St. Louis Cardinals Slugger Albert Pujols Before he went on a tear that led him to become only the fourth major-league player to achieve 700 career home runs, he said he was close to quitting this summer.
Pujols spoke to MLB.com in an interview. story published Thursday night After a difficult start to the season, he considered retiring early in June. The future Hall of Famer had slashed.198/.294/.336 with just four homers and 17 to go before he reached 700.
Pujols, who was weighing retirement, said, “No, I did, and I swear I did.” “There were times when I was not able to do my job.” [asked] I have done it many times.”
After tweaking his position in July, it clicked. Pujols continued to hit.314/.377/.681 and became one of the most consistent hitters in the game. He also hit 20 homers in just three months.
Pujols said that “when you have people you trust and who encourage you, and you realize God has opened so many doors to you, man, it puts everything in perspective,” he told MLB.com. “I made the decision to stay with it!” It was inevitable that it would change for me sooner than I expected.
Pujols, who was returning to the Cardinals with the intention of retiring after the season, said that he will stick to his plan despite the great year. John Mozeliak, Cardinals president of baseball operations, said that he was glad Pujols didn’t retire earlier.
Mozeliak stated that while he was aware of the difficulties, he was able “to marshal through them.” Mozeliak spoke to MLB.com.
The Cardinals are scheduled to host the Philadelphia Phillies A wild card series begins Friday at Busch Stadium.