Research Paper Most people know Albert Pujols as a baseball player and that is what he is most famous for. While his baseball career is undeniably incredible, you have to wonder who the man is behind all of that power and the equally impressive offensive and defensive games. Where was he born, where does he live, and where did he come from? These are common questions as Albert Pujols becomes one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history. Born on January 16, 1980, Pujols was raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by his grandmother.
Pujols and his family immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1996. Upon his arrival Pujols realized that he loved the game of baseball. Albert loved to play baseball, watch baseball, and even talk about baseball. The game quickly became his passion and practice paid off. In the U. S. , Pujols displayed his hitting skill by batting over . 500 in his first season at Fort Osage High School in Independence, Missouri, twice earning all-state honors. Pujols graduated from high school in December 1998. Unlike a lot of young men, Albert’s passion for baseball didn’t die when he graduated from high school.
Instead, Pujols attended Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City. In his first season with the community college team he made his presence felt immediately, as he hit a grand slam and turned an unassisted triple play in his first game. Albert Pujols proved his talent, with a batting average of . 461 in his first year in college. Pujols is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in modern Major League Baseball; this is due in part to his impressive accrual of statistics and records before the age of 30.
At the end of the 2009 season, Pujols ranked within the top 15 players in major league history in four statistical categories: on-base percentage (12th), slugging percentage (4th), on-base plus slugging (OPS; 4th), and adjusted OPS (tied for 6th). From 2001 to 2005, Pujols hit 201 home runs, second all-time for the most hit in a player’s first five seasons. By 2009, he had reached the 350-homer plateau at the age of 29, the third-youngest to do so, and surpassed Ralph Kiner’s record for most home runs in his first nine seasons.
In doing so, Pujols became the first player to hit 30 or more home runs in the first nine seasons of his career (extended it to 10 in 2010), as well the second player to have 100 or more RBIs in the same time span. Pujols holds the Cardinals’ franchise record for most career grand slams; he broke the record of nine previously held by Stan Musial. Musial and Pujols are also two of only four players in history to have a career batting average above . 330 and less than 500 strikeouts at the time of their 300th home runs (the other two being Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio).
In his first 5,000 career at bats, Pujols had amassed 372 doubles, 358 home runs, and 14 triples for a total of 744 extra-base hits, the most in NL history, and is the second player in Major League Baseball to post nine consecutive seasons with 30 doubles, a . 300 batting average, 30 home runs, and 100 runs batted in or better (Lou Gehrig). He has scored 100 or more runs in nine of his ten seasons. (He scored 99 runs in the only season when he did not score 100 runs). He currently has eight career walk-off home runs.
His 1,230 RBI is second all-time among Cardinal players, only Stan Musial (1,951) has more. In the field, Pujols has set the Cardinals’ franchise record for the most assists by a first baseman in a single game (seven). In 2009, he also set the National League record for assists by a first baseman in a season (182), and in the last game of the 2009 season, he broke Bill Buckner’s 1985 major league mark of 184 with his 185th assist. While Albert has always been passionate about baseball, it hasn’t been his only focus in life.
It may come as a surprise to many, but Pujols is married and has been since January 1, 2000. The couple has three children, whose names are Isabella, Albert Jr. and Sophia. Albert has used his fame and MLB status in his active participation with Down Syndrome foundations as his daughter Isabella was born with the condition. In 2005 the Pujols’ formed the Pujols Family Foundation which is all about helping people that have or are affected by Down Syndrome. Albert Pujols has also been very active in outreach programs that target the poor people living in the Dominican Republic, the place of his birth.
It’s interesting that a man so successful in his Major League Baseball career could have so many other facets to his life that are so important. Pujols has so many different accomplishments in baseball and with that comes many different awards. He as nine all-star appearances, six time silver slugger awards at three different positions, two time gold gloves and of course the three most valuable player awards, along with countless other less prominent awards. He has proved himself time and time again both on and ff the field. He is not only a tremendous baseball player but is a great overall person, which can be hard to find in today’s athletes. That is why Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball right now and could very well be considered to be the best of all time at the end of his hall of fame career. Works Cited http://www. baseball-reference. com/players/p/pujolal01. shtml http://www. notablebiographies. com/newsmakers2/2005-Pu-Z/Pujols-Albert. html http://www. albert-pujols. net/albert-pujols-bio. php
