St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols found himself playing a playoff game in the city he grew fond of in the 2000s.
As the Cards played the Philadelphia Phillies in St. Louis in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, the crowd gifted Pujols a standing ovation when he stepped to the plate for the first time.
“Nothing but love for The Machine,” MLB tweeted on Friday afternoon.
Nothing but love for The Machine. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/iskXW3IAxl
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2022
In the video, you could see people cheering and applauding Pujols.
They will be forever grateful for the role he played in the World Series-winning campaigns of 2006 and 2011.
He also won three MVP awards in St. Louis, and that won’t be forgotten.
It also needs to be said that his playoff stats are something special.
A Special Hitter With A Fantastic Career
On the biggest of stages, Pujols has hit .321/.426/.581 with 19 home runs and a 160 wRC+ in 352 plate appearances before today.
Not expected to play a big role this season, Pujols hit a cool .270/.345/.550 with 24 home runs.
He became the fourth player in the history of MLB to reach 700 home runs.
The second half was particularly productive for him after making a change in the way he held his bat.
In the process, Pujols proved to doubters and to himself – after struggling offensively for six seasons in a row – that he had something special in him as he said goodbye to the game that gave so much to him.
He certainly gave a lot back, too: love, joy, accomplishments, and happiness to those who admired his feats and followed him every day, every at-bat.
The baseball universe is celebrating Pujols’ incredible career and hopes he can say goodbye with a bang in the postseason.
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