The Dodgers are down 3-1 in the NLCS for the second straight year. A loss tonight, and their reign as World Series Champions ends.
It won’t be easy for them. They’ll be facing Max Fried, who’s turned into a proven postseason pitcher, so all odds are against them.
That’s nothing new for a guy like Albert Pujols, who won two championships in St. Louis with teams that defied all odds to win. But one question lingers. If the Dodgers lose tonight, and the Braves clinch the pennant, will this be the machine’s final game?
Will Pujols retire after the 2021 season? Is this it for the three-time MVP and 11-time All-Star?
Firstly, it’s always possible. After the Braves themselves were eliminated in the 2019 NLDS, longtime catcher Brian McCann called it quits after their season-ending loss. So, it could happen.
We’ve also heard speculation that he might be interested in returning to the Dodgers next year, so maybe not? But let’s assume for a minute that he does retire after tonight, or after the World Series ends, should the Dodgers get there.
We need to understand where Pujols came from. He had incredible talent, but teams were hesitant to take a chance on him in the 1999 draft. Finally, in the 13th round, the Cardinals took him.
He climbed his way through the minor leagues and got an invitation to Spring Training in 2001. It’s crazy to think, but he almost didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
After barely making it, he took the league by storm, hitting 37 home runs and earning Rookie of the Year honors. And thus began an illustrious career, and a ten-year run where he would hit at least .300 with at least 30 homers and at least 100 RBI’s.
In 2004, he was the NLCS MVP when the Cardinals outlasted the Astros in seven games. The next year, he won his first of three MVP’s and had a dramatic home run off of Brad Lidge in Game 5 of the NLCS to save the Cardinals season at the last second.
In 2006, he would hit a career-high 49 home runs and play an instrumental role in the team’s improbable run to their tenth World Series championship. He won MVP again in 2008 and 2009.
By the time 2011 hit, he was in the final year of his contract with St. Louis, and the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. 2011 was also the first year that Pujols knocked in fewer than 100 runs and hit below .300. He also missed a good chunk of time with a wrist injury. In other words, he was starting to decline.
But he still played an all-important role in the Cards’ run to another championship, hitting three home runs in Game 3 of the World Series to tie Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only two players to accomplish such a feat in a World Series game.
He would depart for the Angels in the offseason after hitting 445 home runs in a Cardinal uniform and winning three MVP’s along with two World Series titles.
His numbers weren’t shabby and Anaheim, but they were far from what he put up in St. Louis. He did however reach 600 home runs and collect his 3,000th hit in his time with the Angels. He even came back to Busch Stadium and hit a home run, sending the Cardinals faithful into a frenzy, despite him being an opposing player.
The Angels released him in early May of this year after hitting just .198, and there was speculation that his career might be over. The Dodgers had other plans.
And he proved he still had some gas left in the tank, still being able to mash left-handed pitching, and coming back to Busch to hit another home run in front of Cardinals fans in what could be his final trip to St. Louis.
So without question, Albert Pujols will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. His storied career has lasted 21 years. He’ll be best remembered for his time in St. Louis, but that doesn’t overshadow any of the accolades he earned after leaving.
But if tonight ends up being the last time we see him, then we sure got a treat being able to watch him play. We may never see another star like Pujols. He might just be the greatest right-handed hitter the game has ever seen, and baseball without him will not be the same.
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