Nearing 3,000 Hits, Albert Pujols’ Career Does Not Get Enough Recognition

Not many players in the long history of Major League Baseball have had better careers than Albert Pujols. Among Pujols’ accomplishments are an NL Rookie of the Year, three NL MVPs, two Gold Gloves, ten All-Star appearances, and two World Series titles.

 

Soon, Pujols will record the 3,000^th hit of his storied major-league career. But the upcoming milestone—like Pujols’ 17+ years with the Cardinals and Angels—is not getting close to the recognition it deserves.

 

To start Pujols’ career, he was instantly one of the best players in baseball. During his rookie season, Pujols hit 37 home runs with 130 RBI and a .329 average. From then on, Pujols put up numbers that don’t come around too often. Aside from 2007, when he hit 32 homers and had 103 RBIs, Pujols finished in the top-five of the MVP voting every single season with the Cardinals.

 

Pujols averaged over 40 home runs and 120 RBI per season during his 11 years in St. Louis. To put that in perspective, Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout—currently three of the most powerful hitters in baseball—each have only one 40-homer season in their careers. And it’s not just that Pujols hit for power, as he hit an astounding .328 during those 11 seasons.

 

Things changed a bit when Pujols went from St. Louis to Los Angeles, joining the Angels on a massive ten-year, $254 million deal in December 2011. His average has never been higher than .285 in a season, and he’s basically a .250-.260 hitter now. But Pujols still had a 40-homer season in him (in 2015) and continues to build on a rare career.

 

Maybe as Pujols’ play has declined with age, he isn’t getting as much recognition as he should. But it’s not like his play has completely fallen off to the point where he’s a player that struggles to contribute to a lineup. In LA, Pujols reached the 500-home-run and 600-home-run milestones, and he still produces runs in the middle of an order.

 

Looking at his entire career, Pujols is arguably one of the top 10-15 players in the history of baseball.

 

When Pujols joins the 3,000 Hit Club, he’ll be just the fourth player in MLB history to have 3,000 hits and 600 home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez. If you take A-Rod out because of his steroid use, Pujols is the only recent player to accomplish the feat.

 

Also, if you include a .300 career batting average as another criteria (though Pujols’ career is not done, and his average continues to drop), then Rodriguez is eliminated and it’s just Aaron, Mays, and Pujols.

 

Despite everything, Pujols doesn’t feel like he’s being treated in the class of all-time greats like Aaron and Mays. Maybe it’s because he was never a flashy player in what is now a more egocentric culture, instead just putting in the work and playing hard. And having Mike Trout, who might be the best all-around player of all-time, on your team probably takes some of the shine away.

 

Pujols has had plenty of moments throughout his career, and he might have more team accomplishments if the Angels go deep in the postseason this year. But as an individual player, maybe Pujols should get some more recognition as he accomplishes a feat only 31 players in history have accomplished.