When a Major League Baseball player achieves a home run milestone, it’s common for a fan to return the ball to the player in exchange for some memorabilia – just as a fan recently did for New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge after he hit his 60th home run of the season. But the fan who caught Albert Pujols’ 700th home run ball apparently plans to keep it instead of returning it – and Pujols is okay with that.
According to Los Angeles Dodgers beat writer Bill Plunkett, Pujols is not worried about getting his 700th home run ball back, saying that he has no problem if the fan wants to keep it.
Albert Pujols said he's not worried about getting the 700-HR ball back: "Souvenirs are for the fans. I don’t have any problem if they want to keep it. If they want to give it back, that’s great. But at the end of the day, I don’t focus on material stuff."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 24, 2022
“Souvenirs are for the fans,” Pujols said of the baseball. “I don’t have any problem if they want to keep it. If they want to give it back, that’s great. But at the end of the day, I don’t focus on material stuff.”
The response is classy. While he would undoubtedly like to have the baseball for himself, he understands that it is also an iconic souvenir for the fan who caught the ball and it makes sense that the fan might want to keep it for themselves.
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