St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols made his pitching debut in MLB on Sunday night against the San Francisco Giants.
The game was 15-2 in favor of the Cards, so their manager sent Pujols to the mound for the first time in his 22-year career.
Predictably, he was not good, but it didn’t matter: St. Louis secured his victory, and Pujols can tell the world he pitched in an MLB game.
He did it more than two decades after his debut as an MLB hitter: that’s the time it took for him to understand how it feels to allow home run after home run.
On Sunday, Pujols conceded four earned runs and a couple of long balls to Joey Bart and Luis Gonzalez.
He now knows what it feels like.
“It took until his 22nd season, but @PujolsFive can finally empathize with all the pain he’s put pitchers through,” the league’s official Twitter account wrote, with a quote from The Machine.
It took until his 22nd season, but @PujolsFive can finally empathize with all the pain he's put pitchers through. pic.twitter.com/BXKkxGCzYk
— MLB (@MLB) May 16, 2022
Making Pitchers Pay For Their Mistakes For 22 Years
“They made me pay like I’ve been making pitchers pay for 22 years,” he said, fittingly.
Speaking of making pitchers pay, Pujols owns a career batting line of .297/.375/.543 with 681 home runs, 1,881 runs scored, 2,156 RBI, and even 116 stolen bases.
Those are first-ballot Hall of Fame numbers by the best Latin player ever to step on a field.
After his Sunday pitching appearance, the only positions Pujols hasn’t played in a big league field are catcher and center fielder.
Could we see his friend Yadier Molina handing him the catching equipment to play an inning or two there this season?
It could certainly be a cool moment in Cardinals history.
NEXT: Albert Pujols Nearly Made Age-Related History In His Pitching Debut