Even though he spent less than a full season in Dodgers blue, fans, players, and even Dave Roberts, having nothing but love for future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols. This past winter, Pujols inked a one-year deal with the Cardinals and subsequently announced that the 2022 season would be the last of his storied career. On Wednesday, he added another chapter to his voluminous MLB career.
On Wednesday night, Pujols logged his first four-hit game in 11 years in the Cardinals 9-5 win over the Rockies. According to Baseball Reference, Pujols (42) is the 12th oldest player in league history to log a four-hit game. But even that, wasn't the story.
After crushing the 687th home run of his career off of Rockies Austin Gomber, who as part of a bizarre baseball coincidence, was part of the trade that sent Nolan Arenado from Colorado to St. Louis, Pujols has now hit a home run off of 448 different hurlers in his career. Just one new victim shy of Barry Bonds' record of 449.
As Daniel Chavkin of Sports Illustrated pointed out, Pujols primarily playing in the American League for the the majority of the previous decade plays in his favor of tying, and even passing, Bonds in the record books.
Pujols' .757 OPS is a bit pedestrian at first glance, but as he did on the Dodgers, he's mashed left-handed pitching. In 81 plate appearances against southpaws, Pujols owns a 1.009 OPS and a .357 batting average.
As long as the Dodgers don't lose to the Cardinals in the playoffs, LA fans can smile and appreciate the final year of Pujols' career from afar.
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