Pujols’ 600th passes quietly

We saw the true cost of baseball’s PED era last week. Albert Pujols became the ninth player in baseball history to reach 600 home runs with a grand slam for the Angels, and his achievement was celebrated with an enthusiasm that would not match that of a quality NFL regular-season game.

Steroids ruined home runs even for those who did not take them.

Pujols reached his milestone with great drama. He became the first person to make his 600th home run a grand slam. His team won the game. He told USA Today that he would like to play long enough to challenge Barry Bonds’ record of 762.

If he broke that record, would people care?

Perhaps Pujols’ personality and situation dampened enthusiasm this season. He plays on the West Coast, meaning not many tuned for his late homer. He is at best the second-best player on his own team, behind Mike Trout. He never has hit 50 home runs in one season, instead building his career total at a workmanlike pace àla Hank Aaron.

He is a technician more than a showman, and his personality is bland. He engenders neither love nor hate.

Despite all of those explanations, it remains a stunning new reality that baseball’s home run records are no longer objects of romance and lore.

Let’s play three

United Airlines is about to unveil the world’s longest flight, 8,700 miles from L.A. to Singapore — nearly 18 hours.

To help pass all that air time, the in-flight movie will be replays of three Yankees-Red Sox games.

No. 1 with the fans

The Mets’ Mr. Met mascot flipped fans the bird during a recent game. Which probably explains why the Phillie Phanatic has fur-covered fingers.

Drone and droner

A drone crash-landed just inches from a fan at a Padres game last month. Baseball stat nerds, not missing a beat, immediately credited it with a launch angle of 29 degrees and an entrance velocity of 62 mph.

Talking the talk

Nats first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, to MLB.com, on the absurdity of pitchers plunking hitters in retaliation for hitting a home run: “I don’t get to fight the pitcher when he strikes me out twice.”

They said it

■ Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on the rare 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card on the auction block: “I don’t wanna say it might be a fake, but if you look closely you can see an ESPN banner on the outfield wall.”

■ Matt Snyder of CBSsports.com, on Nats slugger Bryce Harper’s errant helmet toss at the Giants’ Hunter Strickland when Harper charged the mound: “He looked like 50 Cent throwing out the first pitch in Citi Field.”

Stat of the Week

According to Mike Petriello of MLB.com, batters are hitting .541 with a 1.074 slugging percentage on balls with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, and just .218 with a .255 slugging when they hit the ball 94 mph or under.