Albert Pujols
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – No. 5
First baseman
Born: (1980-01-16) January 16, 1980 (age 32) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 2, 2001 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics (through May 27, 2012)
Batting average	.325
Hits	2,117
Doubles	465
Home runs	452
Runs batted in	1,355
OPS	1.026
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2001–2011) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2012–present)
Career highlights and awards
9× All-Star (2001, 2003–2010) 2× World Series champion (2006, 2011) 3× NL MVP (2005, 2008, 2009) 2× NL Hank Aaron Award (2003, 2009) 6× Silver Slugger Award (2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010) 2× Gold Glove Award (2006, 2010) NL Rookie of the Year (2001) 6× NL Player of the Month 11× NL Player of the Week Award NLCS MVP (2004) Roberto Clemente Award (2008) NL Batting champion (2003) NL home run champion (2009, 2010) NL RBI champion (2010)

José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (born January 16, 1980), better known as Albert Pujols (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalβert puˈxols]), is a Dominican-American professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. Pujols is considered one of the top players in Major League Baseball,^[1][2] and was the most feared hitter in baseball in 2008, according to a poll of all 30 MLB managers.^[3]

During his eleven seasons as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, Pujols won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2001, was selected as an All-Star nine times, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award three times. He has also twice won the National League Hank Aaron Award, and has two World Series rings from the Cardinals' 2006 and 2011 titles.

At the end of the 2011 season, he led all active players in batting average (.328),^[4] slugging percentage (.617),^[5] and OPS (1.037),^[6] and ranked 37th in number of home runs in Major League Baseball history.^[7] He was selected by ESPN.com as the greatest player of the decade from 2000–09.^[8] He stands 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall, weighs 230 pounds (100 kg), and bats and throws right-handed.

Early life and career[link]

Born on January 16, 1980, Pujols (an only child) was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, mostly by his grandmother America Pujols and 10 of his uncles and aunts. His father, Bienvenido Pujols, was a softball pitcher, but he was also an alcoholic, and Albert often had to drag him back home from games.^[9] Pujols, his father, and his grandmother immigrated to New York City in 1996, but after Albert witnessed a shooting at a grocery store, they moved to Independence, Missouri, two months later.^[9][10]

At Fort Osage High School, Pujols was named All-State twice for his baseball skill.^[11] As a senior, he was walked 55 times (partly because opposing coaches believed he was older than 18), but he hit 8 home runs in 33 at bats.^[9] After graduating from high school one semester early in December 1998, he was given a baseball scholarship to Maple Woods Community College.^[11] In his only college season, Pujols hit a grand slam and turned an unassisted triple play in his first game.^[12] Playing shortstop, he batted .461 with 22 home runs as a freshman before deciding to enter the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.^[9]

Professional baseball career[link]

Minor League career[link]

Few teams were interested in Pujols because of uncertainty about his age, which position he would play, and his build.^[9][12] Thus, he was not drafted until the 13th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, when the St. Louis Cardinals selected him with the 402nd overall pick.^[13] Pujols initially turned down a $10,000 bonus and spent the summer playing for the Hays Larks of the Jayhawk Collegiate League; his total of 48 runs batted in (RBI) with the team is still tied for ninth with Tyler Wasserman in Larks' history.^[14] Once the Cardinals increased their bonus offer to $60,000, he signed.^[12]

Pujols began his minor league career in 2000 playing third base with the Peoria Chiefs of the single-A Midwest League. He batted .324 with 128 hits, 32 doubles, 6 triples, 17 home runs, and 84 RBI in 109 games. He finished second in the league in batting (behind Ryan Gripp), tied for ninth in doubles (with Andrew Beattie and Justin Leone), tied for fourth in triples (with six other players), tied for sixth in home runs (with Shawn McCorkle and Lance Burkhart), and sixth in RBI.^[15] He was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and named to the All-Star team.^[16] Pujols also played 21 games with the Potomac Cannons in the high-A Carolina League that year, batting .284 with 23 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, and 10 RBI. He finished the season with the Memphis Redbirds in the AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL), and after appearing in three regular season games with them, he batted .367 in the playoffs and was named the postseason Most Valuable Player (MVP) as the Redbirds won their first PCL title.^[9][17][18]

Major League career[link]

St. Louis Cardinals[link]

2001[link]

During spring training in 2001, Mark McGwire told Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa "If you don't put [Pujols] on the roster for the 2001 season, it might be one of the worst moves you make in your career."^[19] Although they did not have a particular position they needed him at, the Cardinals put Pujols on their Opening Day roster, and he started all season at either third base, right field, left field, or first base.^[20] On Opening Day (April 2), he got his first career hit, a single against Mike Hampton, in an 8–0 loss to the Colorado Rockies.^[21] Four days later, he had three hits and three RBI, including a home run (his first) against Armando Reynoso, as the Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 12–9.^[22] In an 11-inning 6–5 loss to the New York Mets on April 28, he his eighth home run of the month against John Franco, which tied a rookie record for home runs in April shared by Kent Hrbek and Carlos Delgado.^[11][23] Pujols won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month Award in April after he batted .370 with 8 home runs and 27 RBI.^[11][20] He won the Rookie of the Month Award again in May after he batted .333 with 8 home runs and 24 RBI.^[11] At midseason, he became the first Cardinals' rookie since Luis Arroyo in 1955 to make the MLB All-Star Game.^[11] From July 28 to September 22, Pujols had an on-base streak of 48 consecutive games.^[20] He hit a game-winning single on September 17 against Rubén Quevedo in a 2–1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.^[24] The next day, he homered and had five RBI in a 9–4 victory over the Brewers.^[25] Three days later, he had five RBI again and hit his first career grand slam (a game-winner against Omar Olivares) as the Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9–5.^[26] For his accomplishments, Pujols was named the NL co-Player of the Week along with José Mesa from September 17 to 23.^[11][27] He finished the season batting .329 (sixth in the league) with 194 hits (fifth in the league), 47 doubles (fifth in the league), 37 home runs, and 112 runs. He was named the NL Silver Slugger Award winner for the third base position, and he finished fourth in NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting, behind Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Luis Gonzalez.^[11][28] He was unanimously named the NL Rookie of the Year after setting an NL rookie record with 130 RBI (fifth in the league) and becoming the fourth MLB rookie to hit .300 with 30 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBI.^[29]