Cardinals: Albert Pujols’ Best Moments During The 2022 Season

“That Ball Was Absolutely Murdered”

Pujols wasted next to no time in putting up his 2nd home run of the year. On April 17, in a critical divisional matchup versus the rival Milwaukee Brewers, Pujols came up big, hitting a towering, 3-run missile over the left field wall to tie the game.

Absolutely crushed at nearly 110 miles per hour, the ball soared a projected distance of 426 feet onto the second deck. The statement was clear: The Machine’s still got it.

The condition of the ball, however, speaks for itself.

Baseball’s Next Two-Way Player

The warm summer night of May 15 was witness to what posed to be an exciting rubber match between the Cardinals and the visiting San Francisco Giants. This illusion was quickly shattered however as the game quickly devolved into a full-blown rout. The Cardinals pulled ahead 9-0 in just the fourth inning, with another six runs of support well on their way.

Safe to say, starting pitcher Adam Wainwright had his run support. So much so, that manager Oli Marmol was ready to have some fun.

42-year-old Albert Pujols, someone who, in over 21 years of service time, had never thrown an inning in the majors let alone a pitch, had taken the mound. For the entire ninth inning, Pujols was met by a full-blown standing ovation, and any strikes thrown were met with thunderous cheering and applause.

After walking the first batter, Pujols recorded the very first out of his career, much to the delight of the home crowd. This set him up against fellow established veteran Evan Longoria, who on an 0-2 count smacked a ball to left field for a single.

Longoria was so pleased with the whole ordeal that he asked to keep the ball from his at bat.

The fun was far from over, however. With runners at the corners, left fielder Luiz Gonzalez drilled a ball deep to right field to cut the lead down to 10. Another batter came to the plate, this time Joey Bart, and Albert gave up another home run. This time though, facing the top of the order, Pujols was able to clutch up, secured a ground out, and with that the game.

The Machine finished his outing with a 36.00 ERA, sadly taking him out of Cy Young contention. Maybe pitching wasn’t for him. He’d simply have to settle for being the greatest hitter of his generation.