Albert Pujols has just joined one of the most exclusive clubs in all of Major League Baseball: the 2,000 RBI club. He reached number 2,000 this afternoon with a solo homer — the 639th dinger of his career — in the third inning in the Angels’ game against the Tigers in Detroit.
When he crossed the plate after that homer he became only the fifth player to top 2,000 career RBI. The whole club:
Hank Aaron: 2,297
Babe Ruth: 2,214
Alex Rodriguez: 2,086
Cap Anson: 2,075
Albert Pujols: 2,000
That’s the list according to Baseball-Reference.com, anyway. The Elias Sports Bureau only counts RBI since 1920, so it leaves out Anson and cuts down Ruth’s total by over 200. Major League Baseball leaves out most of Anson but counts some and has a different total for Ruth than Baseball-Reference.com does for reasons which are only clear to them, likely dealing with how the pre-1920 data was mined. Personally, I consider Baseball-Reference.com infallible until told otherwise, so let’s call Pujols fifth.
Anyway, I know RBI is not as important a stat as it has historically been made out to be, but it’s still a rare accomplishment to collect this many of them. Besides, Pujols has long since ensured himself a place in the Hall of Fame, so this is just some sugar on top. Let’s enjoy the sugar:
