MLB players with 3,000 career hits are rare gems in the annals of baseball lore. St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols became the 32nd player in MLB history to reach the prestigious plateau when he hit an opposite-field single off the Mariners. joining Adrian Beltre as the second Dominican-born player to reach the 3,000 hit mark.
The game was stopped, Pujols was embraced and congratulated by his teammates, fans held posters and signs commemorating the moment and he was met with a standing ovation.
The Sports Quotient on Twitter
HISTORY FOR ALBERT! Albert Pujols gets his 3000th hit tonight in Seattle #Pujols3k https://t.co/EMimIn6pMK
Pujols has been one of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen and he is definitely a Top 5 player in this generation. With 620 career homers and a lifetime batting average of .304 and staying clear of steroids drama while playing in an era that was rife with PED takers, Pujols will be remembered as one of the elite ballers in MLB history and a legend in St.Louis where he spent the first 11 years of his illustrious career.
ESPN Stats & Info on Twitter
Albert Pujols becomes the 32nd member of the 3,000-hit club. Pujols is just the 4th player in MLB history with 3,000 hits and 600 HR
The baseball fans and purists who have watched Pujols mythical career respect his gangster. Eclipsing 600 homers, while starting his career during the PED ERA, winning three MVP awards and never getting implicated or testing positive for illegal substances, is the stuff of legends.
Pujols launches his 600th career homer
6/3/17: Albert Pujols launches a grand slam to left for his 600th career home run, becoming the ninth player in MLB history to reach the milestone Check out http://MLB.com/video for more! About MLB.com: Former Commissioner Allan H.
The 3,000 hits are an equally impressive accomplishment and it wont get the press it deserves either.
In past years, Pujols accomplishments would have come with great fanfare and media attention. Stadiums were packed as fans chased players from city-to-city during the homer explosion of the mid-’90s and early 2000’s. There was a rare excitement about these statistical conquests that even lured non-baseball fans into the narrative.
At the same time, it is those lingering and numbing effects of MLBs hit and homer hangover that has cheapened and diminished the power accomplishments of guys like Pujols. The excitement and energy of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosas assault on Roger Maris’ long-standing homer record in 1998 and the eye-popping offensive stats that were generated during that time fell victim to the depressing and never-ending scandal surrounding baseballs elite superstar players and their alleged PED use. Pujols’ place in history won’t truly be appreciated until he retires.
On the same night that Pujols statistically insured himself a spot in Cooperstown, four Dodgers pitchers combined to throw the 23rd no-hitter in franchise history, winning 4-0 over the San Diego Padres and capping a historical and unprecedented evening for MLB. It is the first time in history that someone got their 3,000th career hit on the same night that there was a no-hitter.
SportsNet LA on Twitter
For the first time in #Dodgers history and 12th time in #MLB History, a combined no-hitter! #MexicoSeries https://t.co/Q8Vb1s0CEo
If you live long enough, youll see everything in baseball and Friday night was one of those special nights in a season for the Dodgers which began with high expectations and has been a struggle, maybe this no-hitter sparks something in Dave Roberts team that gets them going as they struggle at 15-17 and are in fourth place in an NL West division that they have owned for years.
