The Dodgers have been knocked out of the 2021 playoffs after winning 106 regular season games and taking down the 107-win Giants in the NLDS. The defending champs were taken out by the Atlanta Braves in NLCS Game 6 on Saturday night. In the fallout, there are myriad things to discuss. One of those is the possible end of Albert Pujols' Hall of Fame career.
The colossal contract Pujols signed after the 2011 season with the Angels has now expired. He hasn't yet said whether or not he will retire, but if he does call it a career, it would be in the best interest of baseball fans to take a quick jog down memory lane at having had the pleasure of witnessing one of the greatest baseball players in history.
Pujols sits with a career slash line of .297/.375/.544, a career OPS+ of 144, which is 52nd all-time. He's collected 3,301 hits (12th all-time), 1,872 runs (14th), 672 doubles (fifth), 679 home runs (fifth) and 2,150 RBI (third). He's also fourth in total bases, fourth in extra-base hits, 12th in times on base and 11th in sacrifice flies.
He led the league in hits once, runs five times, doubles once, homers twice, RBI once, average once, on-base percentage once, slugging three times, OPS three times, OPS+ four times, WAR five times and position-player WAR six times. He won three MVPs and finished second four times. He had three other top-five finishes.
What kind of company does he keep on the leaderboards? The only players with 3,000 hits, 1,500 runs, 1,500 RBI and 600 homers in baseball history are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.
In 86 career playoff games, Pujols hit .321/.426/.581 with 19 homers and 54 RBI while walking more than he struck out. He won an NLCS MVP and two World Series rings. Though all five of his 2021 postseason hits were singles, Pujols hit .294 and had a .333 on-base percentage in 18 plate appearances for the Dodgers this October.
Pujols is one of just four players in history to homer three times in one World Series game, alongside Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Pablo Sandoval.
One of the more iconic NLCS home runs in history came via Pujols against Brad Lidge of the Astros (then still in the NL).
Those of us who remember Prime Pujols very well can attest that something like that was the realistic fear every single time he dug in that batter's box against our favorite team. He was a crusher of worlds in his Cardinals years. It's not something you can really throw numbers on, but if I must, he hit .328/.420/.617 in his Cardinals career while averaging 41 doubles, 40 homers, 121 RBI and 117 runs per season in his 11 years there. During this time, he earned the nickname, "The Machine."
In the spirit of Halloween season, we'll just point out that the scariest thing to pitchers this side of Michael Myers was Albert Pujols digging in. Opposing managers, too, because Pujols led the majors with 193 intentional walks from 2005-10.
As scary as he was with a piece of lumber in those hands, Pujols was a complete baseball player. He won two Gold Gloves and was long a great defensive first baseman. He was also an exceptional baserunner. Without blazing speed, he still stole 116 bases, three times stealing at least 10 in a season. He rarely made mistakes on the basepaths, either.
Simply, he was one of the best all-around players in baseball for a long time.
When Pujols does retire, he'll be rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame immediately when his five-year waiting period expires. He is an inner-circle great who checks every possible box. In fact, how about this? Using JAWS, a popular method that mixes career WAR with WAR from the player's best seven seasons (to account for both racking up good career stats in addition to having a huge peak), Pujols is No. 2 at first base behind the immortal Lou Gehrig.
If Pujols does call it a career, the message from the baseball world is very simple: Happy trails, big man. It's truly been an incredible pleasure.
