Albert Pujols
Pujols delivered the most dominant debut decade in modern baseball history, posting a .331 average with 408 home runs from 2001-2010 — numbers that belonged in a video game, not real life. His 2008 campaign stands as perhaps the most complete offensive season of the 21st century, flirting with .400 while maintaining elite power.
The Dominican slugger's career arc tells two distinct stories. Those first ten seasons in St. Louis produced three MVPs and established him as the heir to Stan Musial. The Angels years revealed Father Time's cruel math, as his OPS+ dropped from superhuman levels to merely above-average. Still, 703 career home runs speaks to sustained excellence few have ever achieved.
What separated Pujols wasn't just the raw numbers but the situational brilliance — clutch hits in October, protection for teammates, and an approach that aged better than his legs. Hall of Fame voters won't need long to deliberate.
Career · Batting
22 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | STL | 161 | 590 | 37 | 130 | .329 | 1.013 | 133 |
| 2002 | STL | 157 | 590 | 34 | 127 | .314 | .955 | 128 |
| 2003 | STL | 157 | 591 | 43 | 124 | .359 | 1.106 | 147 |
| 2004 | STL | 154 | 592 | 46 | 123 | .331 | 1.072 | 141 |
| 2005 | STL | 161 | 591 | 41 | 117 | .330 | 1.039 | 139 |
| 2006 | STL | 143 | 535 | 49 | 137 | .331 | 1.102 | 143 |
| 2007 | STL | 158 | 565 | 32 | 103 | .327 | .997 | 131 |
| 2008 | STL | 148 | 524 | 37 | 116 | .357 | 1.114 | 149 |
| 2009 | STL | 160 | 568 | 47 | 135 | .327 | 1.101 | 147 |
| 2010 | STL | 159 | 587 | 42 | 118 | .312 | 1.011 | 139 |
| 2011 | STL | 147 | 579 | 37 | 99 | .299 | .906 | 126 |
| 2012 | LAA | 154 | 607 | 30 | 105 | .285 | .859 | 119 |
| 2013 | LAA | 99 | 391 | 17 | 64 | .258 | .767 | 107 |
| 2014 | LAA | 159 | 633 | 28 | 105 | .272 | .790 | 113 |
| 2015 | LAA | 157 | 602 | 40 | 95 | .244 | .787 | 109 |
| 2016 | LAA | 152 | 593 | 31 | 119 | .268 | .780 | 106 |
| 2017 | LAA | 149 | 593 | 23 | 101 | .241 | .672 | 90 |
| 2018 | LAA | 117 | 465 | 19 | 64 | .245 | .700 | 96 |
| 2019 | LAA | 131 | 491 | 23 | 93 | .244 | .734 | 97 |
| 2020 | LAA | 39 | 152 | 6 | 25 | .224 | .665 | 90 |
| 2021 | LAD | 109 | 275 | 17 | 50 | .236 | .717 | 99 |
| 2022 | STL | 109 | 307 | 24 | 68 | .270 | .895 | 127 |
| Career | 3080 | 11421 | 703 | 2218 | .296 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.