SEATTLE — Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels has reached 3,000th career hits. </s> The 3,000 hit club has a new member.

Friday night, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols became the 32nd player in baseball history record 3,000 career hits. The milestone hit was a broken-bat single to right field against Mariners starter Mike Leake.

The 38-year-old Pujols is only the second player born in the Dominican Republic to reach 3,000 career hits, joining Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre. Pujols is the sixth player born outside the United States to reach 3,000 hits, joining Beltre, Rod Carew (Panama), Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico), Rafael Palmeiro (Cuba), and Ichiro Suzuki (Japan).

Furthermore, Pujols is only the fourth player in history with 3,000 hits and 600 home runs. Here's the list:

Pujols was of course drafted and developed by the St. Louis Cardinals before signing with the Angels as a free agent in December 2011. He broke in with the Cardinals in 2001 and was immediately an impact player, hitting .329/.403/.610 (157 OPS+) with 37 home runs and 130 RBI as a rookie. That earned him NL MVP honors unanimously. Pujols recorded 2,073 of his 3,000 career hits with St. Louis.

During his peak from 2003-10, Pujols was simply one of the most devastating offensive forces in baseball history, hitting .334/.433/.635 (177 OPS+) and averaging 42 home runs and 122 RBI per season. He's a three-time MVP, a two-time World Series champion, and a no-doubt first ballot Hall of Famer who will go down as one of the best right-handed hitters in history.

Who will be next to join the 3,000 hit club? Likely Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera is sitting on 2,666 career hits and is figures to reach the milestone in either late 2019 or early 2020, assuming good health. </s> Albert Pujols finally has done what Stan Ross never could.

The Los Angeles Angels first baseman made Major League Baseball history by recording his 3000th hit Friday night against the Seattle Mariners. Pujols accomplished the feat by flaring an opposite-field single off Mariners right-hander Mike Leake in the fifth inning.

Watch Pujols reach the milestone in the video below:

The 38-year-old future Hall of Famer later picked up hit No. 3,001 in the Angels’ 5-0 win.

Pujols becomes the 32nd member of MLB’s 3,000-hit club. The last player to join the group was Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, who reached the milestone last July.

Perhaps more impressive for Pujols, however, is that he now is just the fourth player in MLB history to amass 3,000 hits and 600 home runs in a career.

So, where does Pujols, who no doubt will enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame on his first try, rank among the game’s greats?

In his first 11 seasons, all with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pujols hit .328 with 2,073 hits and 445 home runs. Oh, and he managed a mind-boggling 1.037 OPS in that time span, as well. But since joining the Angels in 2012, the Dominican slugger has hit just .268 with a .776 OPS over six-plus seasons — though his 928 hits and 175 homers are nothing to snuff at.

The dip in performance over the latter portion of his career has Pujols’ career batting average currently sitting at .304, which has him tied for 134th in MLB history with Robinson Cano and Mel Ott, among others. Furthermore, the decline in power — Pujos averaged 40 homers per year with the Cardinals, but has averaged just 25 per season with the Angels — has all-but eliminated his hopes of catching Barry Bonds’ career home run record of 762.

Regardless, Pujols’ career really should be viewed for what it is, rather than what it could have been. And the reality is that, no matter which way you slice it, he’s one of the greatest hitters the game of baseball has ever seen.

Not bad for a guy who was drafted in the 13th round of the 1999 Amateur Draft. </s> SEATTLE — Albert Pujols has become the 32nd player in major league history to reach 3,000 hits, getting a broken-bat single to right field off Seattle’s Mike Leake in the fifth inning to join the exclusive club.

Pujols dumped the single into shallow right field on his sixth attempt to reach the mark after getting to 2,999. He received a standing ovation from the crowd in Seattle and was given the baseball as a memento. His teammates all greeted Pujols on the field before action resume.

Pujols nearly got the mark in the first inning, but his hard liner was right at shortstop Jean Segura. Pujols walked on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth inning after fouling off four two-strike pitches.

The 38-year-old Pujols joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez as the fourth player in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 600 homers. He’s the first player to reach the mark since Adrian Beltre last year against Baltimore. </s> Albert Pujols came to his 3,000th hit as stubborn as ever, as proud as ever. The years and miles have made the game more challenging, and the man himself still glares, still pokes a tongue at the air, still menaces with deliberate waves of his bat.

None of which helps him turn around a fastball, or tell it from a slider. It does, however, announce his deepest intentions, even at 38 years old, even as he arrives at this career milestone as most do, looking back on the best of themselves. There are nights he plays in the echo of his own hard and heavy footfalls, the echo of MVP seasons and a sporting prime that stands with the finest of his – and most any other – generation.

