Route ToggleESPN St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols gets 700 club together with two-grand slam day

 

ALDEN GONZALEZ

ESPN Staff Essayist

11:00 PM ET6 Minute Read

Pujols arrives at 700 HRs with 2 homer night in LA

Pujols arrives at 700 HRs with 2 homer night in LAAlbert Pujols turns into the fourth individual from the 700 club, hitting two grand slams to the enjoyment of fans at Dodger Arena.

LOS ANGELES - - Albert Pujols crossed home plate and dashed to the fence to twofold high-five Adrian Beltre, his long-lasting adversary, compatriot and gave companion. He folded his arms over Yadier Molina, embraced Adam Wainwright, recognized the remainder of his St. Louis Cardinals partners, doffed his cap for the Dodger Arena swarm - - and afterward he should have been distant from everyone else.

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He hurdled down the hole steps and into an unfilled foyer, and at that time, the man broadly hailed as "The Machine" became defenseless.

"My feelings emerged," Pujols said in Spanish.

The monstrosity of 700 homers, which Pujols came to in the midst of an outright exhilarating two-homer presentation on Friday night, had at last hit him. Yet, it was more than that. It was that it occurred in L.A., which implied his five kids could all be there to observe it. It was that it occurred here, Dodger Arena, the ballpark that he said "gave me life" and pushed him to continue to push ahead.

"What an extraordinary evening," Pujols said from the meeting room, with his youngsters remaining behind him.

Pujols got a two-strike fastball down the center from Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Andrew Heaney in the third inning and lined a 434-foot rocket into left-focus field for No. 699.

In the fourth, he got a hanging slider from righty Phil Bickford and lifted it 389 feet to turn into the fourth individual from the blessed 700 grand slam club, joining Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Darling Ruth while driving his group to a 11-0 defeat.

Pujols, 42, is the only one among the four to hit Nos. 699 and 700 on that very night. He has 2,208 RBIs for his vocation, which positions second all time behind Aaron's 2,297. He has likewise arrived at an additional 1,400 fair hits, benchmarks arrived at by just Aaron and Bonds.

Albert Pujols hit his 699th and 700th profession homeruns Friday night against the Dodgers, turning into the fourth player in MLB history in the 700 club.

AP Photograph/Ashley Landis

"It's unique," Pujols said. "At the point when it's truly going to hit me is the point at which I'm finished, toward the finish of the time, when I'm resigned, and likely a little while after that I can check the numbers out.

"See, don't misunderstand me, I understand what my place is in this game. In any case, since Day 1, when I made my presentation, it wasn't necessary to focus on numbers, there wasn't really any need to focus on pursuing numbers. It was generally about bringing home titles and attempting to get better in this game. Also, I had such countless individuals that showed me the correct way from the get-go in my vocation, and that is the manner by which I've held myself for a very long time that I've been in the major associations. That is the reason I truly don't zero in on the numbers. I will, at some point, however not at this moment."

Pujols joined the Dodgers last May, soon after his delivery from the Los Angeles Holy messengers, and was revitalized while filling in as a parttime starter and late-game special hitter. He was viable against left-handers, and he was a significant impact in a veteran-loaded clubhouse that affectionately referred to him as "Tio Albert."

Yet, the Dodgers could have given him more than he rewarded them. Playing in such a gifted group in season finisher climates furnished him with a shock of energy that frequently escaped him while in ordinary Holy messengers groups for the majority of the 10 years.

During batting practice on Friday, hours before the Dodgers played a video montage in his honor, Pujols told Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts and leader of baseball tasks Andrew Friedman that had they not marked him last year, he probably won't have returned 2022.

"It's lowering," Roberts said. "I truly do know that, in conversing with him on occasion last year, he suggested the way that we gave the pleasure back, him being a Dodger."

Pujols' last season has seen him make light of a portion of his best baseball the stretch. His final part Operations, 1.076, positions second just to that of Aaron Judge, and his flood has concurred with the Cardinals for all intents and purposes taking off from the remainder of the Public Association Focal.

Pujols is batting .265/.338/.530 for the season. His 21 grand slams give him 18 20-homer seasons for his vocation, third-most in history behind just Aaron (20) and Bonds (19). Just he and Ted Williams hit somewhere around 20 homers in both their first and only seasons. Friday denoted his fourth multi-homer game subsequent to turning 42, the most in significant association history.

The fan who got the memorable baseball wasn't willing to surrender it in that frame of mind for memorabilia - - essentially not at first - - however Pujols didn't appear to mind.

"Keepsakes are for the fans," Pujols said. "On the off chance that they want to keep it, they can. By the day's end, I don't zero in on material stuff. I assume I have the bat, the uniform, cap, things that are unique to me. By the day's end, I feel that is the reason the fans come here - - to have an extraordinary snapshot of history. So on the off chance that they want to keep that baseball I generally approve of that."

Pujols has had a talent for arriving at achievement grand slams in determined design. No. 500 came on that very night as 499. No. 600 was a huge homerun. No. 700 came an inning after 699.

The night finished in a postgame clubhouse festivity that saw Pujols get into a clothing truck to be drenched by lager.

"Envision me bouncing in there," Pujols said. "I battled getting out."

Pujols then expressed gratitude toward his partners and let them know how exceptional it was that he could arrive at this achievement with a Cardinals uniform on, with his youngsters present and with the Dodgers on the opposite side.

"It's astounding the way that God works," Pujols said. "This might have happened last week in St. Louis, which most likely would have been great. Be that as it may, to permit it to happen this evening, having my loved ones and individuals who truly care and love me see me - - it's exceptional to me."

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