Albert Pujols returned to the Cardinals in 2022 for his final season.
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Albert Pujols returned to the Cardinals in 2022 for his final season.
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Albert Pujols is a six-time Silver Slugger who has twice led the NL in home runs, and he has led the NL once each in batting average, doubles, and runs batted in.
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In 2018, Albert Pujols collected his 3,000th career hit, becoming the 32nd MLB player to reach that milestone.
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Albert Pujols was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, mostly by his grandmother, America Albert Pujols, and 10 of his uncles and aunts.
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Albert Pujols's father, Bienvenido Pujols, was a softball pitcher who struggled with alcoholism.
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Albert Pujols often had to take his father home when his father got drunk following games.
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Albert Pujols played baseball at Fort Osage High School in Independence and was named an All-State athlete twice.
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Albert Pujols hit a grand slam and turned an unassisted triple play in the first game of his only college season.
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Albert Pujols was not drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, when the St Louis Cardinals selected him with the 402nd overall pick.
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Albert Pujols initially turned down a $10,000 bonus and spent the summer playing for the Hays Larks of the Jayhawk Collegiate League.
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Albert Pujols began his minor league career in 2000 playing third base with the Peoria Chiefs of the single-A Midwest League.
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Albert Pujols was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and named to the All-Star team.
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Albert Pujols played 21 games with the Potomac Cannons in the high-A Carolina League that year, batting.
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On Opening Day against the Colorado Rockies on April 2, Albert Pujols became the first major league player born in the 1980s.
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At midseason, Albert Pujols became the first Cardinals rookie since Luis Arroyo in 1955 to make the All-Star Game.
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Albert Pujols was named the National League Silver Slugger Award winner for the third base position, and he finished fourth in NL Most Valuable Player voting, behind Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Luis Gonzalez.
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Albert Pujols was unanimously named the NL Rookie of the Year after setting an NL rookie record with 130 RBI's and becoming the fourth MLB rookie to hit.
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Albert Pujols became the first player in major league history to hit over.
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Albert Pujols finished second in MVP voting to Bonds, becoming the first Cardinal since Stan Musial to finish in the top four in MVP voting for consecutive seasons.
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Albert Pujols's contributions helped the Cardinals finish third in home runs and second in batting average and RBI; the Cardinals' pitching staff finished fourth in ERA.
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The Cardinals again reached the playoffs, and Albert Pujols had three hits and three RBI in a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks in the 2002 NLDS.
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Albert Pujols had five hits, one home run and two RBI in the series.
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Albert Pujols became the fourth major leaguer to hit his 100th home run in his third season, along with Ralph Kiner, Eddie Mathews, and Joe DiMaggio.
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Albert Pujols became the youngest player since Tommy Davis in 1962 to win the NL batting title after batting.
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Albert Pujols joined Rogers Hornsby as the only players in the Cardinals' history to record more than 40 homers and 200 hits in the same season.
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Albert Pujols' contributions helped the Cardinals rank second in batting average and third in home runs in the NL; however, the pitching staff posted a 4.
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Albert Pujols was moved to first base in 2004 after the Cardinals traded Tino Martinez in the offseason.
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Albert Pujols finished third in MVP voting, joining Musial as the only Cardinals to finish in the top five in voting for at least four years in a row.
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Albert Pujols won the Silver Slugger Award at first base, the third position he won the award at.
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Albert Pujols returned to the playoffs as the Cardinals won the NL Central for the second year in a row.
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Albert Pujols had five hits in nine at-bats with four runs scored and two RBI in the NLDS as the Cardinals swept the Padres.
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In Game 5 of the NLCS against the Astros, with the Cardinals trailing by two runs and only one out from elimination in the ninth inning, Albert Pujols hit a game-winning three-run home run against Brad Lidge that landed on the train tracks in the back of Minute Maid Park.
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Over two games in April 2006, Albert Pujols hit home runs in four consecutive plate appearances, making him the 20th player to accomplish the feat.
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Albert Pujols maintained after the game that he was more concerned with winning than the numbers: "I don't look at numbers, " he said.
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Albert Pujols won his first of four consecutive Fielding Bible Awards for the first base position.
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Albert Pujols finished the season with 185 hits, 38 doubles and 103 RBI.
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Albert Pujols finished ninth in MVP voting, the first year he had finished outside the top five.
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Albert Pujols began 2008 by reaching base in 42 straight games, the longest streak to open a season since 1999.
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Albert Pujols grounded into a National League-leading 27 double plays.
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Albert Pujols was named The Sporting News Player of the Year for the second time in his career.
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Albert Pujols considered having Tommy John surgery after the season but underwent nerve transposition surgery on his right elbow instead to ease discomfort.
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Albert Pujols received the highest number of votes in NL history for the All-Star Game that year.
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Albert Pujols was unanimously named the NL MVP for the third time, tying Musial as the Cardinals' leader in that category.
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Albert Pujols won the Sporting News MLB Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year, joining Williams and Joe Morgan as the only players to win it in back-to-back years.
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April 2010, Albert Pujols earned his first Pepsi Clutch Performer of the Month Award.
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Albert Pujols joined Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Rodriguez in having 10 consecutive seasons of 100 or more RBI at any time in their career.
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Foxx and Rodriguez are the only two players besides Albert Pujols to have 10 consecutive years of 30 home runs and 100 RBI.
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Albert Pujols finished second in the NL MVP voting to Joey Votto, who said he was "shocked" that Pujols only got one first-place vote.
