Albert Pujols On The Cusp Of 500 Home Runs

Barring any major injuries, it would be safe to say that Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Albert Pujols will reach the 500 Home Run plateau this season. Pujols currently sits at 475 homers entering his 13th major league season. Though the fastest to 500 home runs was Mark McGwire in 1,639 games (Pujols has played in 1,859 games) and the youngest to 500 home runs was Alex Rodriguez at 32 years and 8 days of age (Pujols turned 33 this past January 16), Pujols has been downright impressive in his march to 500.

Even with last season's un-Pujolsian type season (30 HR 105RBI), he still has an yearly average of 39.6 Homers with yearly averages of 119.6 RBI,187.2 hits, 89 walks and for a power hitter of Pujols' caliber a mind blowing 68 strikeouts. He stands with a career. 325 batting average and a career OPS of 1.022 (.608 slugging/.414 on base percentages).

Add to that the idea that Pujols will have a potent 3-4 combination in the lineup that he has never had before with Josh Hamilton, who in six seasons has averaged a .304  batting average with a .304 batting average and yearly averages of 35 homers and 122 RBI. And Hamilton will be batting in the clean up hole behind him. The image of two boppers like Pujols and Hamilton hitting for power AND average back to back in that lineup WITH Mike Trout in the lineup evokes images of Ruth and Gehrig and Ramirez and Ortiz. Ay-yay-yay.

Angels Stadium will be electric this season, more so as Pujols inches closer and closer to 500 home runs. As hard as it is for me to say, 2013 might be Albert Pujols' best season yet. Stay tuned.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Albert Pujols' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com