A Fitting End for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Albert Pujols

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been tortured by a future Hall of Fame player for years.  He still is doing just that even late in his career.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Albert Pujols have been connected for years.  Pujols, who was one of the game’s best players for a lot of his career, spent 11 years with the St. Louis Cardinal Organizations and led those teams to a lot of wins over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pujols has played a lot of his very best baseball against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his career, he has played 197 games against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In those games, he has hit for a ridiculous average of .354.  This is by far his highest average against an opposing team, with the Braves being next holding Pujols to a .345 average.

However, he did not just get a lot of hits, but he also showed off his power against the Bucs.  His OPS against the Pittsburgh Pirates is 1.112, which is again the highest for him against any opposing team.  Add in that he has hit 57 home runs and there really has not been a player that has done more damage to the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last two decades.

The Bucs have always tried to be relatively careful with Pujols.  They have walked him 100 times, which is over a walk every other game.  The number probably should have been higher.  He only struck out 78 times against the Bucs, just showing off his elite discipline.

He showed up for his games against the Pittsburgh Pirates that is for sure.  Pujols was always known for his big moments in St. Louis.  Performing the way he did against the Bucs was not only impressive but important for his team’s quest to win the NL Central.  Showing up for division games just exemplified the passion and intensity this future Hall of Famer player brought to the game.