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Albert Pujols finished the season with 173 hits, 29 doubles, and 105 runs scored.
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Albert Pujols joined Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players in baseball history to hit three home runs in a World Series game, set a series record with 14 total bases, became the first player in series history to have hits in four consecutive innings, and tied records for most hits and most RBI in a World Series game.
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Albert Pujols had one hit and no RBI the other six games of the series but became a World Series champion for the second time as the Cardinals defeated the Rangers in seven games.
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Albert Pujols did not perform very well to begin the 2012 season, batting.
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In 2013, Albert Pujols had by far the worst season of his career to date, failing to play at least 100 games in a season for the first time.
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Albert Pujols posted career worsts in hits, runs scored, doubles, home runs, RBI, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.
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Albert Pujols denounced Clark's allegations as "irresponsible and reckless, " and threatened to sue Clark and WGNU over the allegations.
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However, on February 10,2014, Clark apologized and retracted his accusations against Albert Pujols, saying he had "no knowledge whatsoever" that Albert Pujols ever used PEDs.
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Albert Pujols became the 26th player ever to reach the 500-home-run mark, the third-youngest to reach it, and the only player to hit Nos.
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Albert Pujols was tied for the 3rd-highest salary in the AL, at $23 million.
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Albert Pujols's home run total led the major leagues and 73 total bases tied Manny Machado for first in the AL.
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On September 22,2015, Albert Pujols hit his 556th career home run to pass Ramirez for sole possession of 14th place on the all-time career home run leaderboard.
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Albert Pujols was tied for the 3rd-highest salary in the AL, at $24 million.
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Albert Pujols tied for 2nd in the AL in double plays grounded into, with 24.
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Albert Pujols had the 6th-highest salary in the league, at $25 million.
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On June 3,2017, Albert Pujols became the ninth player in Major League history to hit at least 600 home runs, when he hit a grand slam off of Ervin Santana of the Minnesota Twins.
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Albert Pujols was the fourth-youngest player to achieve the feat, and the first to hit a grand slam for his 600th home run.
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Albert Pujols had the slowest baserunning sprint speed of all major league players, at 21.
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On May 4,2018, Albert Pujols recorded his 3,000th major league hit, against Mike Leake of the Seattle Mariners.
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The next day, Albert Pujols was placed on the 10-day disabled list due to left knee inflammation.
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Albert Pujols had the slowest baserunning sprint speed of all major league players for the second consecutive year, at 22.
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On May 9,2019, Albert Pujols became the fourth player in major league history to record 2,000 RBIs, hitting a solo home run against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
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Albert Pujols had the second-slowest sprint speed of all major league players, at 22.
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Albert Pujols was the third-oldest player in the American League, behind Ichiro Suzuki and Fernando Rodney.
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Albert Pujols was tied for the 4th-highest salary in the AL, at $28 million.
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Albert Pujols had the slowest sprint speed of all major league players, at 22.
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Albert Pujols was tied for the 7th-highest salary in the league, at $29 million.
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On May 17,2021, Albert Pujols agreed to a one-year major league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Albert Pujols was the oldest player in the league for the second season in a row, and had the fifth-highest salary at $30 million.
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Albert Pujols subsequently announced that he would play in the Dominican Professional Baseball League in the offseason, for Leones del Escogido.
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On March 28,2022, Albert Pujols signed a one-year contract to return to the St Louis Cardinals and announced that 2022 would be his final season.
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On May 15, Albert Pujols made his pitching debut, the oldest player to do so since 1929.
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Albert Pujols was chosen to be on the National League team for the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred as a "legacy" selection to honor his career achievements.
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Albert Pujols was selected to participate in the 2022 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, where he advanced to the second round and fell one home run short of eventual winner Juan Soto.
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Albert Pujols hit No 699 off Andrew Heaney, his 200th home run off a left-handed pitcher; and his 700th off Phil Bickford, his 500th home run off a right-handed pitcher.
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Albert Pujols went 2-for-8 in the National League Wild Card Series with the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Albert Pujols has credited his hitting ability partly to learning what pitchers will do in certain counts and situations:.
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Albert Pujols is second in major league history in runs batted in and total bases behind only Henry Aaron.
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Albert Pujols is fourth in career home runs and fifth in doubles.
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In 2009, Albert Pujols set the major league single-season record for assists by a first baseman with 185.
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Albert Pujols has earned praise from many of his fellow players and coaches.
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In 2008, Albert Pujols teamed up with St Louis Soccer United, a group looking to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to the St Louis area.
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Albert Pujols has taken several trips to the Dominican Republic, by taking supplies as well as a team of doctors and dentists to the poor who need medical care.
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In 2009, Albert Pujols donated money to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Tournament, allowing the event to occur after a sponsor backed out.
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Albert Pujols became an evangelical Christian on November 13,1998, influenced in part by Deidre and his grandmother.
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Albert Pujols owned a home in Irvine, California, but put it up for sale in 2016.
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Albert Pujols is a supporter of people with Down syndrome, a condition Isabella was born with.
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In 2007, Albert Pujols became a US citizen, scoring a perfect 100 on his citizenship test.
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Albert Pujols is close friends with third baseman Placido Polanco, a former teammate with the Cardinals.
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Albert Pujols is friends with Robinson Cano, who selected Mark Trumbo for the 2012 Home Run Derby after Albert Pujols asked him to.
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