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Albert Pujols tied Reggie Jackson with homer 563
Monday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes Albert Pujols’ historic dinger, Yasiel Puig’s dangerous defense and a bat flip that nearly went wrong.
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It's been a rough start to the year for 36-year-old Albert Pujols, but in spite of this, he's managed to make a little history in April. His third homer of 2016 gave him 563 for his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson for 13th on the all-time list. If his bat recovers -- and it should, given he slugged .480 a year ago despite his pitcher-friendly home park and division -- he could realistically make it into the top-10 or a little higher before 2016 is out.
Standing in front of Pujols is Rafael Palmeiro (569), Harmon Killebrew (573) and Mark McGwire (583). Pujols hit 40 homers in 2015, so expecting him to hit another 11 this year even if he is struggling doesn’t seem like a stretch. He could also pass Frank Robinson (586) to move into ninth place all time without needing too good of a season at the plate. After that, though, we’ll need something more akin to 2015 if he’s to make any more progress, as Sammy Sosa’s 609 homers sit in eighth place all time.
Pujols has had some grisly starts to seasons since coming to the Angels back in 2012, so don’t count him out based on a poor April that isn’t even over yet. With that being said, he is 36 with a career-high strikeout rate at the moment, so it is a situation that merits watching. Of course, no one needs Pujols to bounce back more than the Angels, who still owe him $140 million over five years after this season, but that’s a story for a less history-focused day.
- This rundown is ridiculous, and ended up winning the game, too.
- Yasiel Puig has spent the last week reminding us he's a wonderful defender who will also crash into a wall to make a catch if he has to.
- There were eight comeback wins on Sunday, including the Nationals when Bryce Harper hit a pinch-hit dinger that tied the game and gave him the league lead.
- Everyone can learn something from Jake Arrieta's no-hitter.
- The White Sox shuffled their rotation around after adding Miguel Gonzalez to the mix.
- Pablo Sandoval has gotten all the attention over in Boston, but Chase Headley is quietly making the Yankees very nervous, too.
- The A's rotation could look pretty different in a few days, as both Sean Manaea and Jesse Hahn could make their 2016 debuts.
- Matt Holliday flipped his bat and nearly hit the umpire with it.
- This glorious mustachioed Astros' fan was impressive back in 2013, and he apparently still has it today.
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