Tuesday night at Nationals Park, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols punched his ticket into the 500 home run club.
Pujols, 35, became the 26th member of the exclusive hitter's club. The first to gain membership was Babe Ruth on August 11, 1929 when he homered at League Park in a game against the Cleveland Indians. Since that day baseball legends such as Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Fox, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron,Reggie Jackson, and Eddie Murray become members. 16 members are in the hall of fame. Nine others , Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr, Jim Thome, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Mark McGwire, Gary Sheffield, and Barry Bonds, have not reached the five year eligibility period yet or are tied to steroids. 10 players have reach 500 home runs in the last 15 years.
Pujols came into the game sitting at 498. He hit 499 in the first inning when he drove a 1-1 changeup from Nationals right-hander Taylor Jordan over the fence in left for a three run homer. 500 came in the fifth inning when he hit a 1-2 sinker from Jordan to left center-field to put the Angels up 6-2. Pujols became the first 500 club member to hit his final two home runs in the same game.
After the 500th home run was hit Pujols ran the bases as normal. His only sign of emotion came as he clapped his hands twice and pointed to the sky with both index fingers. His Angels teammates all met him at home plate and gave him hugs and pats on the head and back. The crowd at National Park stood in ovation as he crossed the plate and headed into the Angels' dugout.
Nationals Park is where Pujols hit his 400th home run to become the third-youngest player to reach that total on August 26, 2010. The crowd continued to cheer Pujols after he entered the dugout. Pujols came back out after a moment and waved to the crowd.
His 500th home run traveled an estimated 430 ft. After signing a 10 year , $240 million contract with the Angels following the 2011 season, Pujols began struggling with injuries that degraded his power numbers and led many to question if Pujols' career was heading into decline. As the 2014 season has begun Pujols is hitting again. He is batting .274, with major league best 8 home runs and 19 RBI's, which is tied for second.
Thanks to the steroid era, many people have discounted the importance of the 500 home run club in today's baseball. While here has been no evidence connecting Pujols to steroid use (former Cardinals player Jack Clark apologized for and retracted comments he made in 2013 implying that Pujols used steroids), the past abuse by those that include members of the 500 club has called into question every record and milestone that has been set in recent years.
Pujols and the 500 club:
Pujols is the first player to hit 400 homers in his first 10 seasons.
He has homered off 316 pitchers in 36 different park.
He has hit a home run against every team except his former team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
At 34 years and 96 days he is the third-youngest to hit 500. Behind Alex Rodriguez (32 years, eight days) and Jimmie Foxx (32 years, 338 days.)
Pujols is the second Angel to hit 500, Reggie Jackson on Sept 17,1984.
Pujols 500th homer is his eighth of the year, which leads the majors.