Albert Pujols is two home runs shy of reaching the 700 mark for his career.
The St. Louis Cardinals have 13 games remaining on the schedule, so there’s plenty of time for him to hit two more home runs, but the clock is ticking.
Pujols is of course retiring at the end of this season along with Yadier Molina and potentially Adam Wainwright as well.
Yesterday, when asked about his pursuit for 700 home runs, he made it very clear that whether he reached that mark or not was not a factor, and that if he doesn’t reach it, he will still retire at the end of the season.
#Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols reiterated his plans to retire after this season, whether he finishes with 698, 699 or 700 or more HRs: "I said in spring training that I'm going to retire, and when I say something, I will do it. So I'm gonna retire after the World Series."
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) September 21, 2022
Pujols Reiterates Plans To Retire
Pujols has made one thing perfectly clear, that he does not care if he reaches 700 home runs or not.
While Cardinals fans and baseball fans around the league want him to reach the mark, it doesn’t change his plans for when the season is over.
All that’s on Pujols’ mind is winning a championship.
That’s all that matters to him.
Obviously, one would think he’d like to get there, but at the end of the day, Pujols is focused on one thing and one thing only, and that is helping the Cardinals secure their 12th World Series title.
It would be disappointing for fans if he doesn’t reach 700, but it won’t change his plans.
He has made it perfectly clear that the record does not matter to him and that he still plans to call it a career when the season comes to an end.
The clock is ticking for him to reach 700 home runs.
There is still time, however, and we’ll see if he’s got two more homers in him before the regular season ends.
NEXT: The Padres Had Perfect Retirement Gifts For Pujols And Molina