Scroll to continue with content Ad

Still, he is relentless in who he is and what he does. And while that dedication does not as often amount to quite as much, Albert Pujols remains a believer in every day, in every at-bat, in every outcome.

After all, it’s how he got the first 2,999.

In the fifth inning on Friday night, he singled off Seattle pitcher Mike Leake for his 3,000th career hit, 17 years and one month after his first.

The 3,000 Hit Club just got bigger! Albert Pujols, you’re its newest member! #Pujols3000 pic.twitter.com/hatWVJblga — Angels (@Angels) May 5, 2018





He is the 32nd player to reach the milestone, the second – after Adrian Beltre – to have been born in the Dominican Republic, and the fourth to also have at least 600 home runs.

Story continues

The 13th-round draft pick (signed for $60,000) of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999 became a three-time MVP, a two-time World Series champion and 10-time All Star. He has hit 620 home runs, seventh all time. He has driven in 1,935 runs, ninth all time. He is a career .304 hitter. He has his choice of remarkable, therefore.

Los Angeles Angels’ first baseman Albert Pujols reached 3,000 career hits on Friday. (AP)

On a recent day at Angel Stadium, he pointed to a large tote board beyond right-center field that counted him toward 3,000. He said that was the number he’d be most proud of, as the small list of players above him includes his friend and mentor, long-time St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial, and Roberto Clemente, the Puerto Rican outfielder who, en route to assisting earthquake victims in Nicaragua, died in a plane crash.

The number counts for ability and longevity and commitment, and the attention required across more than 11,000 plate appearances. Alongside 620 home runs, the number counts toward the extremely rare combination of power and selectivity. In 10 consecutive seasons, Pujols walked more often than he struck out. In those seasons, he averaged 188 hits and 41 home runs and batted .328. So, Hank Aaron had 3,771 hits and 755 home runs, Alex Rodriguez had 3,115 and 696, Willie Mays had 3,283 and 660. And Pujols, under contract for three years after this one, will cut into some of those career totals.

With health and a soft decline, Pujols could finish his career third all-time in home runs, behind Barry Bonds and Aaron, and sixth in hits, behind Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Aaron, Musial and Tris Speaker.

Also, with a productive final five months, Pujols could reach 2,000 career RBIs, fifth all-time behind Aaron, Babe Ruth, Rodriguez and Cap Anson.

The hits, he said in the days before reaching 3,000, and the RBIs will go a long way toward defining Pujols in the batter’s box.

“One, it’s a lot of hits,” he said. “Two, there’s not a lot of people – for as many players who played this game in the big leagues – there’s not many who have accomplished that. Out of 21,000 major league players in the history of the game? I think that number, out of the 600 home runs, 600 doubles, RBIs and all that stuff, I think that 3,000 … Two things, I won’t lie to you. That 3,000 and 2,000 RBIs, those two numbers are something that are really, really going to be pretty special. I’m a long ways to the 2,000. Hopefully I can get those this year.

“Especially, you know, that’s how you win games, driving guys in. The 3,000 club, it’s pretty special. To be No. 32 and put your name with so many legends in the game, it’ll be awesome. That’s always been a number. That’s kind of the big number that everybody wants to hit. Like 500 home runs.”

This is what comes of the pursuit for a little better, from Santo Domingo on, from Maple Woods Community College on, from April 2, 2001 on. He’s 3,000 hits in, not done yet, and still chasing the next at-bat. The next hit. All the echoes. </s> SEATTLE -- Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols got his 3,000th hit, reaching the mark with a broken-bat single Friday night against Seattle and becoming the 32nd player in major league history to join the exclusive club.

Pujols dumped the single into shallow right field in the fifth inning against Mike Leake. It came on Pujols' sixth attempt after getting to 2,999 a day earlier.

Pujols received a standing ovation from the crowd at Safeco Field and was given the baseball and first base as a memento. His teammates all greeted him on the field before action resumed. The Angels won the game 5-0, and Pujols collected hit No. 3,001 in the ninth inning with a two-run single.

"I was really excited, but at the same time you still have a game you need to play and you still need to focus to win that game," Pujols said. "That's what I told those guys. Let's go win that game so it can taste a little better with a win."

The 38-year-old Pujols nearly got the mark in the first inning, but his hard liner was right at shortstop Jean Segura. Pujols walked on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth inning after fouling off four two-strike pitches.

Pujols joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez as the only players in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 600 homers. He's the first player to reach the mark since Adrian Beltre last year against Baltimore.

"I'm aware of the legacy and the people that I tie and am on the same page right now," Pujols said. "But at the end of the day it's about winning a championship. Nothing would be more special than in September and October and playing in the playoffs and bringing a championship back to the city of Anaheim."

