When Albert Pujols started at first in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ win over the Colorado Rockies, it marked the 2,934th game of his his illustrious career. And with that appearance, Pujols set the MLB record for most games played by a player born in the Dominican Republic.
Pujols passed future Hall of Famer and former Dodger Adrian Beltre en route to the record.
The bulk of Pujols’ games were of course played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the club with which he won his two World Series championships. From his MLB debut in 2001 to to Cardinals finale in 2011, Pujols suited up for a total of 1,705 regular season games.
After his time in St. Louis, Pujols headed west and signed what was then a market-shattering contract with the L.A. Angels of Anaheim. In just over nine seasons with the Angels, he played a total of 1,181 regular season games.
After Pujols was surprisingly released by the Angels in May, he took a trip up the 5 freeway and signed with the Dodgers for the remainder of the season.
Pujols’ resume keeps growing
Setting the record for most games played by a Dominican-born player is just one of many impressive feats Pujols has accomplished not only in his career, but in this season alone.
Pujols began making history in 2021 shortly after beginning his tenure with the Dodgers. On May 20, he slugged his first home run with the team en route to a four-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
With that homer, he joined the likes of Shea Hillebrand (2007) and Tim Wallach (1996) as the only players to hit home runs for the Dodgers and Angels in the same season. Additionally, Pujols joined Rickey Henderson, Babe Herman and Curt Davis on the list of Dodgers to hit a home run at age 41 or older.
On July 5, Pujols recorded his 6,000th career base against the Miami Marlins. It’s a group that includes MLB legends Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial.
Not even two weeks later on July 17, Pujols recorded his 3,284th career hit in a pinch-hit appearance against the Colorado Rockies. That moved him to 11th on MLB’s all-time hits list, ahead of Mays.
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