Welcome to the 500 Club



Albert Pujols became the 26th player with 500 career home runs on Tuesday night. And he did it in historic fashion -- becoming the first player ever to hit both 499 and 500 in the same game, when he connected twice off the Nationals' Taylor Jordan in Washington. That powerful swing that for so many years was the heart of the Cardinals offense is finally back in stride -- Albert, now in his third season with the Angels, leads the majors in home runs with eight.

After 11 ultra-productive seasons in St. Louis (and two World Series championships), Pujols was lured to L.A. with a 10-year contract. But until now, he'd never delivered as expected. With three MVPs and a Rookie of the Year award in his trophy case, hopes were very high at Angel Stadium... Reality proved to be a bit different. Injuries slowed the man who as a Cardinal was looked upon as Stan Musial's heir. Of course, the St. Louis stats backed that up -- he'd never delivered less than 32 home runs, 99 RBIs and a .299 batting average. His strong start in 2014 is giving hints that Pujols is eager to return to his place among baseball's elite stars.

Finally, from the Coincidences file: Pujols also hit his 400th home run at Nationals Park -- on August 26th, 2010, while a Cardinal.

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