Chase for No. 3,000 continues after rout
Pujols doubles for 2,999th hit, is positioned to reach milestone on road.
ANGELS 12 BALTIMORE 3
Mike Trout ran across the clubhouse, from his locker to the one occupied by Albert Pujols.
Pujols had not yet taken the field for what would be this potentially historic evening. He had not even taken batting practice.
So maybe it would not be accurate to label it a congratulatory call, but why the heck not?
Former Angels shortstop Erick Aybar, the guy who used to sit next to Pujols in the clubhouse, was on the phone. The 3,000th hit would come sooner or later for Pujols, and Aybar was calling with a wish of good luck.
Trout charged over, yelled something at Aybar over FaceTime. Trout laughed. Pujols laughed. This would be a good night.
But, alas, not a milestone night. With a double in the second inning, Pujols got to 2,999 hits. He went hitless in his three remaining plate appearances, and the chase for 3,000 will resume Friday at Seattle.
“One of these days,” Pujols said, “we are all going to celebrate it.”
All was not lost for the Angels, not by any means. They pounded the Baltimore Orioles 12-3 to move into a first-place tie with the Houston Astros in the American League West. Justin Upton and Luis Valbuena had three hits, Trout tripled and singled, and the Angels piled up five runs in the first inning and all 12 by the fourth.
Of the 19,246 men to play in the major leagues, only three have 600 home runs and 3,000 hits. Willie Mays got there first, in 1970. Hank Aaron joined him in 1971. Alex Rodriguez got there two years ago.
The fourth and newest member of the 600-3,000 club will be Jose Alberto Pujols.
The home fans almost certainly will not see the moment in person, as the Angels play their next five games in Seattle and Colorado. The Angel Stadium crowd tried to will Pujols to 3,000, loud in each at-bat and standing and cheering in his final at-bat in the eighth inning, but he flied out.
“I think they are aware of the history that is about to happen,” Pujols said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen tonight. It didn’t happen this week. I had some opportunities to make it happen here.
“At the end of the day, it is not about me. It’s whenever the Lord wants. His time is perfect. My time is not.”
Pujols will join Hall of Famer Rod Carew as the only players to get their 3,000th hit in an Angels uniform.
Carew was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Pujols almost certainly will be inducted as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, the team with which he got his first 2,073 hits.
In the fourth inning, as he approached the plate in his first shot at 3,000, the crowd rewarded him with a standing ovation. It was wonderfully organic. No carnival barker on the public address system, no cartoonish clapping hands on the video board, just a crowd well aware it could be sitting in on history.
The umpires put a special ball in play. The fans stayed on their feet, many on their toes, straining for the best position to get a shot on their cellphones. The Angels players rushed to the top step of the dugout, in position to rush the field if Pujols got a hit.
Pujols took two balls, and the crowd booed. He fouled off the next five pitches. He was then hit on his rear end with a pitch. The crowd booed. One batter later, when the Orioles removed pitcher Miguel Castro, the crowd booed him again.
Pujols got his next chance in the sixth inning. He fouled out.
Pujols so dominated the spotlight that Angels rookie Jaime Barria went almost unnoticed in extending his no-hit bid through five innings. With one out in the sixth inning, Trey Mancini singled for the Orioles’ first hit, and the crowd saluted Barria with a nice ovation.