Earlier this month, it was announced that Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Albert Pujols won't be returning to action this season due to a plantar fascia injury. Whether or not Pujols is able to return to his former level of play remains to be seen, but one thing's for sure—he's already made a permanent mark on baseball history.
The 12-year veteran spent his first 10 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he racked up two World Series Championships, three National League MVP awards, 9 MLB All-Star selections, and a number of other accolades. But the most impressive of Albert Pujols' numbers may be his batting statistics; in his first 10 seasons, he became the only player to ever average .300 and have 30 or more home runs as well as 100 or more RBIs. Not only that, but he's the only player to have amassed 200 or more doubles over 12 seasons of play.
On August 29, 2004, in a road game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Albert Pujols converted his 100th RBI of the season, a feat he had also achieved in his first three years of professional play. This put him into an elite class of just three other players; Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams.
For his entire career, Albert Pujols has been a Nike loyalist. The record-setting slugger often wears customized cleats with personal details, favoring red colorways for the bulk of his tenure with the Cardinals and switching over to simpler black and white based makeups with the Angels.
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