Pujols reached the precipice of the milestone earlier this week in Anaheim, getting two hits against Baltimore on Wednesday night -- including his 620th career homer -- before getting No. 2,999 on a second-inning double Thursday night.

He then came to the plate three times with the chance to hit the mark in front of his standing home crowd. But Pujols couldn't quite do it, eventually flying out to right and deflating his eager home fans in the eighth inning of the Angels' 12-3 win.

"Trust me I wanted to do it last night. But it didn't happen last night. It just happened tonight," Pujols said.

Ichiro Suzuki reached 3,000 hits in 2016 and also accomplished it on the road. He was in the Seattle clubhouse on Friday night when Pujols joined the club.

"More than the actual 3,000th hit, I remember the week prior," Suzuki said through a translator before Friday's game. "We were home for the whole week. I just had pinch-hitting opportunities. Every night was a pinch-hitting opportunity and that was really difficult. I was able to start on the last day of the road trip and getting it then."

Pujols became the second Dominican player to reach 3,000 hits by joining Beltre. With Suzuki stepping away this week for the remainder of the 2018 season, Beltre is the only active player with more hits than Pujols.

And it may be a while before another player joins the club. The next closest player to 3,000 is Miguel Cabrera, who is more than 300 hits away. After Cabrera is Robinson Cano, nearly 600 hits away from the mark.

Few sluggers in baseball history have been more versatile than Pujols, who joins Aaron as the only players with 600 doubles and 600 homers among their 3,000 hits. He is seventh on baseball's career homers list after hitting his 600th last season.

Pujols, who was raised in Santo Domingo before moving to New York and Missouri as a teenager, is the sixth foreign-born player to get 3,000 hits along with Suzuki, Rod Carew, Rafael Palmeiro and Roberto Clemente, who also had exactly 3,000 hits.

A three-time NL MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pujols joined the Angels in 2012. Carew and Pujols are the only players to record their 3,000th hit with the Angels.

Pujols is in the seventh season of the lavish 10-year, $240 million contract that persuaded him to leave the Cardinals, with whom he won two World Series, earned nine All-Star selections and established himself as one of the greatest hitters of his generation.

Pujols has been chosen for just one All-Star team and has yet to win a playoff game in Anaheim during his first six seasons in partnership with two-time AL MVP Mike Trout, but these Angels are off to an encouraging 19-12 start.

While he has slowed on the basepaths during the Anaheim chapter of his career, this season also has been rejuvenating for Pujols, who is playing first base regularly after several years primarily serving as a designated hitter. Two-way Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani's arrival as the Angels' primary DH has put Pujols in the field, where he remains a capable defender. </s> Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols became the 32nd player in Major League Baseball history to register 3,000 hits when he laced a single off Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Mike Leake in the 5th inning of Friday's game.

Pujols is the first player to join the 3,000-hit club since Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre did so last July. His accomplishment also means a player has made his way into the exclusive fraternity four years in a row.

Alex Rodriguez registered his 3,000th hit with a solo home run versus the Detroit Tigers in 2015, while Ichiro Suzuki reached the plateau when he ripped a triple against the Colorado Rockies in 2016.

"To get to that number is going to be really special. It's something you don't aim for or focus on, but when you're this close, you're like, 'Wow, that's a lot of hits,'" Pujols told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

An 18-year veteran, Pujols is also looking to become the fourth player in MLB history with at least 600 career home runs, 3,000 hits and 2,000 RBI. The other three are Rodriguez, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

"If you had told me 17 years ago when I was drafted by the Cardinals that I would have had a career like this, I would have laughed at you in the face," Pujols said, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "What a journey I've had.

"And you know what, it's not over yet."

While Pujols pursues more milestones in the months ahead, Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera and Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano will set their sights on trying to become the next members of the 3,000-hit club.

Cabrera is sitting on 2,666 hits, while Cano has registered 2,408 with plenty more to come, in his estimation.

"I know if I stay healthy, and I can play for the next six years healthy, I can do it," Cano said, according to the Associated Press' Stephen Hawkins. "But I know there are too many hits left. I don't think, 'I've got to get there.' I go step by step and play this season and see how it goes, and play the next and see how it goes and see how close you get." </s> SEATTLE — Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols got his 3,000th hit, reaching the mark with a broken-bat single Friday night against Seattle and becoming the 32nd player in major league history to join the exclusive club.

Pujols dumped the single into shallow right field in the fifth inning against Mike Leake. It came on Pujols' sixth attempt after getting to 2,999 a day earlier.

Pujols received a standing ovation from the crowd at Safeco Field and was given the baseball and first base as a memento. His teammates all greeted him on the field before action resumed.

