MLB - Albert Pujols makes his 400th homerun
St. Louis Cardinals, Albert Pujols blasted his 400th career home run Thursday night, being the 47th player to reach the milestone in Major League Baseball (MLB). Pujols made his record of Jordan Zimmermann, who plays for the Washington Nationals, making his first start of the season as Tommy John is undergoing a surgery.
At only 30 years of age and 222 days old in the MLB, Albert is the 3rd youngest player-ever to make the 400 mark. Ken Griffey Jr. at 30 years of age and playing only for 141 days hit 400 and Alex Rodriguez passed the benchmark at the age of 316 days.
Pujol made his 400th in his 5,615th career at-bat; experts say only a few have ever been able to do so i.e. fifth-fewest at-bats to reach the 400th mark. In history Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth made their 400 home runs with 5,000 career at-bats.
Pujol at 30 years broke his three-way tie with Andreas Galarraga and Al Kaline, making it to the 47th place in baseball’s career list. After completing his swing with sheer power, the new star of MLB made a run around the field and as he stopped at the dugout, he was mobbed by his teammates.
Alex Pujol now has an astounding career batting average of .333, 400 home runs and 1,205 reviving baseball in inner (RBI). He is one of the youngest players to have such a stellar career batting average.
"Part of his greatness is that he overcomes human nature," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "But human nature is always there."
Albert was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, immigrating to the United States in 1996. He displayed his immense hitting skills at Fort Osage High School with an average of .500.
Albert Pujol started his professional career in 2001, and has already made a presence in the All-Star team 9 times. He won his first World Series in 2006 and has been awarded Silver Slugger Award 5 times in 2001, 2003-2004, 2008-2009 respectively. He was named as the Rookie of the Year in 2001 and NL MVP 3 times after that, first time being 2005 followed by 2008 and 2009.
The three-time NL MVP is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players in the modern Major League Baseball, due to this uncanny ability to hit, and accrual of statistics at just the age of 30.
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