“This is my last round” - St. Louis Cardinals 10-time All-Star's final destination, all set to retire after 2022 season
The St. Louis Cardinals newest acquisition made a major announcement today. Not even 24 hours after his return to the St. Louis Cardinals was official, Albert Pujols stated that he would be walking away from the game after this season.
“This is it for me,” Albert Pujols says. “This is my last round.”
"'This is it for me,' Albert Pujols says. 'This is my last round.'" @ Jeff Jones
The 2022 season with the St. Louis Cardinals will be the last one for Albert Pujols
Pujols was selected in the 13th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by St. Louis, signing for a $60,000 bonus. In 2001, St. Louis Cardinals legendary first baseman Mark Mcguire told Tony LaRussa that letting Pujols stay in the minors any longer would be the biggest mistake of his career. The rest, as anyone who watched an inning of baseball in the 2000s knows, is history. Pujols went on to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2001 after driving in a rookie record 135 runs. In his first taste of the playoffs, Pujols hit a game-winning home run off Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson.
Pujols was only getting started as he dispelled any notion of a sophomore slump. He became the only player in the history of the game to hit 30 homers, drive in 100 runs, and score over 100 runs—all with an average greater than .300—in the first two seasons of his career. While his career as a St. Louis Cardinal brought about unreal expectations, he continued to exceed them, finishing in the top 10 in National League Most Valuable Player voting for 10 years in a row. During that stretch, Pujols won the award three times and led the Cardinals to three World Series appearances.
There's only one Albert Pujols! https://t.co/X4FjQNbKre
"There's only one Albert Pujols!" - @ St. Louis Cardinals
As the spotlight grew brighter, Pujols' bat only got hotter. The St. Louis Cardinals won two World Series titles out of their three trips there, with Pujols achieving a slugging percentage of .581 in the playoffs and OPS of 1.007. He was the only National League player to slug three homers in a World Series game and established himself as the only Cardinal who could challenge Stan Musial for the title of greatest Cardinal of all time.
Though his career fizzled out with the Los Angeles Angels, Pujols found new life in a platoon role with the Los Angeles Dodgers. There, he slugged .603 against left-handed hitters and was a legitimate piece on one of the most powerful rosters ever assembled in baseball. He rejoins the Cardinals, not as a feel-good story, but as a man on a mission to help them compete. Albert Pujols is focused on one thing as he returns to St. Louis, his Major League home. His mission is to retire as a champion.