The 38-year-old Pujols nearly got the mark in the first inning, but his hard liner was right at shortstop Jean Segura. Pujols walked on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth inning after fouling off four two-strike pitches.

Pujols joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez as the fourth player in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 600 homers. He's the first player to reach the mark since Adrian Beltre last year against Baltimore.

Pujols reached the precipice of the milestone earlier this week in Anaheim, getting two hits against Baltimore on Wednesday night — including his 620th career homer — before getting No. 2,999 on a second-inning double Thursday night.

He then came to the plate three times with the chance to hit the mark in front of his standing home crowd. But Pujols couldn't quite do it, eventually flying out to right and deflating his eager home fans in the eighth inning of the Angels' 12-3 win.

Ichiro Suzuki reached 3,000 hits in 2016 and also accomplished it on the road. He was in the Seattle clubhouse on Friday night when Pujols joined the club.

"More than the actual 3,000th hit, I remember the week prior," Suzuki said through a translator before Friday's game. "We were home for the whole week. I just had pinch-hitting opportunities. Every night was a pinch-hitting opportunity and that was really difficult. I was able to start on the last day of the road trip and getting it then."

Pujols became the second Dominican player to reach 3,000 hits by joining Beltre. With Suzuki stepping away this week for the remainder of the 2018 season, Beltre is the only active player with more hits than Pujols. </s> SEATTLE — Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols got his 3,000th hit, reaching the mark with a broken-bat single Friday night against Seattle and becoming the 32nd player in major league history to join the exclusive club.

Pujols dumped the single into shallow right field in the fifth inning against Mike Leake. It came on Pujols’ sixth attempt after getting to 2,999 a day earlier.

Pujols received a standing ovation from the crowd at Safeco Field and was given the baseball and first base as a memento. His teammates all greeted him on the field before action resumed.

The 38-year-old Pujols nearly got the mark in the first inning, but his hard liner was right at shortstop Jean Segura. Pujols walked on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth inning after fouling off four two-strike pitches.

Pujols joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez as the fourth player in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 600 homers. He’s the first player to reach the mark since Adrian Beltre last year against Baltimore.

Pujols reached the precipice of the milestone earlier this week in Anaheim, getting two hits against Baltimore on Wednesday night — including his 620th career homer — before getting No. 2,999 on a second-inning double Thursday night.

He then came to the plate three times with the chance to hit the mark in front of his standing home crowd. But Pujols couldn’t quite do it, eventually flying out to right and deflating his eager home fans in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 12-3 win.

Ichiro Suzuki reached 3,000 hits in 2016 and also accomplished it on the road. He was in the Seattle clubhouse on Friday night when Pujols joined the club.

“More than the actual 3,000th hit, I remember the week prior,” Suzuki said through a translator before Friday’s game. “We were home for the whole week. I just had pinch-hitting opportunities. Every night was a pinch-hitting opportunity and that was really difficult. I was able to start on the last day of the road trip and getting it then.”

Pujols became the second Dominican player to reach 3,000 hits by joining Beltre. With Suzuki stepping away this week for the remainder of the 2018 season, Beltre is the only active player with more hits than Pujols.

And it may be a while before another player joins the club. The next closest player to 3,000 is Miguel Cabrera, who is more than 300 hits away. After Cabrera is Robinson Cano, nearly 600 hits away from the mark.

Few sluggers in baseball history have been more versatile than Pujols, who joins Aaron as the only players with 600 doubles and 600 homers among their 3,000 hits. He is seventh on baseball’s career homers list after hitting his 600th last season.

Pujols, who was raised in Santo Domingo before moving to New York and Missouri as a teenager, is the sixth foreign-born player to get 3,000 hits along with Suzuki, Rod Carew, Rafael Palmeiro and Roberto Clemente, who also had exactly 3,000 hits.

A three-time NL MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pujols joined the Angels in 2012. Carew and Pujols are the only players to record their 3,000th hit with the Angels.

Pujols is in the seventh season of the lavish 10-year, $240 million contract that persuaded him to leave the Cardinals, with whom he won two World Series, earned nine All-Star selections and established himself as one of the greatest hitters of his generation.

Pujols has been chosen for just one All-Star team and has yet to win a playoff game in Anaheim during his first six seasons in partnership with two-time AL MVP Mike Trout, but these Angels are off to an encouraging 19-12 start.

While he has slowed on the basepaths during the Anaheim chapter of his career, this season also has been rejuvenating for Pujols, who is playing first base regularly after several years primarily serving as a designated hitter. Two-way Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani’s arrival as the Angels’ primary DH has put Pujols in the field, where he remains a capable defender.
In baseball, the Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols becomes the 32nd Major League Baseball player to reach 3,000 career hits.