If playoff racing isn’t as good this year in major league baseball, at least we’re getting our money’s worth with home run racing.
Aaron Judge (who is at 60 long balls this year) has us on the edge of our seat. Thursday evening, he was notably at the heart of a magical moment in New York.
But there is also Albert Pujols who was scrutinized in his race towards the 700 circuits. And if I put it in the past tense, it’s because the Cardinals DH hit his 699th and 700th career homers yesterday.
He joins Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth in the group of 700.
Note that he achieved the feat without any season of 50 career home runs – just like Hank Aaron.
Obviously, since then, everyone pays tribute to him. The Cardinals obviously come a long way on this since that’s where he hit his first career homers 445 before coming back when the counter was at 679.
The Angels (222 home runs in 10 seasons) and the Dodgers (12 home runs last year) also paid tribute to the legend. For the Dodgers, it was easy since yesterday’s game was held at Dodger Stadium, its 2021 stadium.
He might not find the ball for his 700th home run, but that doesn’t bother him: what he wanted was to reach the plateau.
His teammates are obviously in heaven since he carries the club to his last career season. Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Nolan Arenado, who grew up loving Pujols, are thrilled.
And with good reason: he is a legend.
Besides the fact that it would have been nice to see him hit the circuit at home and besides the fact that the match was on Apple TV+, the timing was perfect.
And me, what I want to remember from all of this is the fact that he went through adversity to get this far. Playing for so long is not easy and there have been difficult times.
I take you back 16 months ago. After a difficult start to the season, the Angels decided that Pujols, unhappy in a bench role on a bad team, was going to be released.
He was then 33 circuits from the 700 and he was no longer advancing. What a sad end for a grown-up, we said to ourselves collectively while watching things go.
At that time, we thought that his career in Saint-Louis had been great, but that it had been a while since he had been so good. We thought the ending was sad.
Eventually, he finished the 2021 season with the Dodgers in a depth role. He was more motivated and he had found a niche.
The arrival of the universal designated hitter opened a door for him last winter in St. Louis for his last year in MLB, his 22nd in his career and his 12th with the Cardinals.
And after a more ordinary first half of the season, he proved that there was still a little gas in the machine and that his return was not just marketing. His stint in the home run contest was memorable, but it gave him wings for the second half of the season, where he was once again “more than just a guy who can hit lefties.”
He had four home runs after three months and in the second half of the season he added to his legend. The one who rediscovered the pleasure of the ball finally managed to hit 21 homers (as of today) this season, to everyone’s surprise.
Of all… or almost.
All she has to do now is try to add a ring to her collection before patiently waiting, in five years, for the call from Cooperstown.
It would be magical.
