St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols (5) and Houston Astros closer Brad Lidge (54) watch Pujol’s three-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Cardinals a 5-4 victory in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, Monday, October 1. on December 17, 2005, in Houston. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols has nearly three weeks left to join the exclusive 700-homer club and add to his fourth-place total all-time.
Although the St. Louis Cardinals legend will not retire until the end of the 2022 campaign, he cannot add to his historic home run tally beyond the regular season finale on October 5, or the less for what qualifies in the MLB all-time record book.
Major League Baseball only recognizes regular season accomplishments for its all-time rankings in terms of career statistics. This means that statistics such as home runs, hits, wins and more are recognized based on what players did during games outside of the playoffs.
Two baseball blogs have looked at the subject in recent years with the same general conclusion…
“(Up to) 163 games are essentially part of the MLB regular season. Thus, these counts are taken into account in the players’ career statistics. But if the statistics are formatted as playoffs, they are no longer taken into account in the career statistics,” explains HonestBaseball.com.
“Postseason achievements are not considered by MLB in players’ career statistics, which are an accumulation of performance figures during the regular season. However, players keep career statistics in the playoffs, only separate from regular career numbers,” explains BaseballScouter.com.
Although MLB does not specify a specific reason why regular season and postseason statistics are split on its website, researchers say it may be due to an unfair advantage for talent who did not have not regularly making the playoffs and playing a different game than years past.
For example, when Babe Ruth’s 714 career home runs stood as the record for several decades, the postseason consisted of just one series, ultimately a best-of-seven World Series. In 2022, Pujols may have the potential to play four playoffs or 22 games total this season due to how the league has evolved, and more games could make this metric a little more accurate on the regular season scale.
Among MLB’s all-time home run kings, Pujols is currently fourth with 697 hits, behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).
Add in the postseason home runs, Bonds and Aaron would still comfortably lead Nos. 1 and 2 with 771 and 761 home runs combined. Ruth would have 729 combined home runs and Pujols would look to add to a total of 716 home runs.
Keep in mind that Pujols played in 86 playoff games, due to the expanded formats of his era, compared to just 41 playoff games for Ruth, 17 for Aaron, and 48 for Bonds. By the end of this season, he could have more than double the amount of playoff action as the three. While these aren’t the best odds Pujols could beat Ruth’s combined total, the postseason home runs would move him closer to third place if recognized.
At an undisclosed point in baseball history, playoff statistics were segregated and not factored into the ultimate numbers of a player’s career. So Pujols’ 697 career home runs have all come from regular season games he played from 2001-2022.
Needless to say, Pujols had a few memorable playoff outbursts to complement his record run, including a epic gunshot on the verge of elimination against Houston’s Brad Lidge in 2005 and a game of three circuits against the Texas Rangers in the 2011 World Series.
