derek Jeter had 53-games in 1999.
Awards
Rookie of the Year, 2001
Three-time Silver Slugger (2001, 2003-04) (Note: Pujols has won a Silver Slugger at three different positions: First Base, Third Base, and Left Field).
National League Player of the Month for both May and June 2003 and for April 2006
Hank Aaron Award, 2003
Batting Title Champion 2003
TSN Player of the Year, 2003
NLCS MVP, 2004
National League MVP, 2005
Fielding Bible Award at first base, 2006
Gold Glove Award at first base, 2006
Fielding Bible Award at first base, 2007
Career Statistics
(through May 25, 2008)
bold statistic = led NL
bold year = elected as starter in All-Star Game
Rookie Of the Year
MVP = Most Valuable Player
GG = Gold Glove
Yearly Averages for Career
(2001-2007 + 2008 pro-rated, May 25)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Albert Pujols'.
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