November 29th, 2022
Albert Pujols' time in the Majors was filled with milestones, incredible feats and championship glory. On Sept. 23, as Pujols neared the end of his illustrious 22-year career, he joined the most exclusive home run club in baseball history. Of the more than 20,000 players who have participated in an MLB game, Pujols joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth as one of only four AL/NL players to have reached 700 homers.
Here is a quick look at that short list of legends.
1) Barry Bonds: 762
700th HR: Sept. 17, 2004
No player went from 600 to 700 home runs quicker than Bonds. He needed only 308 games -- less than two full seasons -- to go from one landmark to the next. No. 700 came on an offspeed pitch from the Padres right-hander Jake Peavy, who also served up Nos. 616 and 638 during the 2003 season.
2) Hank Aaron: 755
700th HR: July 21, 1973
Aaron sprinted to 700 homers in July 1973; his monumental dinger came at the end of a stretch where he went deep six times in eight games. He would go on to hit 13 homers over the final 44 games that season, leading to a long offseason wait until he got a chance to tie Babe Ruth's then-record of 714 home runs. Aaron would match the Babe in his first at-bat of the '74 season.
3) Babe Ruth: 714
700th HR: July 13, 1934
Ruth's 123 homers versus the Detroit Tigers were his most against any team, so it makes sense that it was a Tigers pitcher, right-hander Tommy Bridges, on the mound for No. 700. At that point, Lou Gehrig and Rogers Hornsby were the only players in AL/NL history who had hit even 300 homers.
4) Albert Pujols: 703
700th HR: Sept. 23, 2022
With 11 games left in the 2022 regular season, Pujols needed just two home runs to reach the 700 home run milestone going into the Cardinals' Sept. 23 contest against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Four innings later, the St. Louis legend hit his 700th. Pujols hit home runs in back-to-back innings to reach the 700 mark, joining Bonds, Aaron and Ruth. Pujols is the first Latino player to hit 700 home runs.
