Albert Pujols

From SoSH

Contents 1 Biography 2 Overall Career 3 Personal Life 4 Accomplishments 5 Awards 6 Trivia 7 Transactions 8 External Links

Biography

Albert Pujols was born in the Dominican Republic. He did not grow up in a traditional family unit. His father, Bienvenido, was in and out of his life from an early age. His grandmother, America, assumed many of the responsibilities of raising him. He had 10 uncles and aunts, all of whom seemed more like brothers and sisters to him.

Albert and his family immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s, first to New York City and then later to Independence, Missouri. In the U.S., Pujols gained his love for baseball, batting over .500 in his first season of baseball at Fort Osage High School. He quickly became the most feared hitter in the Kansas City area, leading to multiple intentional walks a game in some stretches. He still managed to hit .660 with eight home runs his final year of high school, with limited official at-bats. After starring for both Fort Osage and the Post 379 American Legion summer team out of Independence, Pujols graduated from high school in December of 1998 and attended Maple Woods Community College in the Kansas City area during the spring of 1999. In his only season with the community college, Pujols showed off his talent, hitting a grand slam and turning an unassisted triple play in his first game and batting .461 for the year. Pujols only struck out twice in his high school and college career, to Mark Prior, who Pujols played against when his team went to a tournament in California ,and in Mountian Home Arkansas

Overall Career

Pujol's career in the majors started in 2001 with the St. Louis Cardinals, when he won Rookie of the Year. Pujols started his career at third base, but then became a full time first basemen in 2004. So far in his career, he has played 6 full seasons in 933 regular season games. He has a career batting average of .330, has hit 255 homeruns, with 770 RBIs and an OPS. of 1.042. He won the batting title in 2003 and the MVP in 2005. In 2006, Pujols won his first World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, beating the Detroit Tigers in 5 games. He later went on to win the Gold Glove in 2006 as well.

Personal Life

Pujols married his wife, Deidre, on January 1, 2000. They have three children, Isabella (Deidre's daughter, adopted by Albert), Albert Jr., and Sophia. Albert and his wife are active in the cause of people with Down syndrome, as Isabella was born with this condition. In 2005 (appropriately on May 5, which would be 05/05/05, 5 being Albert's number), they launched the Pujols Family Foundation which is dedicated to "the love, care and development of people with Down syndrome and their families", as well as helping the poor in the Dominican Republic. Pujols and his wife are very active Christians; as the foundation's website says, "In the Pujols family, God is first. Everything else is a distant second". He has taken part ownership in Patrick's restaurant at Westport Plaza in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The remodeled restaurant was reopened as Pujols 5 on August 30, 2006."

Accomplishments

• First Cardinal to hit a HR in the new Busch Stadium
• Tied for Most Home Runs in April with 14 (Tied with Alex Rodriguez)
• First Player to hit at least 30 HRs in first 6 seasons
• 16th Batter to hit 3 HRs in a game TWICE during the same season

Awards

• 2001 National League Rookie of the Year
• 2001 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• 2003 National League Hank Aaron Award
• 2003 Major League Player of the Year
• 2004 NLCS MVP
• 2005 National League MVP
• 2006 National League Gold Glove - 1B
• 5-time National League All-Star (2001, 2003-2006)
• 3-time National League Silver Slugger - 1B (2001, 2003-2004)

Trivia

• Won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.
• Nickname: Prince Albert, Phat Albert, The Machine, or El Hombre

Transactions

• June 2, 1999: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1999 amateur draft.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis