Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals who attended the team’s game against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday got a serious dose of nostalgia, thanks to Albert Pujols.
Pujols left the Cardinals following the 2011 season but re-signed with them in 2022 after the lockout ended. He played in the season — going 0-for-5 — and sat the next two games out. On Tuesday, Pujols was back in the lineup and did something he hadn’t done in more than 10 years.
It's been 3,855 days since Albert Pujols last hit a home run in Busch as a Cardinal! pic.twitter.com/VZh3kPTRBP
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 13, 2022
For Cardinals fans, it was a welcome sight.
The Machine is back!!! https://t.co/IohpUHcV94
— Ryley Sullivan (@Ryley_Sullivan) April 13, 2022
Absolutely beautiful. Man that brings back some memories…🥲 https://t.co/MIgG7l49vX
— Alec Forman (@Alecforman) April 13, 2022
What year are we in? https://t.co/mqFnD5Aww0
— Cody Rivera (@codyrivera07) April 13, 2022
GOAT 🐐 https://t.co/hhBH9vlGs7
— Not Gaetti (@notgaetti) April 13, 2022
Absolute magic. Goosebumps https://t.co/sqLKThKATT
— Jake Frey (@j_freydaddy) April 13, 2022
https://twitter.com/lemme_smell_em/status/1514044277764022286
I’m crying, you’re crying, everyone is crying 🥲 https://t.co/0uSYW25C9t
— jordan (@mager_league) April 13, 2022
This might be my favorite regular season moment of my sports fandom #STLCards https://t.co/w4V826XqlV
— Jake DeRousse (@derousse_4) April 13, 2022
It was the 680th home run of Pujols’ illustrious career. Interestingly enough, the fans in St. Louis got to see No. 679 as well. While Tuesday marked his first Busch Stadium home run as a Cardinal since 2011, he did slug one as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Sept. 2021. Until Tuesday, that was the last home run of his career.
Pujols has a realistic chance at getting to 700 career home runs this year. We certainly can’t take it for granted that he’ll hit 20 more, given his age and durability issues.
But in 2021, he hit 17 home runs between his time with the Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels. All but five of those came with the Dodgers, in a league that at the time, didn’t have a designated hitter. Now, with the universal DH, Pujols should see plenty of at-bats — especially if he continues to show this kind of power.
