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Pujols hits his career home run No. 703

Posted October. 05, 2022 07:35,   

Updated October. 05, 2022 07:35

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Albert Pujols, the veteran slugger of the Saint Lous Cardinals, has surpassed Babe Ruth (1895 – 1948) to claim the second place on the all-time RBI list of Major League Baseball (MLB).

On Tuesday’s game in Pittsburgh, Pujols blasted it off Mitch Keller’s curve ball with a runner on first base in the top of the sixth inning at 0-0, belting his 703rd career home run and the 24th this season.

Adding two runs, Pujols reached the milestone of 2,216 RBIs, breaking the record of Babe Ruth. But it seems effectively impossible that Pujols, who announced his retirement by the end of the season, should be able to surpass the record (2,297 RBIs) of the first runner Hank Aaron (1934 – 2021).

While his team lost the game by 2-3 on Tuesday, Pujols had a lot of memorable moments at PNC Park, the home stadium of Pittsburgh. Indeed, the Cardinal’s star slugger hit the biggest number of homers (35) and RBIs (99) here alone at PNC Park. His OPS stands at a whopping 1.177 in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, “Pujols will miss this stadium.”

Just like Lee Dae-ho, the Korean slugger wielding a hot bat in his retirement season, Pujols is also celebrating his last year in the MLB with a remarkable performance. After the All-Star game, Pujols has recorded 18 home runs and 1.104 OPS, with only two games remaining before the end of the regular season. No one hit more homers or reached a higher OPS than Pujols in the National League during the same period.

The only MLB hitter outperforming Pujols is Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) of the American League, who has belted 28 homers with 1.294 OPS in the latter half of the season. Having tied the AL record with 61 home runs this season, Judge went on an away game to Texas on Tuesday, making one hit out of four at-bats with no homers. While Judge has already sealed the top spot in home runs (61) and RBIs (130) competitions, he is lagging behind Luis Arraez (0.314) with a batting average of 0.311. The Yankees have three more games, including a doubleheader on Wednesday.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com