Albert Pujols picked a perfect time to hit his 697th career home run, delivering the momentous blast in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Pirates.
The homer moved him past Alex Rodriguez into fourth place on the all-time list, and afterward the future Hall of Famer made a classy gesture fitting of the renowned reputation he’s built during a storied 22-year career.
The ball was caught by Pirates fans Matt and Samantha Brown, who met with Pujols after the game, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat. The pair was attending the game on the one-year anniversary of the death of Samantha’s father. When they offered the historic home run ball back to Pujols, the 42-year-old slugger declined, insisting that the ball would mean more to Samantha than it would to him. He also signed two additional baseballs for them.
Pujols now has homered in back-to-back games amid a resurgent final season. He has 12 home runs since the All-Star break, raising his season OPS to .866. That’s his highest mark since the 2011 season, his last year with St. Louis before signing with the Angels.
Pujols is now three home runs shy of 700 for his career with 21 games to play. He could be the fourth member of the 700-home run club, joining Barry Bonds (762), Henry Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). If Pujols reaches the 700-homer plateau, he would become just the second player, along with Aaron, with at least 700 home runs and 3,000 hits.
