St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols is on his farewell tour: he is retiring after the season and wants to make sure his fans watch him rake: he is eager to show that, after a few years of mediocre hitting, he still has it.
And if Sunday afternoon was any indicative, he does.
Pujols hit a three-run home run in the third inning of the Cards’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers, tying the game at 3-3 at that time.
Milwaukee ended up prevailing 6-5, but that doesn’t take anything away from Pujols.
In fact, he showed he still has a competitive edge and he is still having fun playing the game he loves.
After hitting the long drive, he admired the home run for a couple of seconds and then made a cool bat flip.
It was not about taunting the opposition: it was more like a personal satisfaction.
Here is how he flipped his bat before his home run trot:
Ball crushed. Bat flipped. pic.twitter.com/46ilyIgNu2
— MLB (@MLB) April 17, 2022
Pujols Is Raking
Pujols, who is 42 years old, already announced he is retiring after the season.
After 11 years in Los Angeles, he returned home to St. Louis to have one last dance in front of the fans that made him an icon in the city.
And he is off to a fast start: in 17 plate appearances, he has hit two home runs, scored three times, and accumulated four RBI.
He is slashing .333/.412/.733 with a 1.145 OPS.
He hasn’t played like this in several years, and while most of his playing time will be limited to starts against left-handers, he is making sure to make the most out of them.
Hopefully, he can have fun and play in a competitive environment for the entire season.
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