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St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols joined the elusive 700 home run club after hitting two home runs during his team's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday (September 23) night.
Pujols hit a 434-foot two-run blast to left field off Dodgers pitcher Andrew Heaney in the third inning before making history with a three-run homer off Phil Bickford in the fourth, accounting for all five of St. Louis' runs at the time.
The Dominican native was the fourth player in MLB history to reach the 700 home run club, joining Babe Ruth (714 career home runs), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762).
Pujols reached the milestone in his final weeks as a professional baseball player, having signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Cardinals during the offseason to finish his career with the team in which he started it and achieved his greatest success.
Pujols made his Major League Baseball debut with the Cardinals in 2001 and spent 11 seasons with the franchise, which included winning two World Series championships (2006, 2011), three National League MVP awards (2005, 2008, 2009), six Silver Slugger Awards (2001, 2003, 2004, 2008-2010) and the NL Rookie of the Year Award (2001), as well as making nine of his 10 career All-Star Game appearances and one of his two Gold Glove Awards (2006).
The Santo Domingo native signed a 10-year, $254 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012 and spent the majority of his contract with the franchise before being traded to the Dodgers during the 2021 season.