Austin Bishop

It’s not often you get a chance to see a once-in-a-generation talent reach baseball immortality. But this season, we just might.

Albert Pujols, who rejoined the St. Louis Cardinals after a 10-year hiatus to Los Angels, is just 21 home runs away from reaching the 700 mark. Only three men currently reside in that rare air of baseball lore — Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.

At the time of this writing, Pujols, in his 22nd season, is fifth on the all-time MLB home run list behind the three aforementioned stars and Alex Rodriguez, who finished his career with 696. The man just behind Pujols’ mark of 679 is Willie Mays, who hit 660. Only nine men have ever hit 600, with Ken Griffey, Jr. Jim Thome and Sammy Sosa being on that list.

Although I am a die-hard Braves fans, I find myself pulling for Pujols to reach that magical mark. One of the highlights of my baseball fandom is being in attendance at Atlanta-Fulton County on July 27, 1974. On that night, I got a chance to see the great Hank Aaron. Early in the year, he had hit No. 715, eclipsing the immortal Babe Ruth as the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball. 

On the night of my attendance, Aaron hit home run No. 726, which was at that time the most home runs any major leaguer had ever hit. Aaron went on to blast 755 homers in his career, eventually being eclipsed by Barry Bonds, who stands atop of the list with 762.

You may wonder, what’s the big deal? if Pujols doesn’t make it, surely someone else will come along pretty soon and challenge the 700 level. That’s really not a sure thing at all.

A glance down the list of the 100 active home run leaders will show you fairly quickly that no one who is currently playing the game is likely to crack that magical barrier. Pujols, at age 42, is the only player in the top 50 of active MLB players who has a legitimate shot at 700.

Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies has the best shot. He is 28 years old and has 267. He would have to average 36 a year for 12 years, which is a tall order, even for a slugger like Harper. Mike Trout, arguably the best player in the game at this point, is 29 and has hit 310 in 11 seasons. He would have to average 35.5 over 11 seasons. Possible, yes; likely, no.

All of this is estimated on them playing through their age 40 seasons. The youngest guys in the top 50 are 27 years old. Trout, Harper and Manny Machado are the only guys under 30 in the top 25. Machado is 28 and has hit 252 in 10 seasons. He would have to hit 37 a year over 12 years.

The youngest in the top 100 is 24-year-old Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox, who is tied for 99th with 112. He would have to hit 31 a year for 16 seasons.

So let’s just enjoy Pujols while we have him, and perhaps we can see him reach an elusive baseball plateau.

Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com or by phone at 601-938-2471.