Albert Pujols’ outstanding major-league baseball career has been obscured by the conspiracy over his age, but nothing can be taken away from his achievements, which include two world series and three MVP titles in the National League.
The 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m), 240-pound (110 kg) Dominican-American, who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals shortly after a year of college baseball, is revered for his contact-hitting ability, patience, and raw power in hitting. Pujols currently plays for the Los Angeles Angels as first baseman and designated hitter. In 2018 he joined the club with 3000 goals and also became a member of the very exclusive club with 3000 goals and 600 home runs, which has only three other players in history: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Alex Rodriguez.
Albert Pujols Biography
Albert Pujols was born on January 16, 1980, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he was raised by his grandmother and other extended family members. There is no information about his mother, his father, Bienvenido Pujols, but he was a softball pitcher.
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As he grew up, Pujols, who had the genes for his baseball career, practiced playing with limes as balls and a milk carton as a glove. When he was 16 years old, the young sportsman emigrated to the United States with his father and grandmother and settled in New York City. A few months after his arrival, Pujols reportedly witnessed a shooting in a grocery store, which among other reasons led his family to leave the city and move to Independence, Missouri, where Pujols attended Fort Osage High School.
The time Albert Pujols spent with his high school baseball team was controversial, as his body and height were not suited to his age, leading to massive protests by opposing coaches. Despite this, Pujols was twice named an All-State Athlete before graduating and receiving a baseball scholarship to Maple Woods Community College. He then played college baseball for only one year before joining the Major League Baseball Draft in 1999, where he was awarded 402nd place by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round.
Career Stats
Following his call-up, Albert Pujols was called up to the A-Midwest League in the 2000 season, where he played in 109 games and hit 128 goals, 32 doubles and 6 triples, 17 home runs, and 84 RBIs .324. In the same year, Pujols played in the top Carolina League for the Potomac Cannons and for the Memphis Redbirds in the AAA Pacific Coast League before making his debut in the Major League on the opening day of 2001 season.
In his rookie season, Pujols showed overwhelming performances that earned him an All-Star appearance, a Silver Slugger Award, and the Rookie of the Year award. His first-year performances took him into a league of his own and drove him to a career that will ultimately make him one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Albert Pujols Salary and Net Worth
Albert Pujols has been one of the top earners in baseball since he put a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels worth around $254 million on paper in 2011. From his contract, which runs until 2021, the three-time MVP and six-time Silver Slugger Award recipient takes home an average annual salary of $24 million. However, according to Forbes Magazine, Pujols earned $28 million in 2018 ($27 million in salary and $1 million in sponsorship). The additional amount is said to have been triggered by a clause in his contract.
It should come as no surprise that Given Pujol’s enormous net worth is a whopping $170 million.
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Family Facts, Wife
Albert Pujols married his wife Deidre on 1 January 2000. The couple is said to have met in a salsa club at the end of the 90s and started meeting almost shortly afterward. Pujols is said to have lied about his age to get Deidre to go out with him when they met, saying he was 21 years old when he was actually only 18. She herself was a 21-year-old single mother at the time, which she revealed to him. The felt connection between the two proved to be stronger than any kind of curveball life threw at them as they set out to begin their fairy tale.
Under the influence of Deidre and his grandmother, Pujols became a Christian in 1998. Two years later they married and welcomed four more children: Albert jr., Sophia, Ezra, and Esther Grace, and Deidre’s daughter Isabella.
Isabella was born with a genetic disorder known as Down syndrome. For this reason, Albert and Deidre, through their charitable foundation, the Pujols Family Foundation, promote awareness of this disease and support people who have been diagnosed with it. They have also opened the Albert Pujols Wellness Center for adults with Down’s syndrome.
