Baseball Sports Spectrum

Angels' Albert Pujols becomes 32nd player in MLB history to achieve 3,000 hits

By Justin Adams May 5, 2018
Albert Pujols in a 2012 game. (Photo Courtesy: Barbara Moore/Flickr)

Welcome to the 3,000 hit club Albert Pujols.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman achieved the feat by lining a single to right field in the 5th inning off Seattle Mariners pitcher Mike Leake. He also added a two-run single in the 9th for hit No. 3,001, helping the Angels to the 5-0 win.

“It was going to happen, it was just a matter of when,” Pujols said to MLB.com. “I just thank the Lord that it happened tonight in front of my family, my friends. Now we just stay focused on the things that I want to do, which is help this ballclub to win. We don’t have to talk too much about 3,000 now.”

Pujols, 38, became the 32nd player to reach 3,000 and the second from the Dominican Republic, after Adrian Beltre. He’s also hit 620 home runs, becoming only the fourth player to collect 3,000 hits and 600 home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

The three-time MVP and two-time World Series champion started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001 and quickly became one of the most feared hitters in baseball. He hit .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBI’s as a rookie. For a 13th round pick in 1999, it has been a career that Pujols would have never imagined would come true.

“My goal was to try to get an opportunity to become a professional athlete,” Pujols said to MLB.com. “I thank God for giving me the ability and the talent to do that. I never thought that my career would end up like this. If I would have had 1,000 pages blank and the Lord would have said just write what you think is going to happen in 38 years, I wouldn’t have even come close to the history and the things that I’ve done in this game.”

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