On Saturday night, Albert Pujols hit the 590th home run of his career -- a deep shot off Francisco Liriano that moves him within 19 of tying Sammy Sosa for eighth place all-time.
The sequence looked a little something like this:
Pujols' home run was notable for other reasons, too. You see, it marked his 30th home run of the season, giving him 14 such efforts overall -- or as many as Barry Bonds had during his career. Additionally, Pujols is now one more 30-homer season from tying Alex Rodriguez and Hank Aaron for the most ever, and two away from becoming the first player in history to have 16:
| Rank | Player | 30-HR seasons |
| t-1 | Alex Rodriguez | 15 |
| t-1 | Hank Aaron | 15 |
| t-3 | Barry Bonds | 14 |
| t-3 | Albert Pujols | 14 |
| t-5 | Mike Schmidt | 13 |
| t-5 | Babe Ruth | 13 |
Obviously Pujols isn't the player he used to be, back when he was considered the consensus best in the sport. Injuries and age have ravaged his mobility and left him as a most-days DH, one whose bat is slightly above the league-average.
Still, Pujols remains under contract for five more seasons, and the Angels seem unlikely to cut bait anytime soon. As a result, you can bet he's going to receive ample opportunity to make a run -- to chase 700 home runs, yes, but also to notch those 15th and 16th seasons. One of those accomplishments will get more press than the other, but both are impressive within themselves.
