On Friday night, Albert Pujols made history. And he didn’t go to join his St. Louis Cardinals to celebrate right after crossing home plate. Rather, he went behind home plate to celebrate with a former All-Star who was sitting in the first row: Adrian Beltre.
Take a look at career home run No. 700 for Pujols, which came with two on, two out, and his Cardinals up 2-0 on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pujols took a 1-1 breaking ball from Phil Bickford deep to left for a huge homer.
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Pujols went over to celebrate with his teammates, but that was after he veered straight to Beltre first.
Beltre is a fellow Dominican Republic-born slugger, and fellow former Dodger. The four-time All-Star hit 477 home runs over 21 seasons. Pujols is in his 22nd season and up to 700 now. Pujols is just the fourth player in MLB history to hit 700 career home runs. Barry Bonds (762*), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) are the others.
Pujols has been on a tear this season, and the circumstances of his 700th home run game share just how good he has been. He’s been so hot that he reached 700 by hitting two home runs against the Dodgers in the same game.
Pujols now has 21 home runs and an .858 OPS for the season. He’s having his best season since his first year with the Angels in 2012 when he posted an .859 OPS. Even at age 42, the Cardinals are still getting the best seasons from Pujols — much better ones than the Angels ever got.
