Pujols becomes Mr. 3,000 in style
SEATTLE— The hit wasn’t his most majestic, more wellplaced than well struck.
But there was no denying the significance of the single, this accomplishment about an accumulation of moments rather than one crowning instant.
In his 18th season and 17 years, one month and four days after his first career hit, Albert Pujols collected No. 3,000 late Friday.
The Angels’ 5-0 win was all about the first hit of the night by a player who was nicknamed The Machine during his time with St. Louis and has continued to grind along in Anaheim.
Pujols became the 32nd member of the 3,000-hit club and just the fourth with 600 or more home runs as well, joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.
With two out in the fifth, Pujols — who later added a tworun single — flared a low, 1and-0 slider from Seattle’s Mike Leake into shallow right field. He rounded first, clapped his hands, looked to the sky and shouted. Then he clapped his hands emphatically, three times in total.
Play halted as the Angels came out of their dugout, congregating around Pujols for a procession of hugs and helmet slaps.
The teams used special baseballs for the occasion and even replaced first base before the next pitch, but not before coach Alfredo Griffin, a former Toronto Blue Jays shortstop, held it aloft like a championship trophy.
A victory was the most fitting way for Pujols’ teammates to honour him. In the days leading up to No. 3,000, he repeatedly talked about being more concerned with the Angels’ success than his own history.
Entering Friday, Pujols had hits off 966 different pitchers, an impressive list that literally runs from A (Arroyo) to Z (Zambrano). He has hits against every big-league team and in every stadium where he has played.