José Alberto Pujols Alcántara he (IPA: /ˡpuˌhoʊlz/), (born January 16, 1980 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), (nicknamed Prince Albert, Phat Albert, The Machine, or El Hombre ) is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the game today.
"There's no better player in Major League Baseball. We have a shot if we can keep him in the lineup." -- La Russa, on Albert Pujols
From (his debut) through the seasons, Pujols has led the major leagues in total bases (2,514) and extra-base hits (593). He was second in home runs (282) to Alex Rodriguez (329); second in RBI (861) to Rodriguez's 908; second in runs (847) to A-Rod's 874; second in doubles (298) to Todd Helton's 318; fourth in hits (1,344) to Ichiro Suzuki's (1,592), Juan Pierre (1,378), Derek Jeter (1,348); and second in batting average (.3315) to Suzuki (.3335). He also won the rookie of the year award in 2001.
In recent years, Pujols has become an excellent defensive player at first base, winning his first Gold Glove award in .
During the 2006 season, he became the first Major League player to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first six seasons, and the youngest to hit 250 home runs. He extended his 30-HR streak to seven consecutive years in 2007 on August 22 against the Florida Marlins, with a 2-run blast (#280 of his career) at Busch Stadium in the first inning. Pujols is also the first player since Ted Williams (8 yrs.; - and - ) to begin his career with seven straight 100-RBI seasons, after hitting his 32nd home run (#282 of his career) on September 26, 2007, against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee.
