Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 5
First base
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
April 2, 2001, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics (through July 18, 2006)
Batting average	.332
Home runs	232
RBI's	704
Stats at Baseball Reference

José Alberto Pujols (Pronounced "Pu-Holes") (born January 16, 1980 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball player with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is widely regarded as one of the best offensive players in the game and hits consistently for average and power. In recent years he has also become an above-average defensive player at first base. On August 5th, 2005, Pujols became the first player in Major League history to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first five seasons. On August 31st of that year, he became the first Major League player since Ted Williams to reach the 100 RBI mark in each of his first five seasons.

Early career

Pujols was born in the Dominican Republic, and his family emigrated to the United States in the early 1990s, first to New York City and then later to Independence, Missouri. In the U.S., Pujols gained his love for baseball, batting over .500 in his first season of high school baseball. After high school, Pujols attended Maple Woods Community College in the Kansas City area. In his first season with the community college, Pujols showed off his talent, hitting a grand slam and turning an unassisted triple play in his first game and batting .461 for the year.

The St. Louis Cardinals drafted Pujols in the 13th round of the 1999 draft. However, Pujols initially turned down a USD $10,000 bonus and opted to play in the Jayhawk League in Kansas instead. However, by the end of the summer of 1999, the Cardinals had increased their bonus offer to $60,000 and Pujols signed with the Cardinals and was assigned to the developmental leagues.

By 2000, Pujols was assigned to 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. In just seven games with the Redbirds in 2000, Pujols hit .367 with two home runs.

Major leagues

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 fought for, and won a spot on the Opening Day roster before Bonilla went on the DL. His first Major League game was against the Colorado Rockies in Denver .

Pujols playing first base.

In the season's second series, playing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pujols hit a home run, three doubles and eight runs batted in, securing his spot on the team. By May, he was named National League Rookie of the Month. By June, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game by NL manager Bobby Valentine, the first Cardinal rookie named to the team since 1955. Pujols continued with his phenomenal rookie season, helping the Cardinals earn a tie for the National League Central Division title. For the season, Pujols batted .329/.403/.610 with 37 home runs and 130 runs batted in and was unanimously named the National League Rookie of the Year.

In 2002, Pujols struggled early on as pitchers learned to pitch to him, but he continued to bat extremely well throughout the season, hitting .314/.394/.561 with 34 homers and 127 RBIs. 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.

In the 2003 season, Pujols had his best season yet, batting .359/.439/.667 with 43 home runs and 124 RBIs, winning the National League batting title, but the Cardinals 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.

Throughout 2004, Pujols was nagged by plantar fasciitis, but he was still a powerful hitter, hitting .331/.415/.657 with 46 home runs and 123 RBI. 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.

The 2005 season saw Pujols establish career highs in walks and stolen bases, while leading his team in almost every offensive category. He finished with a .330 batting average, a .430 on-base percentage, a .609 slugging percentage, 41 home runs (including his 200th career homer), a grand slam, 117 RBIs, 97 walks, and 16 stolen bases. However, due to continually nagging leg injuries, he finished with a career-low 38 doubles. The Cardinals were eliminated 4 games to 2 in the National League Championship Series, but Pujols hit a memorable home run in game 5—a 2-out, 3-run blast in the top of the 9th inning, off of Houston Astros closer Brad Lidge to stave off elimination. After the season, Pujols received his first National League MVP award, underscoring his critical role in keeping the injury-plagued Cardinals on track throughout the season.

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 has since come back and is now trying to help the Cardinals win the NL Central. He started at 1st base for the 2006 National League All-Star team at the All-Star game in Pittsburgh.

On-Field Incidents

Pujols has been involved in two altercations with other major league players in his career that received some degree of media attention.

On July 13 2003, Pujols was hit in the shoulderblade by a pitch from Adam Eaton of the San Diego Padres. During a confrontation at home plate, Pujols punched Padre catcher Gary Bennett in the face and was immediately ejected. Pujols and Bennett would later be teammates on the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.

"Last night he hit the hell out of it and watched it and watched it and watched it," Bennett said. "Look, nice going. Just get around the bases. It irritated a lot of us." Pujols was fined and suspended for two games.

On April 18th, 2006, Pujols hit a particularly long home run against Oliver Perez of the Pittsburgh Pirates, punctuating the drive by tossing his bat high into the air before beginning his home run trot. Pujols later claimed he was upset by Perez antics after a strikeout the year before, claiming:

"He struck me out last year and did all his dancing and I remember that," Pujols said. "That's what happened in Pittsburgh. I hit that ground ball back to him (in the first inning) and he did his little dance again and I got real upset. I went to the video room and told my guy Chad (Blair), 'I'm going to hit the next ball and I'm going to hit it a long way. But don't look at the ball. Look at where the bat is going to land.'"

Pujols hit another homer off Oliver Perez on April 24 2006, this time without fanfare. He later admitted that his actions had been a mistake and that teammate Scott Rolen privately told him that, given his status in the game, he should be above such behavior.

Personal

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, 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 their website: www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org. It was recently announced that he is taking part ownership in Patrick's restaurant at Westport Plaza in Maryland Heights, Missouri and that Patrick's will be remodeled and be renamed Pujols 5 and will open in August 2006.

Accomplishments

• Rookie of the Year, 2001
• Hank Aaron Award, 2003
• TSN Player of the Year, 2003
• NLCS MVP, 2004
• Five-time All-Star (2001, 2003-06)
• National League MVP, 2005
• 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).
• 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 twice (each time to Barry Bonds).
• Became first player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs in each of his first six seasons (2001-06).
• Only Ralph Kiner hit more home runs (215) in his first five seasons than Albert (201).
• Named to Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team in 2005 as the starting first baseman.
• Record for most home runs in the month of April with 14 in 2006.
• National League Player of the Month for both May and June 2003 and for April 2006
• 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 player in major league history (after Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire) to reach 25 home runs in a season, doing so on Monday, May 29, 2006

Statistics

Career Statistics:
Hitting (through August 10, 2006)

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
886	3,309	1,096	249	12	235	714	712	466	378	.331	.418	.627	1.045	169

162-game Averages

AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO
606	201	47	2	41	129	127	82	71

All-Time MLB Career Ranks

AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
.331	.418	.628	1.047	169
30th	20th	4th	5th	9th

Comparison

• Each player's first five full years are averaged together:

	Pujols	Alex Rodriguez	Ken Griffey Jr.	Ted Williams	Joe DiMaggio	Hank Aaron	Barry Bonds	Babe Ruth
Games	158	145	147	147	137	146	143	137
Batting Average (BA)	.332	.315	.303	.353	.343	.316	.265	.360
Home Runs (HR)	40	37	26	33	34	28	23	44
Runs Batted In (RBI)	124	115	91	128	138	99	67	130
Stolen Bases (SB)	6	25	15	2	3	2	34	11
Runs Scored (R)	126	122	85	137	123	99	94	137

External links

• Albert Pujols official web site, the Pujols Family Foundation
• Template:Espn mlb
• Career statistics from Baseball Reference
• BaseballLibrary.com - info and biography
• MLB.com profile
• Albert Pujols' Home Run & RBI Pace