Albert Pujols belts 600th home run; is fourth-fastest, ninth all time
— -- Already one of the best batters in MLB history, Albert Pujols conquered his latest milestone with a bang.
The Angels slugger hit his 600th career home run Saturday against the Twins, delivering a grand slam to become the ninth player in major league history to reach the mark.
Pujols, 37, became the fourth-youngest player in MLB history to reach 600 home runs. Only Alex Rodriguez, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron reached the milestone faster than Pujols.
Pujols is the ninth player in MLB history with 600 homers, joining Barry Bonds (762), Aaron (755), Ruth (714), Rodriguez (692), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630), Jim Thome (612) and? Sammy Sosa (609).
Pujols is now nine home runs from tying fellow Dominican Republic-native Sosa for the most homers by a player born outside the U.S.
Saturday's grand slam is the latest superlative in the 17-year career of Pujols, a 13th-round draft pick who became one of the greatest hitters of his generation.
He put a long, looping swing on Twins pitcher Ervin Santana's low pitch, and he briefly stood at the plate to see whether the ball would stay fair. When it did, he rounded the bases to a fusillade of fireworks before greeting his excited teammates at home plate.
It was Pujols' ninth homer of the season and his 14th career grand slam. Since his debut in 2001, only Rodriguez (18), Carlos Lee (15) and Ryan Howard (15) have more.
The three-time NL MVP also became the first player in MLB history whose 600th HR was a grand slam.
"I don't play here for numbers,'' Pujols said this week after hitting No. 599. "My goal since day one when I got to the big leagues was to help the organization that I wear the uniform of. At the end of my career, numbers are numbers. I think I'm going to have plenty of time, but my main goal is to try to win a championship here.
"I'm aware of the history, don't get me wrong. I respect it, but I think that's kind of a distraction that I don't want to bring into the game for me.''
Pujols hit his 599th homer Tuesday and then had three straight homerless games. The slugger rarely acknowledges the importance of individual accomplishments, but his fellow Angels thought he clearly wanted to reach the milestone at home before they hit the road Monday.
The Angels were excited, too. Mike Trout went to the ballpark Wednesday right after having thumb surgery because he wanted to see Pujols make history -- and Trout has returned every night since, his hand in a cast.
"It's pretty incredible,'' Trout said. "Each night he gets a hit or gets an RBI he's passing somebody. [On Thursday] he passed Babe Ruth in hits. I think that's pretty special. It's remarkable, his career so far. He's got a lot of baseball left, but I think the biggest thing is 600. That's special.''
Pujols is in his sixth year with the Angels, who gave him a $240 million free-agent contract in December 2011?after 11 spectacular seasons in St. Louis. He became the youngest player to hit 250 home runs and the first to hit 400 homers in his first 10 big-league seasons while with the Cardinals, and he is the only player ever to hit at least 30 HRs in his first 12 big-league seasons.
Pujols has homered in 37 ballparks and against all 30 big-league teams, including the Cardinals. Santana is one of 386 pitchers to yield a homer to Pujols.
Pujols is the majors' active leader in home runs by a long shot, and the 600-homer club might not get its next member for several years. Detroit's 34-year-old Miguel Cabrera has 451 career homers, and the next-closest player under 34 years old is Milwaukee's 33-year-old Ryan Braun with 292.
ESPN's Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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